The Laboratory

This is a work by the French artist Octave Tassaert, who was active in the 19th century. The painting is an intensely personal and visceral exploration of masochistic ecstasy. The central figure, a woman, is depicted in a state of profound and almost painful pleasure. The expression on her face i...

Scene 1: The Children's Playground (Revised - Fifth Pass) The sandbox was a chaos of fine grit and flung plastic, exactly as any proper sandbox should be.
A couple of parents sat on a nearby bench, faces tipped to the sun, occasionally glancing up from their screens.
You'd think the squealing and the bits of sand clinging to every surface would get to them, but most seemed to have developed an impressive filter.
Seven-year-old Eleanor Vance, her knees already streaked with the day's first lay...

The following impromptu was given at a banquet to one of the captives of Fort Pit after he had related his experience. Sad memories it doth awake, The death of those fell at Frog Lake, And trials of captives of Fort Pit When savages did capture it. But soon Generals Strange and Steel Made savage hordes their power to feel, And they rescued women fair From the paws of the Big Bear. Captives for days had naught to eat But steaks of tough and lean dog meat, In daily danger of their lives From bu...