I had signed up for a cooking class
earlier this week and was a little worried about finding the location and
arriving on time. As per usual, I arrived at my destination easily, only I was
twenty minutes early. So I wandered around and stumbled into a nearby church.
Now I love churches and art so going into random churches is not unusual form
and seemed like a good way to waste twenty minutes.
I walked in and was immediately
captivated by the elaborate ceiling that was a mix of painting, sculpture, and
relief work. When I sat down under the dome to admire the rest of the church, I
noticed a lone priest praying at a side chapel. The chapel’s altar was largely
made up of an alcove containing an exquisite silver statue of a pope or saint.
Seeing people praying is not unusual and I didn’t recognize the artist so I
brushed it off to further study the dome.
As I continued to observe the rest
of the church, the tourists around me began to whisper and point at my praying
priest. When I turned back to look, a painting was emerging from the altar,
covering the alcove where the silver statue was. A minute passed as I had just
seen the entire alcove covered with no evidence of its existence. I looked
around for my priest, but he was gone too. Five hours later and I still am
questing whether my priest or the silver statue ever existed.