The Faceless Woman down the Seine

A Strange Encounter

       It was a day just like any other. Two strangers, an old man and a girl, were sitting on abench, only ten inches apart, waiting for the bus to come. The old man was holding up a picture in his hands - the girl could not help but notice.

It was an old photograph, in black and white, the yellowish paper all wrinkled up. It was the kind of photo one would find in history books or among grandma's things. A relic of the 1940s, 50s perhaps. 

Except the girl had never seen a picture quite like that before, for this one happened to be rather peculiar. 

Sitting over the front wheel of a sleek, dark car was a young woman in a light-colored summer dress. Her posture was elegant, her silhouette graceful, but her face was entirely gone. Where her features had once been, a heart had been carved out - the paper still retained the dreamy shape. 

Rapturous with curiosity, the girl wondered what had been of the faceless woman.

"Excuse me, sir," she timidly began, "May I ask you a question?

The old man gently shook his head as if waking up from a dream. Then, he took his eyes off the photograph and slowly turned his gaze towards the girl. 

"Of course, you might.", he replied with a warm smile, "What would you like to ask me, dear?"

"I noticed the picture you're holding. It's quite lovely. And strange at the same time. That hole inthe middle, it's quite odd." 

The man glanced at the photograph. "Oh, I see what you mean. The heart. That poor heart," he said with a note of sadness in his voice, "that's where it all began."