How "The Girl in the Painting" should have ended...

A Haunting Hour fanfic

by LDEJRuff

"For you," the girl said, handing Becky a rose, "in honor of your visit."

"Thank you," Becky replied. After sniffing the rose, Becky continued, "I never smelled anything so wonderful. Everything here is so perfect."

"It's not all perfect," the girl disagreed, shaking her head.

"Right," Becky disbelieved. "What could you possibly worry about here?"

Becky turned her head to face the girl for an answer.

"Nothing," she dismissed. "Absolutely nothing. And especially, now that you're here..."

Suddenly, there was a loud thud, making Becky gasp in shock.

"Did you hear that?" Becky asked.

Another thud. Now Becky was even more shocked.

"You didn't hear that?" Becky continued.

"It's nothing," the girl dismissed.

Another thud, now near the house the girl was in. Something was not right.

"What is that?" Becky wondered.

The clock in the room struck.

"Six o'clock," the girl feared.

Becky started to feel a little uneasy when another thud was heard.

"What's going on?"

She was answered when she saw something move out the window, masking her gasp in shock.

"Did you see that?!"

Then, there was a roar.

"I changed my mind," Becky said, now scared. "I'm going to go."

"No, wait!" the girl replied.

But it was too late. Becky opened the closet door and got out of the room.

The girl, now saddened, then pulled the rope on top of the ceiling, which then opened.

"I'm sorry, Mom," the girl wept. "I tried."

With that, a tear, which would the last one she shed, fell from her eye.

Becky made it back into her room, free from a terrible fate. However, she noticed that the painting had no girl. It was a now-empty room.

"The painting," Becky said, walking closer to it. "The girl's gone. What happened to her?"

"Oh, no," a woman's voice then said, surprising her. "I was afraid something like this would happen to her."

"Who said that?" Becky asked.

"Quick," the voice summoned. "Back into the painting."

Becky then walked back into the room through the closet and saw a woman crying on the bed.

"Who..." Becky gulped. "Who are you? And what happened to the girl?"

"My daughter," she broke down. "She has been eaten."

"You're her mother?" Becky replied, feeling about as sad as the woman was. She laid a hand to the woman's lap and continued. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are," the mother replied. "And she felt bad for the people who wanted her life."

"Just like I did?" Becky asked.

"Yes," the mother replied. "It's my fault it's always hungry."

"No," Becky disagreed. "The fault is mine. I let a friend get eaten, so I feel like a price must be paid. Let me fill in for her."

"You'd do that?" the mother gasped. "I...I couldn't possibly..."

"I insist," Becky pleaded. "I don't want you to suffer the same fate as your daughter."

The mother shed tears of joy, hugging Becky.

"Of course, you must promise to stay in this world forever."

"Yes, I promise," Becky replied.

"Good," the mother said. "Now that you're part of this world, Becky, you must follow the rules of this painted world. It's either us or them."

"Will others come and see how everything in this room seems beautiful?" Becky asked.

"Yes," the mother answered, "and, as always, they will pay the price. Now, you should get dressed into position."

As the mother left the room, Becky looked at the door she came in through, and shed a single tear.

"I love you, Mom," Becky whispered.

Becky then got into the same position the girl made before she moved after getting dressed, looking at the window. Now the painting had been changed to have Becky in the girl's stead, while Becky's room was now without an owner.

The End