Hello, this is Dr Malcolm Ryder, parapsycologist. I'm currently not in the studio.

Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

I want to tell you about a dream I had.

I wandered through a fancy party held in a mansion.

All the guests were enjoying themselves, drinking, chatting, laughing.

Only when I approached any group, they all froze,

became silent.

As soon as I took a few steps away, they'd go back to being happy party goers.

No one wanted to talk to me. No one seemed to want me at the party.

So I wove my way between groups,

not speaking to any of them.

On the second floor, I discovered a gallery filled with paintings. They covered the walls. Some framed, some not. Some of the frames ornate, some not.

Throughout the space were also paintings on easels.

They were placed strangely and facing different directions, creating paths and dead ends, like a maze of artwork.

I worked my way through, taking in each piece.

There were portraits of Dutch aristocrats,

biblical scenes, still lifes of inanimate objects,

difficult artwork you'd expect to find in a gallery.

Until I ended up at one painting in particular that stood alone at the far end of the room.

It was of a woman.

Her back turned to the viewer

and she stared at a black door.

...