It was a strange sensation at first. Quite unsettling for someone who had never felt anything similar to it before. Very unsettling for someone like Art who had never really felt anything before. It was almost as if he were slowly awakening from a very long sleep. But of course, he didn't know what that felt like either. This was all very new to him indeed! He would have called it a tickle on his cheek if he had known what the word tickle meant. What he did know, was that the feeling was becoming stronger and stronger. Little flicks of feeling here and there on his face. Sometimes light and short, sometimes heavier, with more purpose, more authority. Not altogether unpleasant really, just a curious little pressure, little touches, little strokes randomly touching his face here and there.
What came next was even more interesting. Just as he was getting used to his face being touched in that very curious, very intimate manner, something else started to happen. He started hearing little noises. He heard a slight scratching noise here, a small sliding sound there. The more Art listened, the more intriguing this new sensation became. And what was even more curious, was the more he listened, the louder the noises became. After what seemed like a very long time indeed, he noticed other things as well. The little noises somehow went along with the little tickles. Of course, how this was all happening was something that made no sense at all. But sure enough, the more time went on, he was sure of it. The noise the pressure and the tickle were somehow connected. Sometimes he would hear the little noise, and then notice that the tickle followed, and sometimes it was the other way around. Tickle, noise. Noise, tickle.
What happened next was so unexpected, so startling in its reality that if he could, if he had been capable, he would have sucked in a deep breath. The kind of startled breath that makes the "unnnhhhh" sound. There was light! Well, at least there was an obvious lack of darkness! It, like the tickle and the noise was very slight at first, almost as if nothing were happening and it was all in his imagination. But soon, and very slowly at first he could see something. Concentrating hard he found that besides the light, he could also see movement. Slight shadows were playing across his field of view. Dark at first, then lighter and lighter the more he stared. Not that he really had a choice here either. It was as if a whole new world were somehow forming right in front of him. So intent on watching the small movements play back and forth in front on him that he almost missed another very important something. They were all connected. The shadows, the movement, the tickle. He would watch the shadow, feel the tickle and hear a little scratchy noise. Over and over again this happened. It was wonderful! Like music except that you could see and feel it as well as hear it.
It was then that the humming started. And within seconds the beautiful woman that had been stroking his face appeared. And just when all of his sensations seemed to burst something else happened. It all disappeared. The beautiful woman was gone. The humming stopped. Even the little tickle and scratch was gone. All of it was suddenly gone. As if it never even happened.
As Lisa covered up the painting she wondered to herself whether the portrait of the young man would sell. What a strange business Art was.