THE PAINTING

As usual Alia was taking her evening walk around her residence when she encountered an old man selling paintings. She has always been a admirer of paintings and thought of  buying some for her home.There were  paintings of various kinds among which a certain painting caught her eye, it was a painting of a woman in her late 40's or early 50's.

 So beautifully was it crafted that it looked more like a photograph. The features of her face were portrayed gracefully, her wrinkled skin, her zebra like hair, her pale skin tone, her chapped lips, visible veins on her arms, thin eyebrows and hooded eyes, everything seemed to be worked upon minutely.

 Her prolonged gaze upon the painting made the old man realize her will, he said "Only 150 bucks Madam". the old man's sudden interruption startled her and she told herself "This is a masterpiece and certainly shouldn't be this cheap" however her Indian values and mother's genes made her bargain with the old man.

 Surprisingly the seller didn't even resisted her demand of reducing the price to 100 bucks even once. the excitement of being successful in bargaining made her overlook the strange part of this whole incident.

She positioned the painting in her living room of her 1BHK apartment  as her bedroom was already filled with photo frames consisting  her family photos. After that she got busy with her household chores as her maid was absent today. Whenever she encountered the painting she gets mesmerized by the lively strokes of the painter's brush. 

The next day Alia was cleaning her house when she found out some change in the painting but couldn't figure out what, leaving these thoughts aside she carried on her work and forgot about the painting.

However the changes tend to increase gradually and now Alia could figure out what. For instance the woman's (in the painting) skin started glowing, her wrinkles disappeared and her zebra like hair was turning into luscious and thick black hair.

Alia was feeling tired and therefore thought of taking some rest followed by a shower. In the process of bathing she realised how she has been neglecting herself because of the pressure of work. As she was applying her lotion she noticed that there were certain breakouts on her face followed by her hands, she blamed herself for not taking care of herself.

Days passed by and Alia's weakness in terms of health increased, her external charm was also dissapearring somewhere,she started having wrinkles, rashes, got some white hair even her earlier enthusiasm was missing.

When she woke up the next day and it was a week since she bought the painting, Alia screamed when she saw herself in the mirror. Despite of being just 25 she looked like a woman in her late 40s, she thought of this as a nightmare but unfortunately despite of pinching herself a zillion times she stood where she was standing previously. She approached the living room for some water and was shocked beyond any explanation on seeing that painting.

The old woman in that painting had turned into a beautiful young lady flaunting her alluring features.

                                   *****

Hey guys this is my first attempt of writing a horror story! Do share your reviews.