Bernice's Heart is Rejuvenated in an Ancient, Secret Lab.
Around a year ago or so, an old friend of mine asked me to illustrate some pictures to potentially go in a book of poetry she created. I'm not really sure what happened with the project, so I'm going to share the pictures I created here! I am giving each of them a name and story completed unrelated to the poem. That's one of the great things about art! Each art piece a person creates can always have many stories.
Bernice was born with a weak heart. Her heart would tick inside her, but it would also tick like a time bomb in her mind. She knew one day it would stop. As she grew into a young adult, she could feel her heart weakening each day.
One day, while looking through a newspaper, Bernice saw an advert. The advert was searching for people to join their study. They wanted people who were in search of a new organs. The study said if their theories were right, study participants could leave with the organ they so desperately needed.
Well, Bernice didn't have time for caution or fear. She needed a new heart so she promptly responded to the ad. After a fifteen page application process, a phone interview, five letters of reference, a cover letter that needed to be no shorter than five pages, and six in person interviews, Bernice was finally admitted to the study!
The day she got the email confirming she was part of the study, she wondered when she'd get the follow up email telling her where to go for the first day of the study. But instead, that very night, she was kidnapped, blind folded, knocked out and taken to the studies headquarters.
The headquarters were a strange place. They were dusty and full of old furniture and appliances. The scientists running the study were dull eyed and all looked like each other. Bernice was strapped to a hospital bed and mostly in a drug fueled haze. But she did start to feel stronger and stronger. When she fell asleep, she fell asleep to the sound of her own heart beating.
Then one day, it was over. She woke up back in her own bed as if she was never taken. She wondered for a second if it was all a dream. But after charging her dead cell phone, she looked at the date. It was 6 months since the last day she remembered! She felt creeped out and used by the scientists. They weren't at all kind, although they weren't cruel either. She was just there lab rat, not a human they were helping. But if her heart was better, Bernice still felt it was worth it. She made an appointment with her doctor to get her heart looked at.
The doctor confirmed that her heart was completely normal and healthy, and Bernice was on top of the world!
But shortly after, Bernice started having strange experiences. She would be standing close to another person when she would start feeling her heart pound furiously in her chest. She could hear it too. It was loud like a drum. Then suddenly, she was feeling things she shouldn't be feeling. She was feeling whatever the person next to her was feeling. It was like mind reading, but slightly different. She was them for a moment. She was worried about 'her' father's health. She was anxious about 'her' work presentation. She was proud of 'her' daughters performance at the dance recital. She was excited about 'her' new love interest.
Her heart was healed, but it now had a new power...to completely understand the emotions of the people around her.
Bernice knew it was no accident. The scientists had given her this ability, or curse. She wasn't sure yet. But whatever it was, it was a skill that others did not have. It was a skill she was going to need to figure out and somehow use for good.
While Bernice pondered what she should do with her new skill, she stepped into an elevator and suddenly felt everything the young man next to her was feeling. She was nervous about a math test. She was angry at her strict mother. She was excited the girl she liked smiled at her. She was dreamy about the future. She was the young man next to her, even if only briefly. Bernice thought that she wouldn't be a person at all much longer due to her weak heart, but now suddenly, she could be hundreds of different people, if even just for a moment.
Bernice was born with a weak heart. Her heart would tick inside her, but it would also tick like a time bomb in her mind. She knew one day it would stop. As she grew into a young adult, she could feel her heart weakening each day.
One day, while looking through a newspaper, Bernice saw an advert. The advert was searching for people to join their study. They wanted people who were in search of a new organs. The study said if their theories were right, study participants could leave with the organ they so desperately needed.
Well, Bernice didn't have time for caution or fear. She needed a new heart so she promptly responded to the ad. After a fifteen page application process, a phone interview, five letters of reference, a cover letter that needed to be no shorter than five pages, and six in person interviews, Bernice was finally admitted to the study!
The day she got the email confirming she was part of the study, she wondered when she'd get the follow up email telling her where to go for the first day of the study. But instead, that very night, she was kidnapped, blind folded, knocked out and taken to the studies headquarters.
The headquarters were a strange place. They were dusty and full of old furniture and appliances. The scientists running the study were dull eyed and all looked like each other. Bernice was strapped to a hospital bed and mostly in a drug fueled haze. But she did start to feel stronger and stronger. When she fell asleep, she fell asleep to the sound of her own heart beating.
Then one day, it was over. She woke up back in her own bed as if she was never taken. She wondered for a second if it was all a dream. But after charging her dead cell phone, she looked at the date. It was 6 months since the last day she remembered! She felt creeped out and used by the scientists. They weren't at all kind, although they weren't cruel either. She was just there lab rat, not a human they were helping. But if her heart was better, Bernice still felt it was worth it. She made an appointment with her doctor to get her heart looked at.
The doctor confirmed that her heart was completely normal and healthy, and Bernice was on top of the world!
But shortly after, Bernice started having strange experiences. She would be standing close to another person when she would start feeling her heart pound furiously in her chest. She could hear it too. It was loud like a drum. Then suddenly, she was feeling things she shouldn't be feeling. She was feeling whatever the person next to her was feeling. It was like mind reading, but slightly different. She was them for a moment. She was worried about 'her' father's health. She was anxious about 'her' work presentation. She was proud of 'her' daughters performance at the dance recital. She was excited about 'her' new love interest.
Her heart was healed, but it now had a new power...to completely understand the emotions of the people around her.
Bernice knew it was no accident. The scientists had given her this ability, or curse. She wasn't sure yet. But whatever it was, it was a skill that others did not have. It was a skill she was going to need to figure out and somehow use for good.
While Bernice pondered what she should do with her new skill, she stepped into an elevator and suddenly felt everything the young man next to her was feeling. She was nervous about a math test. She was angry at her strict mother. She was excited the girl she liked smiled at her. She was dreamy about the future. She was the young man next to her, even if only briefly. Bernice thought that she wouldn't be a person at all much longer due to her weak heart, but now suddenly, she could be hundreds of different people, if even just for a moment.