Short Vocabulary stories for my English class

The Screaming Lady

"Carmen are you coming, it's this way, we have about an hour before the art museum closes; and I want to take photos." Percy chuckled as he grabbed my hand. He was so angelic with his dark brown hair and hazel eyes compared to my long auburn hair and cheeks with freckles. The light glowing on his face enhanced his features as we walked in together. "Hey, remember when we got a portrait of ourselves in the park by that artist and we were there for an hour because he lost his brush." I giggled and said "yeah and he felt so bad, so we had to go and get him a new one", I laughed in amusement.    

We followed the red carpet into the museum solicitously. The architecture was beautiful. There was a stairway that coiled like a snake around a pillar going upward to the balcony above the exhibit. The place had the smell of roses and Dior perfume. I felt like I was in a movie due to the scenery in the exhibit. We passed the security guard coming from the way we were facing. Percy whispered; "he looks remiss, how about we sneak into the basement where they keep all of the secret paintings that never get to be displayed"! He took my hand gently with caution as we flittingly moved behind the marble pillars watching and waiting for him to pass. "Where do we go now?" I huffed trying to catch my breath without making too much of a noise. "Look! There, through the arches and down the stairs."

The museum was getting better and better while walking on the red carpet that led to the stairs receding down to the archives. It reminded me so much of Rome with the marble pillars and high dome-like ceilings with paintings and statues made of marble from oracular sculptors with divine inspiration. There was a door at the end of the hall with a sign. "Percy, can you read the writing?" "No, let's get closer before we get caught." We walked swiftly to the door and it said "Employees Only". All this time Percy has been holding my hand, knowing that I can be uncouth at doing normal things like walking apparently; he always hectors and teases me about that. We reached the door and I opened it, the push door opened with stridency as if it was warning us to turn back with its croaks and yearns. "It's laughing at us," I told Percy with a puppy face. "It sounds like doleful laughs to me." Percy smirked, showing his dry sense of humor.

The room was dusty with cobwebs in every corner on the beams above the ceiling. Most of the room was covered with Victorian furniture, and bookshelves with old dusty books. Much of the furniture was covered in shrink wrap looking like it was going to be moved but was forgotten by the owners. However, there was furniture out in the open uncovered. "Hey Percy check this out, it's a red satin couch, and it's uncovered too." The scarlet hues of the couch brought life into the room. I looked to find Percy but he was nowhere to be found. I walked through the old bookshelves groping my way through hoping to not fall. "I'm getting farther away from the light" I mumbled under my breath trying to at least stay calm with my own voice. Talking out loud helps me focus when I'm scared or uncomfortable. "Percy, stop playing tricks on me!" I whined trying to attract him with my sweet-toned voice hoping he would come. "Percy, this is not funny; I thought we were going to explore together, I didn't think it was going to be a one man excursion!" "Dang I thought he would take the bait"I mumbled disappointed. In an instant I heard something move behind me; "hello anyone there, Percy is that you?" I turned back around, continuing forwards hoping to find my way through this maze of bookshelves. It's just the beams, it's probably the creaking of the wood floor, no worries...... "Boo"! "Wahhhh" slap. "Oww what was that for?" I responded irksomely, "I don't know you tell me, you're the one who did it right? If you keep it up I will slap you again!" Laughing nervously I shifted my way to the other side of the room. It was a small room but the clutter made it seem bigger than it actually was. "Hey percy check this out, this guy in the painting looks very decorous. He looks like a lord of some sort or a king." "That's Ivan The Terrible, great king". Percy said sarcastically, smirking. "Hey I'm sorry about scaring you, I was just trying to be funny; but it wasn't." I continued to walk around inspired by my own curiosity. "Your acquit, just don't do it again." I laughed.
    "So tell me about this Ivan guy in the painting, what made him so... ah bad?" Percy replied, "He was dissolute; and he killed many people. He was like the first Joseph Satlin but way worse." My face superciliously moved at the thought of how bad this king was in the past.
But I had to comport myself in a mature manner because we could get caught if we didn't move. "Percy, look at this painting, it's a screaming lady on a bridge. She looks very distraught and scared about something or someone." I observed "I've seen that photo before, it's by Slavador Dali." stated Percy. Eventually I turned taciturnly back to the painting.The painting looked so real; the brushstrokes of paint made it look like it was painted by waves. After my sightseeing of the painting was over, I turned back to Percy. "we should probably leave, you lead the way out."

    Percy was a few feet ahead of me following the light of the open door out of the shadows. Something was off about this place; I could feel it in my bones. Before we reached the door I heard screaming coming from the back of the room. "Hey Percy, I'll be right back...I forgot to do something." This shouldn't take long hopefully but there is something off about the painting with the screaming woman, I don't want to come down here for nothing. "Don't go too far." "I won't, I promise!" I shouted back. I heard Percy's faint voice echoing as I got farther away into the maze of bookshelves again. There it is! I went to check to see if there was something secret behind the painting until the woman in the painting screamed with her arms coming out of the wavy painting. She grabbed my ankle, I shrieked and cried in horror. I have to be dreaming; there is no way that this lady stuck her arm out of the painting. "Percy!" I yelled. "Percy help me!" It got to the point where my voice was too tired and raspy to shout. "I'm coming, where are you"! Before Percy could even step though the doorway, it slammed shut by some invisible force. "No Percy, please oh God no.!" I shrieked. I was being grabbed with brute strength that surpassed all of my effort to get free. As I was being dragged from my legs into the painting with the woman screaming .Percy I love you"! I shouted in anguish with only my arm sticking out of the painting. The last thing I heard was the banging on the door.