Classical Portrait

A crowded wall of framed classical portraits, where a skeleton in a suit hangs near a cat with a cigarette.

Nimashah finished a portrait late in the day and asked the room what they thought. The guesses came fast. Grace Kelly, said one painter. Elvis, joked another. Then Schwarzenegger, then Obama, until Nimashah pleaded for mercy. Danielailustra had called it on the very first try. Ingrid Bergman. Nobody else came close. Their secret was simple. There was a time when they watched a lot of old movies, and that face had stayed with them.