He had bought the painting in an antique store on a whim.
He just liked it. It was a small, vintage oil painting in an oval frame. The subject was a head and shoulder portrait of an elderly gentleman with a warm smile. He knew that it was the old man’s face that had made him buy it. He found himself drawn in by it whenever he looked at it. He hung it on a wall in the cottage were he would regularly walk past it. It hung there for several days before he noticed the change. The old man now had a slight squint in his eyes, it was extremely subtle, almost imperceptible, but it was definitely there.
Then, the next thing he saw, a couple of days later, was the raised chin. It was only slight, but the head had tilted back, just a little. Because of these minute changes, he stopped and peered at it several times a day. It bothered him at first. Then he told himself that whether he was imagining it or not, he should be grateful that he had something so unusual. The next facial shift was a touch troubling. The mouth had moved, altering the expression. To be precise, the corner was up, just enough to have the old man look as though he was trying to make up his mind about something.
When his neighbour called in for a cup of tea and a chat, he told him about it. He described all of the changes that had occurred. He was hoping that some alteration would take place during his visit. For this reason, he had taken his guest back to look at it several times while he was there. Unfortunately, nothing happened. By the time his friend left, he had the uncomfortable feeling that he hadn’t believed him. He waved him off and went back in, going straight to the painting. He really wasn’t expecting what he saw.
The old man’s hair was mussed, his eyes were bloodshot and wide open and he was poking his tongue out!