Maria looked up at the big gates of the museum and felt like crying. There really was no way out. She would have to wait until daybreak, which was hours and hours away. Maria wondered despondently what time the museum would open. Maybe the cleaners would arrive at 5am, she thought, but that was still a long way away. And what about Tony, her husband? He probably wouldn't even notice that she was missing, the fat lazy drunkard, he was probably fast asleep in front of the television, watching a baseball game or something.
She began to feel a little nervous, there in the near-darkness with only some dim illumination from the night lights in the vast hallway. As she walked back into the museum, she could hear her own feet clattering against the hard floor of the museum. The only other noise was the distant hum of an electric generator, far away in this huge building.
As she walked she opened her bag to make sure that the Roman dildo was still there. The big, heavy object was still tucked away where she had left it after masturbating in the restroom. The thought of it was strangely reassuring - and still alluring. There was something compelling about the object, and for a moment she thought about going back to the restroom for another session with the toy.
Instead, she wandered to her right towards the Egyptian section. The Metropolitan Museum of New York is famous in the world of antiquities for its priceless collection of Egyptian artefacts - not least an entire stone-by-stone recreation of a tomb where a prince was buried 3,000 years ago. She examined the hyroglyphics on the walls of the tomb, tiny carvings of birds, strange symbols and little characters. "I wonder what it all means," she asked herself. There were some mummies as well, which made her shudder slightly. The room was a bit creepy, and she decided to head elsewhere. "I suppose I could take in a little culture while I'm stuck here," she thought. "It's not like I can get any sleep here or do much else."
For what seemed like ages - but was probably only half an hour - Maria explored the museum, looking at Byzantine art, ancient Christian glasswork (taken from European churches), "primitive" wooden figurines from west Africa, some of them contemporary, and many other things beside.
Eventually she wound up in the area where she had attended the evening lecture on ancient Rome. The chairs had all been put away and cleared. There was no sign that a hundred people had been sat there only a few hours earlier. This time, Maria took her time to look more closely at the many objects in the room. There were amphoras, and beautiful metal necklaces, and bowls made from crystal and stone. One necklace took her fancy - it was made of silver, with a centrepiece of green stone in mosaic set in more silver. She wondered what it would look like on her lower neck, above her ample cleavage.
