The woman walked down the corridor, looking at the lifelike full-length portraits hanging either side of her.

They were all in some kind of costume, nurses, nuns, police officers, a witch, a superhero. There was an amazing, colourful selection, like a fancy dress shop was showing off its costumes as an art display.

The latest piece had just arrived; a French maid, her black uniform neatly pressed, her hair curled.

“You look good enough to eat”, the woman said, resting her hand on the woman’s apron, between her legs.

Impossibly, the maid squirmed in her touch; her hands pressed against the surface of the picture, frantically trying to get free, shouting silently for help.

“I love it when they’re fresh…”, the woman said, taking her hand away. The maid froze back into immobility.

Addy had been trying to find a costume for a party at her sisters that weekend. She had searched for ages; everyone was sold out, though, as there was a big event on in the next town over.

She had almost given up when she found the little shop in a back road…

Her mouth dropped open as she saw the red-cloaked vampire staring back at her from the window at the shop. That would be perfect! If only they had it in her size…

The woman in the store smiled. Yes, she had most things still in stock; she always ordered more when she knew there was a ‘do’ on, as she didn’t want people to miss out. Yes, she had the outfit in Addy’s size…

Eager to try it on, Addy disappeared into the back of the shop, into one of the changing rooms.

As she fastened the cape, pulled up the hood and turned to walk out of the room, something shifted…

The curtain vanished from the front of the room; in its place was a transparent wall. The cubicle had also become smaller; the back of it was now pressing against her back.

Addy pressed against the wall, trying to get through it; on the other side, the shop seemed to have changed. There was a corridor there; it still looked like part of the shop, though, because there were pictures of costumes lining the walls.

A woman walked along the corridor and stopped, facing Addy.

“Ah! Another new acquisition. I love this time of year…!”

“Hey! Let me out of here! Hey!”, Addy cried.

To her amazement, the woman completely ignored her.

“I can see you’re saying something, but I can’t hear you”, she said. “After all, artwork can’t talk, you know…”

Addy suddenly realised it was getting a lot harder to move…

She froze in position, a tear just starting to run from her eye.

“There, that’s better. All done”, the woman said.

Blowing Addy a kiss, she walked away…