This week, an idea that has been bobbing about in my mind for a while now without form or structure. I’ve tried to realise it here but I’m not sure about the result; it will be interesting to hear your opinions.

PHOTO PROMPT © Jan Wayne Fields

Salvin writhed in his slumber, trapped in a painting. He knew it from the thick black outline round his shape; the mirror, creased in the middle and suspended from a  staircase sweeping to infinity on the neck of a frightened horse.
The sun burnt fiercely with the promise inherent in bright colours waning to the calm of cobalt. Yet where he stood was arid.
Time dripped blood-like from a broken watch caught in the gnarled fingers of a dead tree. He recognised the tree in the mirror.
Snatching up brushes and violent hues, he lunged at the canvas and began, “Self-Portrait.”

Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries here.

(A short explanation: Van Gogh would often include a dead or dying flower or branch  to represent himself in his paintings and obviously symbolism pervades most art. Here we’re supposed to be in an artist’s dream.)