The Canyon

Written by BASICTEK

Edited by Dmuk

It was a bright sunny summer day. Four young women gathered at the entrance gate of the Canyon. Tall, lithe, and gorgeous; they could only be described as stunning. Going by their first names of Elle, Vicky, Tina and Beth, they all worked for the same modeling agency in Los Angeles, and were out in a midwestern town on vacation together.

Today they were going to tour the canyon, billed as a petite version of the Grand Canyon. Sheer sandstone walls towered above their heads, sculpted into flowing ridges by a once-raging river that time had tamed into a placid stream. Cottonwoods and oaks were green accents to the tawny rocks. As they entered the deepest section of the canyon they noticed a strange narrow passageway, almost a cave, to the left that was guarded by a prominent {DO NOT ENTER} sign posted in front of it. Elle paused, curious about what was there, suggested they all go and see what was clearly intended to be off limits. Beth had an odd feeling about the place was opposed to trespassing, but the other two girls convinced her.

After discussing the matter and taking a quick look at the tight opening in the craggy wall, they removed their daypacks and left them hidden behind the sign. Adventurous Elle led the way. The passageway curved around sharply before leading underground. Beth halted; she said there was no way she was ever going down there; it was very dark. Vicky agreed with her cautious friend and the two of them agreed to wait back outside while Elle and Tina explored the mysterious winding passage.

After sloping down for what seemed a hundred feet, the cave leveled out into a smooth floor that almost looked like a tunnel. It was strangely lit by what looked like glowing rocks above their heads and the walls were remarkably clean.

As they followed it deeper they turned a bend and came into a vast open area; a cavern that seemed to go on forever. A few feet in front of them here was a strange blue light in the shape of a large cube. They could see through the hazy glow across to the other side; it seemed to be made of thin air. A faerie mist. Elle cautiously touched the glowing cube and felt a warm inviting feeling in her fingertips. It was so enticing that she impulsively walked closer and soon found herself standing inside the cube. She was overwhelmed with intense feelings of comfort, and an deep erotic sensation she had never felt before. She then asked Tina to come in and share the wonderful feelings she was experiencing.

Tina wouldn’t enter, fearing the blue light wasn’t normal. She said it was spooking her and wanted to go back to the others right away. Elle could not understand how anyone could be afraid of a sensation that felt so wonderful to her. After trying unsuccessfully to persuade the younger girl to join her; Elle walked out of the glowing cube to convince Tina that everything was alright. But as soon as she was completely outside of the blue glow she suddenly felt very cold and stopped in mid-stride. She slowly lifted one hand in front of her face while the other arm stayed in place at her side. Suddenly her green eyes opened wide with wonder as all motion was stilled. Elle felt herself get cold and stiff and could no longer do anything. She was frozen in position, totally immobile, like a statue.

Tina was astonished and understandably frightened by the unexpected motionless of her friend. She grabbed hold of Elle’s hand to start walking her out of the cavern into the warm sunlight. Elle did not budge at all; it was like trying to move a piece of solid rock. Tina inspected her transformed colleague closely by touching her face, hands, and legs. Elle looked and felt exactly like the beautiful woman she had been except her body was now as cold and stiff as stone. Her eyes stared blankly into space and there was not the slightest hint of movement in her rigid figure. What had happened to her? Panicking, Tina ran back outside and told the others breathlessly what happened to Elle down below. Beth thought it was just a ploy to get her in the cave but decided to go in and see anyway; Vicky followed reluctantly behind them as they passed into darkness again.

The three women entered the cave and found Elle stiffly posed in place just as Tina had described her. Vicky and Beth examined Elle too, touching her smooth and rigid skin. They were amazed that Tina was telling the truth; that this was not some elaborate joke. Vicky went over to the blue glow; amazed at its existence and drawn by a strange feeling. She started to reach her hand into its field when Tina yelled to her to stop. It was too late; her hand had penetrated into the cube. Like Elle, she felt the warm inviting feeling but with effort Vicky was able to pull her hand out of the strange glow. It seemed to tingle. She held the affected hand in front of her face and watched as her fingers stiffened into immobility and her whole hand turned cold and rigid. The rest of her arm and body remained unchanged but her hand had frozen solid in place. Stiff and unmoving, it no longer seemed to be part of her. Vicky let out a startled gasp. Tina and Beth went over to Vicky to see what had happened to her. They all touched her stiffened hand and could feel the same incredible petrification that had already overcome Elle’s whole body.

The women then started discussing their options. Vicky barely listened; she sat crying because she didn’t want to face the fact that her hand was turned to stone. It meant the end of her modeling career she sobbed, that probably her whole arm would be amputated. It was at that moment that Vicky decided that it would be a better fate to turn her entire body into stone than to live like a freak with a stone hand or no hand at all. While the others talked on, ignoring her, she quietly rose and started toward the blue cube.

Tina and Beth realized what she was thinking when Vicky was only a few feet from the blue glow and tried to stop her. As they struggled with the distraught young woman, the hazy border of the cube came ever closer. Then Beth tripped over Elle’s petrified foot and the three of them fell as one into the cube's glow. The blue light was all around them and each one felt the warm erotic glow penetrate their being. Beth panicked, jumped up and immediately ran outside the cube’s glow into the cool cave air. She then paused in mid step as Elle had. Something seemed different. Peering down at her hands, turning them over, she realized that she had not become frozen like her petrified colleague. Maybe she hadn’t been in the cube long enough for its effect to turn her into stone, she thought.

Beth twisted around to see what Tina and Vicky were doing. The other two were still standing within the cube’s boundary watching her intently. Tina’s eyes were wide with apprehension. Elle had only been outside the cube for what seemed a few moments also. Beth started to reassure them that she was OK and would go to get help. Then all of a sudden in mid-sentence she just stopped moving in the blink of an eye. Beth now stood motionless as she felt her own body become cold and stiff like Elle’s had. She couldn’t even close her mouth. Her eyes were wide open as she too held a surprised look captured on her rigid features. In a way she looked like some bizarre waxwork figure.

Tina and Vicky were in shock as they watched their second friend turn to stone in front of their eyes. Beth’s last word, ‘help’, echoed in the cavern and then faded away to silence. Vicky then noticed that she could move her frozen hand again. It seemed that as long as they remained completely inside the cube the petrifying effects were held at bay.

Vicky then explained to Tina the secret desire of hers that she had always wanted to become like a department store mannequin; on display for others to see. As a model she had hoped one day to have a figure sculpted from her body. Now, Vicky said, she could become her own sculpture. All she had to do was step outside of the glow. Tina was aghast; this sounded like the kinkiest thing she had ever heard. Vicky went on trying to convince Tina that being preserved forever as a beautiful statue wasn’t that bad of a fate but Tina remained unconvinced. After waiting a while and composing her thoughts Vicky brushed out her hair and quickly stripped to the buff before stepping outside of the cube. Tina tried to stop her friend but noticed she too was leaving the safety of the interior glow and quickly stepped back in before her hand or any other part of her changed again.

As a model Vicky had posed many times, in front of many artists and photographers. This time she sensed it would be a pose she would hold through eternity, so Vicky was careful to make it a classic one. Not knowing how long she had left, she raised one arm above and behind her head and held the other arm in front with her torso with palms up and fingers slightly curved. Distantly she heard Tina begging her to get back into the cube but her mind was made up. Vicky was able to tell Tina how wonderful she felt as she looked into the face of infinity. Then there was silence as the stiffness washed over her lovely figure. Vicky could feel her body get colder and harden as her pose became permanent. Her last thought was one of complete joy.

Tina watched in horror as Vicky joined Elle and Beth in statuesque stillness; she knew somehow that would be her destiny as well. Hours or days passed and still Tina had not left the cube; it was impossible to tell time. She paced nervously just inside the hazy edges of the cube, or sat resignedly on the smooth rock, wondering if there was any way of escaping before she died of starvation or thirst. Then suddenly the light began to fade. Tina looked around her and saw that the cube was no longer there; it was as if it had never existed at all. She stood up and held her hands out in front of her and she could feel that the warmth of the glow was gone. The air felt cool and Tina realized that only a few seconds of life remained before her body would begin to petrify just as her friends’ had. There was no way she would ever be able to get outside or find any help; time had run out on her. No choices remained. She decided that a good sexy pose was better than just standing there. Vicky had the right idea; but there was not enough time. She put one hand just above her hip and the other behind her head. She then bent one knee and arched her back. She took her last deep breath, swelling her breasts against the tight fabric of her leotard. Smiling the smile she would now wear through eternity. It was a beautiful pose facing her friend Vicky. She then felt the cool erotic feeling that had overcome the other three women, along with the first hints of rigidity in her body. It was no longer necessary for her to hold her pose as she too became a beautiful statue.

She then felt rather than heard a low rumble which grew in intensity. Dust filtered down from above as the cavern vibrated. Just out of the corner of one eye, Tina saw huge rocks tumble down from the roof of the tunnel, sealing the entrance completely and trapping the four of them inside the grotto. As quick as it had come, the shaking faded. There was enough light from the phosphorescent rocks so she could see the others, standing still as stone. Tina watched the immobile Vicky as that was all she could do now. In a way she wished she could have touched those perfect breasts, just once, and wondered if her friend had thought the same thoughts about her. Now she would never know.

Years passed, and the mystery of the four models’ disappearence faded from the news. Decades passed, and the ladies were never disturbed. It was an incredible sight, a private tableaux, four beautiful women frozen solid in various poses like lost antiquities. Centuries later, construction workers that were expanding the Canyon into a habitat found the sealed cavern and the petrified women. By then, time had decomposed their garments into a coating of dust at their feet and they all stood gloriously naked in the cavern. Named the ‘Nymphs of the Canyon’ soon afterward, they became an overnight sensation. Everyone wondered how the exquisite statues had come to exist there; eventually found their way to a museum along with other mysterious treasures of the distant past. Each was placed on her own individual pedestal and highlighted to bring out the subtle coloration of their petrified forms. So it was that Elle, Beth, Vicky, and Tina spent the rest of eternity on display as the most magnificent statues ever seen. They had become truly timeless archetypes of beauty.

The End