Louise

He pictured Louise covering her eyes with one hand and her heart with the other. Louise, who regularly responded to text messages with ‘Thanks so much!’, was so moved by the painting of the wilting flowers it ached. Did she make a sound? Did it hurt as much when she uncovered her eyes to look again? Was it worth living with a work of art that afflicted you so? He wanted to know what Louise meant when she commented that the painting was ‘achingly beautiful’. He hoped that he would never unwittingly or otherwise, cause anybody pain through his own art, least of all Louise.