Guillermo’s Masterpiece

Image by Comfreak from Pixabay



Guillermo’s sculpture of Cher gave the impression

it would walk victoriously offstage if he’d chosen to finish the legs. Visitors claimed they heard her voice every time they looked away.

 ‘Mares of Diomedes’
was equally impressive, touring the world and drawing audiences as impressed by
the pose and anatomy of the horses as they were disturbed by the ravenous looks
in their eyes.

His impressive list of sculptures, realistic and abstract, drew
from pop culture, mythology, and “the collective unconscious.”

Lately though, he has been obsessed with a project he has
kept secret, but at the same time remarkably public. He first challenged quarry
masters around the world to present him with the largest pristine piece of
stone they could transport, offering ten million to the one he would select.

He set up web cameras at twelve different angles, inspected
each, and rejected them in turn until a three-story block of Himalayan marble
won the prize.

He spent the next eight months chipping away at the block,
armed with a wooden ladder, a chisel and a mallet. Barriers were set up around
his outdoor workstation, and visitors could watch him work, often yelling out
their guesses.

Guillermo never responded. With the world watching via
webcam or in person, he worked, sometimes fourteen hours a day, and the sculpture
slowly took shape, until one child yelled out, “Is it an egg?”

The artist smiled, pausing in his work to turn and wink.

Critics were aghast. Why would Guillermo spend so long
crafting a simple ovoid? It was beneath his talent.

This morning, Guillermo climbed down his ladder and stepped
back, proclaiming it done.

“Silence!” he yelled. A crack split the air and the stone.
Massive wings unfurled from inside, and a column of fire shot upward, as
Guillermo’s masterpiece was born.

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