Exhibition

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Mark with @any1mark66. Thank you Mark!

                                              Payal was excited about the upcoming exhibition to be held in the posh Hotel Royal Plaza.It was an antiquities exhibition that was to be held. Advertisements were put up , pamphlets were circulated, it was a much anticipated event in her otherwise boring town.

Antiques of various kinds, shape and finery were to be exhibited. Sculptures from the Mughal Era, brass utensils from the  Indus Valley Civilization, jewelry from the dynasties south of the Vindhyas.

It exceeded her expectations in terms of collections, designs, varieties it boasted off. Happy about the day she headed towards the exit and the security machine beeped incessantly.She was called to be examined. A tiny piece of jewelry was found tucked safely between the folds of her purse. Her reasoning, protests yielded no sympathy.

Her husband was called for an explanation. He produced a certificate from a renowned psychiatrist that Payal was a kleptomaniac and remitted the required penalty. Outside, she happened to touch the statue, despite the warning that read, Keep Away and became one of it. Kleptomania, could she blame?

175 words

Acknowledgements :- Thank you PJ for running the challenge at Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. The challenge is to write in about 100-150 words(+/- 25 words) based on the photo prompt. Thank you all for stopping by and reading.