The image with the trumpet
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Copyright © 2004 By Koty Lapid --The story is about the pain of un-appreciation of a gift. It is also about the changing attitude towards art presented on computer in our society.
Betsy and Roger took their vows at five o'clock. The ceremony was short and so was the party afterward. When the last guest had left, Nita and Tara left with Betsy and her new husband, Roger. They went to the newlyweds' apartment.
After they were in the apartment, Nita, Roger and Tara sat down on the comfortable sofa at the spacious living room.
Betsy then went into the bedroom to change her clothing, while Roger told them a few things about their plans for later on. When Betsy returned, she decided to start opening the gifts. She opened Tara's first.
Tara's gift was an image of a Lady with a trumpet, that she created some time ago. Nowadays it was displayed on one of the Internet's Virtual Galleries. Tara knew Betsy liked it because she had called her to say how much she had enjoyed looking that image just some minutes later Tara had posted it. Hoping to give something special to Betsy, a week before her wedding Tara took her Notebook and went to a printer and instructed him to print that image onto a heavy glossy paper. Then Tara took the image and went to a nearby frame-shop, where Tara had the image framed and wrapped in fancy wrapping paper.
After opening it, Betsy graciously thanked Tara for it and went on to unwrap another gift that she had received from one of her relatives.
Nita was looking at the framed picture while Betsy had put it aside to open the other gifts.
Nita remembered that Tara'd given her a copy of the same image when she asked for one a few months earlier.
"Oh, I had that image, too," Nita remarked.
"Had? And what did you do with it?" Tara asked. Nita didn't answer.
"What happened to it?" Tara asked again.
"I made a note of the URL where it's posted online and then I threw the image away," she answered.
Tara was deeply hurt. The gift she had given Nita may not have been framed or wrapped in fancy paper, but Tara'd spent a small fortune to have it printed on heavy, glossy paper. "Nita," Tara asked, "why did you throw away my image after you'd asked me for it? I printed it especially for you."
Nita then replied, "I didn't throw it away because I didn't like it. You know very well that I liked it. I thought keeping it was a waste of space. It's on the Internet, so if I want to look at it, I can see it there."
"But Nita, I went through the expense and trouble of having that image duplicated especially for you because I know you liked it. Frankly, I really don't think what you did was okay," Tara said, "I want you to understand what I've done for you. I wanted you to keep it. Instead, you've treated it as if it were just a free download off the Internet!"
Nita said nothing, but her face got a little flush, and that made her somewhat beautiful. Nita blushed when she was confused. Tara knew and understood her well. Yet, Tara could tell that Nita was convinced she'd done the right thing. She kept the URL.
* When an artist prints a very small number of her work it is called limited edition. Each piece of that edition is special.
... Enjoy the story...
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