Objets d’Art
The last time I saw Paris, I was on a mission. My boyfriend and I assembled our tools—guidebook, cameras, tickets—and made our way to the nearest Metro station. After a short ride made long by a Frenchman who took a cavalier approach to hygiene, we reached our destination. The Louvre.
Instead of waiting in the long line aboveground, we used the less crowded Metro entrance. The first exhibit was the medieval portion of the Louvre, but as interesting as old architecture might be, we were focused intently on our goal.
Up the stairs we went, past throngs of tourists idly photographing gold goblets and marble busts while tour guides tonelessly repeated well-rehearsed lines. Soon enough, we were surrounded by statues, from the Venus de Milo to the Athena of Velletri to Michelangelo’s Dying Slave.
“Ready?” I asked. My boyfriend nodded. We held up our cameras, the world seeming to hold its breath in anticipation. In unison, we stepped around to the backs of the statues and began to take pictures of their butts.
Tags: Micro fiction, Microfic
I like this – neat punchline. Only things are the questionable hygiene of the french taxi driver is a bit of a cliche (it’s probably true, but it still smacks of cliche). Also the red herring could maybe be stronger – the term ‘mission’ implies they’re art thieves or something. Maybe mention passports, plural? Might imply they’re preparing to run, although it’s not exactly a tool.
Also, might be worth specifying they’re deliberately going at a time when it’s quiet, or at it’s quietest. I’m not sure if the Louvre ever is, though – maybe first thing on a sunday morning or something?
It didn’t occur to me to go so far with the red herring… definitely something I could explore. The smelly French guy was on the Metro, but if it’s cliche, it can go. Just because something happened doesn’t make it true, heh.
I hadn’t thought it should be a quiet time, and I thought the descriptions of throngs of tourists covered that angle, but if I want to take it to pseudo-art-heist levels then that might be a good plan.
Thanks for the comments!