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This selection received first prize in the
short story division of Contrast's writing
contest.

Framed

BARBARA E. TERRY

-D IRK SHOVED his hands deeper into the pockets of his worn tweed
topcoat as a sudden gust of damp air reminded him that he had
forgotten gloves. It was a raw Saturday afternoon, and the gloominess
of his flat had forced him out into the street in the hope that a walk

might clear his mind.
The weather couldn't decide to be rainy and so contented itself

with being sullenly overcast and occasionally blowing a fine drizzle
into his face. Often Dirk had spent such afternoons with Lisa before
.a friendly hearth and a bright, warming fire where both had ignored
the spiteful weather outside. Now there was only chill misty air,
cheerless and unloved as he was and lonely too, for few are the souls
who take pleasure in such a day. The cold grayness overhead promised
no break in the weather. No brighter outlook for me either, Dirk
thought, feeling an odd kinship with the gray-green clouds and the
mist that served no purpose, but only deepened desolation and took
the polish off any joy that others may have had.

Dirk ran thin, sensitive fingers through unkempt dark brown hair
that was fast acquiring the Saturday afternoon dampness. Evidently
a walk was not the remedy his troubled thoughts wanted. His spirits
were still at a low ebb. He watched a black cat that looked as if it
had only two or three lives left scamper along the wet pavement in
front of him and disappear around the corner. The entrance to the
Lewis Art Gallery was just around that corner and suddenly the
prospect of an afternoon's browsing through paintings and sculpture
appealed to him. It might take his mind off-other things. He turned

right and entered the building.
Inside, the bust of Homer greeted him like an old friend, and

the warm glow given off by the chandelier took the edge off his chill.
The familiar hollow ring of his shoes on the polished floor improved
his state of mind in three easy steps. A new artist, Dirk had dis-
-covered, was having his first showing this afternoon. Mildly curious,

he entered the room on his right.
Mmm, sensible chap, Dirk told himself after viewing the first few

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