Jack had never thought about having sex with anyone else but Marina. He had first seen her last year when he was seventeen. The wax museum in Tuville had just opened in an attempt to attract tourists. It was successful at first; people would pull off of route sixty-six to rest and the museum would catch their eye. It lost its novelty fast. But not for Jack.

Marina wasn’t the statue that welcomed you at the door, nor was she the most realistic. Her nose was shifted slightly to the right of her face and her left ear was about two inches lower than the other. Jack didn’t care. Her imperfections were what attracted him to her. She was smooth. The lighting hit her face in just the right way so that she was constantly glistening.

 Jack would visit the wax museum three times a week at four o’clock, hands shaking at the thought of seeing his love. If visitors were in the museum, they wouldn’t stay long. They’d make their way around the attraction in, on average, seven minutes. Once they’d leave, Jack would sit on the floor in front of Marina, legs crossed, head in his hands. The ticket person made the mistake of asking what Jack was doing when all of this first began. He had stood up and blushed. The ticket person had glanced, accidentally, at Jack’s crotch, and walked away with no questions asked.

If only Jack could take Marina home and make his fantasy come true, at least once. He’d place her on his bed and stare at her for a while before commencing. Jack pushed the thought out of his mind, knowing that his fantasy was unattainable. Jack went home each day with the image of Marina tattooed on his brain.

The next day, Jack left for work early to say good morning to Marina. Two blocks away from his home the light smell of burning wood tickled Jack’s nostrils. He brushed it off, assuming that it was someone’s chimney. The smell became stronger as his walk continued. Jack turned the corner on which Marina lived. He was greeted by three fire trucks down the road, along with the smell of burning plastic. Jack sprinted.

                                                                        ~

The firemen say they didn’t see Jack run into the flames. They say they heard a scream but once they found the source of it, it was too late.

The firemen found Jack on the ground, coated with a thick layer of multicolored wax.