Albert caressed the head of a young woman cast in marble that rested upon his shelf. It was gray and formless whilst simultaneously possessing unparalleled beauty.

Carefully, he corrected its placement. First slightly to the left, then to the right, then left again, until—voilá!—no, a little more to the right—perfect. He tapped on the shelf thrice with his knuckles and shifted his eyes towards the door that creaked open to his right. His eyes motioned back towards the statue—something still felt off about it. He used both hands this time to position it precisely at its center, facing the large window on the opposite side of the room.

"I can't help but admire all of your art. It blows me away every single time." A woman's voice called out.

"Hm? Oh sorry, you are?"

Bert, you incompetent fool.

I snapped back. Finally.

"Hey gorgeous." I smiled. "How was work?"

"Oh, you know." She placed her handbag on my desk. "The usual. Kids being kids."

As she uttered those words, glistening rays of sunlight poured into the room and kissed her sublime features. Oh, how splendid she looked. An angel. The fullness of her cheeks. The curvature of her ears. The symmetricity of her nose. Marvelous. How blessed I am.

"—and I'm so grateful that you've agreed to do this. You didn't have to, you know?" She shoveled through her handbag and pulled out some lip gloss, plastering it all over those luscious lips. Playfully, she inched closer to me and teased my naïve boyish self with a mere peck on the cheek.

"I'm all yours once I get back. That's a promise." She looked furtively at the clock. "Drat. I'll be late if I don't leave soon." She pecked me on the cheek again. "Take good care of her, okay? I told her not to cause any trouble."

My mind was a complete blank. Just being this close to her enchanting eyes made me awestruck beyond belief.

"Weeeeee~"

The high-pitched sound brought me out of my trance.

I hurried out into my living room and saw the wretched cretin swerving and sailing inches away from my prized possessions.

CLINK.

A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead for what felt like an eternity as I watched the scene unfold. Without a moment's hesitation, I leaped to cushion the fall of my latest masterpiece.

It landed safely in my palms. I looked towards the scoundrel with eyes full of malice, with the hope that she ceases her occupation. I was wrong.

"Sweetie..." Heather's sing-song voice tweeted like a songbird. "Julie... Julianna!"

The vermin stopped in her tracks. Seems like her mother possessed a sort of divine magick over her. I still wonder how such a wench could be begotten from a faerie-like goddess.

"I'm so terribly sorry about that, Vinny. I hope you're okay."

I raised the statue above my head and she offered to carry it. Albert immediately clutched it tight to his chest. I loosened my grip.

"Um..." She appeared confused.

Goddammit Bert, don't you dare ruin this day for me.

"Sorry about that. You know how sensitive I am about these pieces."

She pursed her lips. "Julianna, I want you to treat Vincent with respect, okay?"

The scoundrel nodded with an exaggerated pivot of her tiny head.

"Good." Heather bent down and hugged her. "Mommy will be back tonight, okay?"

"I'll miss you, mommy."

"I'll be back before you know it." She smiled, elucidating those heavenly dimples once more.

Her gaze shifted to me and this time my lips were offered a euphoric treat. "See you tonight, Vinny."

And with that, she left.

Laboriously, I spent most of the afternoon heaving my pieces away from the living room and into my study where they would be safe from the ravaging mongrel.

I sat down on the cushioned chair by the piano near the window, hoping to relax and rest from the physical exertion. Albert sat up in the cushioned seat and turned to face the piano. Through the window, he could see the budding flowers blossoming on the acacia trees. Children romped up and down the empty streets without a care in the world. Ugly creatures.

He stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. He was ready.

From the tips of his spindly digits emerged a symphony of melodious tunes, each cascading and elevating the previous. A musical medley of soothing legato interspersed with brief forté, his fingers flying across the keys with effortless ease. The study turned gravid with tranquility, a veritable microcosm of the spring that shone so bright beyond the translucent glass.

Satisfied with his endeavor, Albert sighed in ecstasy like that of a ravenous priest that only recently broke his fast.

Before rising from his seat, however, he pressed down gently on a random white key. Unsatisfied, he depressed the same key once more. He stood up but stopped midway to conclude his unsolicited trial. To his abject horror, his finger slipped and tapped the insidious key for a fourth time accidentally. His response was to mash the same key several more times, keeping track of the exact count in hopes that he does not leave it at thirteen, God forbid.

Eventually satisfied at a sound twenty-one, he smiled in relief and stood up. As he craned his neck, his eyes fell upon the little girl who stood frozen in place at the doorway, her expression betraying her incredible confusion.

Let me handle this, Bert. You had your fun.

"You. I remember you."

Julie started.

"You're that lady's kid. Brother loves her a lot, for some reason. He must love you too." Albert smiled gently and walked up to the startled girl.

"There, there." He lowered himself to meet her height and patted her on the head. "No need to be afraid. Do you want to hear a story, perhaps? A story always helps me calm down."

Not waiting for her response, he took her hand and led her to the living room couch. "Sit. Don't you want to hear my story?"

The girl snapped out of her confusion and gave an exaggerated nod. Strange how quickly children move on.

She held her stuffed rabbit in her arms and listened attentively.

"Once upon a time, there was a happy family. A very happy family. There was Daddy, Mommy, and two brothers. The elder brother was incredibly smart, suave, and very, very handsome. But he was also a bad person."

"Why?" The child's curiosity was piqued.

"You see, the elder brother loved his pets a lot. Exceedingly so. He would cuddle with them, play with them and shower them with his affection. But one day, one very strange day, when Mommy came back from work, she screamed. Do you know why?"

"Why?" The excited girl hugged her teddy bear, shivers spreading goosebumps across her skin.

"Well, the cat had disappeared. And in its place was only its head."

The little girl stood up abruptly, still clutching onto her single bastion of comfort. "Where did the rest of it go?"

Albert shrugged. "I'm getting ahead of myself. Yes. I forgot to tell you about the younger brother." He picked up a glass from the coffee table in front of him and poured some water into it, which he drank in three discrete glugs.

"Pardon me." He stood up, holding his hands a certain distance away from him after setting down the glass. In a few conscious strides, he made his way to the bathroom. Spotless and clean it was not, rather, it was what you might expect a young bachelor's restroom to look like. Though strangely enough, certain spots stood out as exceptionally well maintained.

He turned on the lever tap with his elbow and squeezed the top of the handwash with his outer wrist. Making sure every last nook and cranny of his palms was lathed with soap, he deliberately held them beneath the running water, carefully avoiding any stray droplets from splashing onto them. Alas, right as his ritual was coming to a close, a droplet ricocheted from the ceramic bowl of the sink and assaulted his pristine appendages. Cursing his luck, he repeated the same ceremony in sanctimonious devotion. Unable to leave the occasion at an ugly two, he repeated it a third and final time and then exited the exalted room.

"Alright, where were we?"

"The cat! What happened to it?!" The little girl bounced up and down, hoping that her romp would get her closer to an answer.

Albert's eyes worriedly settled upon one marble statue he had forgotten to move. With haste, he held the girl by her shoulders and stared at her with hollow eyes that seemed to gaze into eternity. Something snapped within the child, and she obeyed without a word.

"Well then, as I was saying—the younger brother. You see, he was quite the comical fellow. Always by himself, none the wiser of what occurred in the world or for that matter his own living room. But nonetheless, he was gifted in several arts, sculpting especially."

The girl remained seated quietly, motionless, listening intently, or perhaps hardly at all.

"The younger brother. He died, somehow. My guess is as good as yours. A shame, really. A talented young buck."

At this point, the child felt a certain unease. "What happened to him?"

"He died. Didn't you hear me?"

"What happened then?"

"Mommy and Daddy died too. A fire, apparently. Heaven knows why. My guess—someone left the stove on."

"...when is mommy going to come home?"

He shrugged.

"I want mommy."

"Don't you like me? Brother likes you, I think. I suppose I'm meant to like you too."

The child stood up abruptly and ran towards the front door. Alas, it was locked.

"Are you afraid of me?" The voice breathed against her neck. "There's no need to be afraid. Everything will be alright."

Hours later, the doorbell rang in an almost sing-song tune. I rushed to it eagerly.

"Hey there, my sweet angel."

"Vinny~ You would not believe what a wonderful time I had at the spa. It was so refreshing!"

Every single pore on her demure skin appeared full and fresh. Even in this dimly lit room, her features shone through like the moon on a foggy winter's night. I moved closer to her in order to skip through all the formalities.

"Where's Julie? Did she give you too much trouble?" She seemingly dodged my advance and walked to the fridge for a cold milk.

"Oh sweetheart, don't you worry about her. She's in a deep, deep sleep."

Heather smiled, her cheekbones rising, stealing the spotlight of my attention. "Well... I guess I did promise you, so..."

She held my hand and pulled me over to the bathroom. The bathroom? The Bathroom. I resisted.

"Can't we go straight to the bedroom instead?"

"Well, I don't know about you but I really have to pee."

I stood back. I did not wish for it to happen this early. I wanted to experience that exquisite face in full animation. What a shame.

The bathroom door squeaked open with her flimsy, exhausted hands. Oh, what a shame. She walked inside and splashed water onto her face. In her periphery, her eyes caught something bobbing within the stained bowl of the toilet.

"Honey, I think you forgot to flush—"

Her gorgeous face froze in horror. Not disgust. Not anger. Mere horror. I suppose that is what I deserve. I could have preserved her with any other expression. Any at all. But I was ruined. It always ends this way. A terrible, terrible shame.