The Curator's Collection

I thought it was the modeling gig of a lifetime: the face of a new avant-garde fashion exhibit by the mysterious and celebrated artist known only as "The Curator." But his studio is less a workspace and more a showroom, filled with eerily lifelike mannequins posed in elaborate scenes. He tells me my job is to become one of them. The process is gradual. First, it's the rigid poses held for hours. Then comes the smooth, painted-on "skin" and the glass-like eyes. He trains me to be still, to be silent, to be the perfect, beautiful object he envisions. My own will is fading, replaced by a placid desire to please him, to be the most prized piece in his collection.