text: “You never told me your secret.” We walked through the vacant halls of the Louvre, golden light streaming through the skylight glass panes and illuminating Mona’s curious amber eyes. “Well I have no secrets anymore.” She raised an eyebrow, prompting me to continue. “Does it matter if it’s not my secret anymore?” She stopped walking and turned to me fully, no hint of her usual mischievous grin. A soft smile graced her face as she gently grabbed my arm. “Tell me anyway?” I looked down, her piercing gaze too much as I bore my soul out to her. “I was afraid of the future. After college, I didn’t know what I was going to do. But you’re here now, and now I’m not scared.” I glanced up to gauge her reaction, and watched as something unidentifiable flitted across her face, quickly replaced with a flashy smile. “I’m glad I could do that for you.” She dropped her hand to fit with mine, and began walking again. “What’s the weirdest thing someone has ever confessed to you.” Her eyes scrunched up with laughter. “I’ve gotten stories about cheating and murder to stories about kids making dumb mistakes. One kid told me he tricked his brother into eating worms.” She led me into a shockingly vacant room with a stunning golden frame, the one I had first met her in. She opened the velvet ropes that closed off the frame to the public, and pulled me forward until we were close enough to touch the intricate carvings in the sides. “Reminiscing about your days as a painting?” “Something like that.” A playful grin crossed her face. I stumbled into the museum, hundreds of thoughts ricocheting through my mind. I wandered through the empty hallways, each statue looking rather different without the golden rays pouring through the windows. They somehow looked sinister, like they were plotting against me. Their lifeless eyes bore into my soul, like a reflection of their own emptiness. I could hear the soft thump of my heart in the empty room, the only reminder that I was somewhat different from these artifacts. I am alive. I stop in front of the exit, my feet placed in the scuff marks where hundreds of others had stepped before. My hands tremble as I push open the heavy doors to the next room. The floor is rather pristine here, given the grime collected in the room prior. I walked around the room, taking in each and every painting. Even if my heart could not connect with them, my mind could, and I allowed it to wander into the world of each artist and their precise brushstrokes. Finally, I turned to the infamous painting. The Mona Lisa. Her eyes stared back at me, depth within them that I had never seen before. Unlike the statues who saw right through me, her eyes seemed to be searching. The soft smirk on her lips made her seem all knowing, and perhaps she was from the amount of secrets people dared whisper to her. I stepped past the velvet ropes that were meant to keep people away. My hands were not made for destruction. I gently ran my fingers across her cheek, the roughness of the canvas startling me after being so engrossed in her skin that looked pillow soft. I looked back into her eyes, and searched as well. Loneliness. “What is your secret, Lisa?” Her eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes finally met mine properly. Perhaps I should’ve been startled by the painting moving, but I was rather mesmerized by her beauty. Even if thousands had seen it before, no one has the way I have. Her smirk turned into a genuine smile, and she moved forward, wrapping soft hands around the golden frame and stepping out onto the floor next to me. “You’re alive.” “I am.” She lifted her chin proudly, and smoothed her flowing dress that wrapped around her curves in a delicate way. I forced my eyes to meet hers, and a knowing glint took place in her eyes. “Are you here to tell me your secret?” She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know you. Why should I tell you my secret?” “There’s nothing to know.” I sighed, my shoulders drooping. “I am an empty shell of a human. You’re a painting and you have more life than me.” “I somehow doubt that.” “I know that it’s true.” I gently reached forward to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “Is there any other way for me to find out?” “Well, then I’d like you to prove to me you have nothing within you. Let me know you.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “How do I do that?” “Well I’ve been staring at this awful room for what feels like an eternity.” Her lips turned to a mischievous grin. “If you want to know, you’ll have to take me on a date.” She touched my shoulder, pulling my eyes away from the same smirk I had seen all those months ago. Suddenly, it hit me. “You never told me what your secret was either.” She smiled and gently ran her hand across my face, memorizing each dip and pore with her fingertips. “You’re beautiful, you know that?” “Avoiding the question?” “I just wanted you to know.” She turned to me fully, one hand still gracing the painting while the other cupped my cheek gently. “You’re also the only one who’s ever asked me my secret. Since then, my secret changed too.” “Tell me?” I delicately echoed. “I love you.” I watched in horror as she disintegrated in front of me, starting at the beautiful locks I once ran my fingers through. Her smile never wavered as she decayed into dust, her fingers just as gentle until they too, were finally gone. All that was left was the dust that graced the floor, and the painting which was finally restored. I gently touched the painting that had once been my lover. “I suppose I have a secret too then.” My voice cracked, and I used my other hand to wipe my damp cheeks. “I love you too.” Then the alarms went off.