Ok, the story,, I think that she visited me in 2003. I was asleep in my apartment one night and I was awakened by screaming. I opened my eyes and there was a woman leaned over me screaming a high pitched blood curdling scream. She was glowing bright red and her hair was undulating around her. To the best of my recollection she was nude. I bolted up in bed and watched her run out of the room, I jumped up to follow her and saw the living room light up and then heard the front door slam. I made it to the door and checked it and both the knob and dead bolt were locked. I went back to bed and did not get much sleep for the rest of the night. Now I know this sounds like a dream, but I was completely awake and chased her out of the apartment. Within the next two days I did a sketch of her. I didn’t sketch her as I saw her, but I decided to bind her. The woman in the painting The Exquisite Deterioration of Vienne is the red lady. Now for many people who have seen that painting she has come across as creepy as well as strong and defiant. I gave her the look of someone who put herself into that position. Her hands are free, she is not totally bound, and her disposition is calm. She wants to be there. I have had fun with people over time saying that one day she might come up missing from the painting, and if that happens I may be a goner. All good fun, right? I will admit that before the painting was done,,,which was a long time in the works, I believe she visited me again. I woke up another night to find the apartment lit up like it was on fire. I got up thinking that there was a problem in the living room and as I walked to the door the room darkened again, but up till the point that it did I could see everything in the room as clear as day, but when the light went away it was pitch dark again, and there were no lights turned on in the rest of the house. I have heard stories from others who have lived in that area. One man who lived there said that he went walking in the cemetery on the corner from the apartments and saw a beautiful woman walking among the tombstones. He went to talk to her and she disappeared. He then realized that she had been glowing. I don’t know if she was red to him, but it seems like a funny coincidence doesn’t it. I also know that the apartments had caught on fire once, and another building on the property had actually blown up years ago from a furnace explosion. The old furnace is still sitting in the fields where it originally was. I will leave it up to you to decide if this story has any merit.
PAIN 07