THE MISFORTUNE

And she had been such a pretty girl, too. If only she could have known that, if someone would have told her. It hadn't been until a very long time after the fact, however, that someone else had noticed her sitting there, looking quite calm, omniscient, bitter, weary … distraught.

The biggest mystery to everyone was how she had not known about the painting. In all that time in all those years, she'd never known that her image was everywhere, in so many forms, for really quite anyone to see. She found out, and, in the end wanted to know: Had he lied to her?

But the very worst part was that now, so many years later, she was more of a mockery than a work of art. She had been something beautiful and original; everyone had been amazed with this different type of girl… but now they cut out her head and put it on naked girls' bodies; now they made up stories about how she felt, what she was thinking, her pensive look and every word; now they played with her face, yet it remained startlingly recognizable. In her misery and vulnerability everyone had discovered who she was and then quite contentedly played along. But to her, no one had spoken a word….

Was she even real?

Hanging by the Mona Lisa was the beautiful Rory Gilmore, and my – was she ever so sad.