Love Is in the Air: a Valentine’s Day series by Jennifer Weigel
This is the fourth installment in a Valentine’s Day series of shorts by Jennifer Weigel in which unsuspecting lovers succumb to deadly gases. You can read the first three installments here:
Episode 4:
Joe looked lovingly at Dianne. Even after all these years, she never ceased to amaze him. The kids were grown and had flown the coop, they had both retired, and now it was just the two of them in the great big house. Dianne continued to play homemaker and was making Mexicali rice for dinner, sitting at a stool at the countertop sautéing some leftover chicken from the night before with some salsa.
“Can I help?” Joe asked.
“Nothing for you to do honey,” Dianne called back.
Joe reached in his pocket and caressed the carved wooden heart hidden within. He liked to bestow Dianne with trinkets to show she was loved, sometimes it was a card or a box of chocolates, or a pair of fancy earrings, but this time was special. There was no special occasion, just a profession of his feelings for her.
Joe had taken up woodworking upon his retirement and had been whittling away at this heart in his spare time as he learned the trade. He had burned their initials “JMS & DAS Forever” into it the smooth surface once he had sanded it down and then polished it to bring out the natural wood grain. It was the first real thing he had finished. Dianne knew nothing of it.
She had finished her cooking and was dishing up the meal, scooping a bed of rice onto each plate and then blanketing it with the chicken and salsa mixture before adding some shredded cheddar cheese to melt over the top.
“Can I at least get the table ready?” Joe asked.
“Sure, it’s just about time,” Dianne replied.
Joe arranged a fork, knife and spoon at each place setting along with a glass containing three ice cubes and water from the tap for each. He placed the wooden heart atop Dianne’s folded napkin before helping to bring the plates in from the kitchen and set them down.
As Dianne sat at her place, Joe remarked, “That’s for you. I carved it myself.”
She picked up the wooden heart and looked at Joe.
“I wanted you to know how much you mean to me,” he continued. “After everything we’ve been through together, the kids and grandkids, this house…”
Dianne turned the heart over in her hand, studying the smooth surface and running a fingertip over the initials. “Oh honey, it’s beautiful. Thank you. It’s been quite the adventure!”
As they leaned in and kissed one another, a faint odor crept in from the periphery. It smelled old and stale, like corn chips and wet gym socks masked with lilac perfume. At first neither noticed, and still later neither said a word about it hoping it would just pass and unsure whether it was something they did.
Finally Dianne spoke, “Honey, what is that terrible smell?”
“I don’t know,” Joe responded.
Dianne sniffed at her meal and glanced back towards the kitchen. It wasn’t the food and she hadn’t left the stovetop on.
It seemed to be coming out of the air everywhere, like a thick invisible noxious cloud. It was pungent but even worse, it was a bit disorienting. Joe and Dianne both felt dizzy and a little nauseous. Dianne had enough sense to press her LifeAlert button around her neck before she staggered and fell to the floor, but by the time the paramedics arrived both she and Joe were already dead.
You can find more of Jennifer Weigel’s writing by visiting her website here at Jennifer Weigel Words.
In our last installment of the art show preview, the eye drawing has it… All-seeing works by Jennifer Weigel go to show you gotta watch where you look. I’m a little obsessed with eyes, so they appear in a lot of my art, especially the more surreal the circumstance. Here are a few that have found themselves in odd and unusual settings…
We’re still watching you, in full spectrum Technicolor psychedelia. Eye drawing sunflowers stretch their petals and blink into the sun… The little Eye See You drawing is one of my personal favorites.
I had so much fun drawing this with Art Girls Reality Meg Graham and Day de Dada in one of the mandala gatherings. The big Sunflower Vision above also happened in one of these online groups. All of my mandalas have eyes, it just kind of happens…
No spiders this time, so we’ll close with a rainbow Hamsa warding sigil eye drawing. The hamsa or Hand of Fatima is an ancient symbol that protects against evil and negativity when facing upwards and brigs prosperity and good fortune upon its wearer when turned the other way. It is found in spiritual, religious and cultural beliefs throughout the world in various forms. I included it previously in one of my walking sticks. My version is fairly Goth-punk influenced with the huge central eye and running mascara, but seriously would you expect any different?
Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL. Or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
And we’re back! Here’s more marker drawing from Jennifer Weigel, continuing our exclusive preview of works for her upcoming show… This time we’re diving into full spectrum Technicolor!
This Little Witch and her tabby cat wanted to kick things off with a fly-by hello. They’re bringing the witchy magics from the last post. That’s a crowded broomstick, but what a way to ride in style. Funny how cats always seem to fill whatever space is available to them, especially while lap-napping.
It’s a perfect time to howl at the moon in this Night Watch marker drawing. Such a happy lycanthrope. He’s setting the night to music, a capella werewolf-style.
The cuteness just cannot be contained in this Candy Corn Vampire marker drawing. I vant to suck your sugary soda. I used to take great glee in doing this with candy corn as a child, to my dentist father’s chagrin. It’s every dentist’s nightmare. Or $$$ depending on their personal motivations, I suppose.
And why not end with some more spiders? This is a plein air drawing done in situ based off of this fun sculpture in Wichita, Kansas USA. You can see the finished drawing and its inspiration here. This spider is HUGE! Made out of metal and rocks and other crazy stuff…
Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL. Or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
This month we are going to explore more fun marker art from Jennifer Weigel, starting with black and white line drawing. Jennifer is getting ready for her big Life Is Brilliant solo show in March and has snuck in a few spookier themes, so she wanted to share them with you here.
The magic is strong in this Witch Way line drawing with its fun witchy head-topper, complete with striped hat band and star dangle. No self-respecting wizard’s ensemble would be complete without it.
And now the adorable Kitty Witch will don the Witch Way hat and cast a spell of cuteness on you. You gotta wonder just how the hat stays on but best not to question these things. We all know it’s magic…
The devil is in the details in this Not Today Satan line drawing, and boy is he pissed!
This She Devil is just plain goofy. Maybe she’s coyly playing innocent; it’s not a look most devils can pull off, seeing as how innocence really isn’t their schtick…
This little spider came down to your tuffet to remind you to Hang in There. She is very well-intentioned and is only looking out for you. I guess maybe she’s not so little though, she is an Argiope after all…
Feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL. Or on her writing, fine art, and conceptual projects websites.
