From behind the black velvet curtain, Camille’s heart hammered along with the thumping bass in the darkened stadium. Her fellow participants stood and waited, some perfectly calm while others exuded evident excitement.
Camille peeked through the gap in the curtain at the sold-out StoneSport Stadium: 50,000 screaming fans in the stands with another 10,000 cheering from the field, not to mention the billions watching live from around the world. An elevated runway bisected the crowd and extended 100 meters to the opposite end of the stadium. Dozens of spotlights swept across the night sky and through the crowd as heavy metal music washed over everyone.
The thundering beat reverberated through Camille’s body, adding to the nervous jitters she tried vainly to suppress. She took a deep and calming breath, reminding herself she’d eagerly volunteered for this extraordinary event, along with the ninety-nine other women waiting to make their grand entrance.
The music subsided as the spotlights converged on the far end of the runway, where a familiar man held a microphone to his lips.
“Good evening, everyone,” he began. “My name is Jim Ziegler, and I am pleased to welcome you to the StoneSport Art Auction. Please put your hands together for the lovely ladies of lot one!”
Camille took one last deep breath and emerged from the gap in the curtain, striding down the runway with nine other women behind her, all ten of them as naked as the day they were born. The 60,000 attendees roared their approval of the sexy spectacle as techno music accompanied the women’s synchronized strut, their footsteps falling and bare breasts bouncing in time with the steady beat.
As her nerves melted away, Camille grinned from ear to ear as she led the other women the length of the runway. When they stopped next to Jim and struck sultry poses, he whistled into his microphone.
“My, oh, my, what a view! I’m a lucky man to be so close to such fantastic female forms as these. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll start the bidding for these naked beauties at ten million dollars.”
The crowd turned their attention to a giant screen above the curtain at the end of the runway. Within moments, ‘$10,000,000’ appeared in bold type.
“We have ten million,” Jim announced. “How about fifteen? I see fifteen million. Who’ll give me twenty?”
The bidding continued as Camille and the other women held sexy poses and smiled for the crowd. Finally, the back and forth slowed down.
“We have forty-five million. Do I hear fifty? No? Going once, going twice, and sold for forty-five million dollars!”
The fans cheered as Jim stepped aside to the edge of the runway.
“The lovely ladies of lot one have sold, folks. You know what that means.”
Jim gestured to the far end of the stadium as the spotlights converged on a PetraCannon mounted above the giant screen. The screen displayed a countdown from ten. The crowd shouted along.
“Ten! Nine! Eight!”
The women turned toward the cannon and struck their final poses as a spotlight illuminated each of them.
“Seven! Six! Five!”
Camille arched her back to lift her breasts.
“Four! Three!”
She took a deep breath.
“Two!”
Exhale.
“One!”
Big smile.
“Fire!”
A staccato burst of green laser bolts erupted from the PetraCannon’s barrel, striking each naked woman in the chest. Camille trembled as ripples of marble blossomed from the impact point, petrifying her flesh and surging through her body, eliciting a final gasp as her lungs turned to stone. Within a few seconds, all ten women were solid rock. More than satisfied with her fearless performance, Camille’s consciousness drifted into the gathering night.
“Lot one, ladies and gentlemen! It’s time to clear these stunning statues from the runway and box them up for shipment to their new owner. We’ll be back in a few minutes with lot two.”
The other nine lots proceeded much like the first until all hundred nude women had been auctioned off and turned to stone. Jim addressed the crowd one last time.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll return for round one of our next PetraDash World Championship tomorrow evening. After the thrilling victory of Ember Sparks in the last tournament, who will become the golden trophy this time? If you believe you have what it takes to outwit the PetraCannons, contact a StoneSport recruiter as soon as possible. We still have a few slots for last-minute competitors, but you must act fast.
“Well, that’s it, folks. Thank you all so much for joining us. And to all our new statues, we salute you. On behalf of StoneSport, I’m Jim Ziegler signing off. Good night!”
The following afternoon, a billionaire asteroid mining CEO watched as the StoneSport delivery team installed Camille and the other nine marble nudes in the expansive foyer of his mansion. Examining the gorgeous statues up close only confirmed that $45 million was a bargain for such exquisite beauty.
The ten stone ladies had been delivered just in time as two hundred guests arrived shortly for a PetraDash viewing party. The newly minted works of art garnered more attention than the petrifying action on TV as people sipped champagne and marveled at the incredible detail, each wishing they could take one home.
Camille’s sultry smile sparked considerable attention as the attendees debated what she must have been thinking as her naked body transformed into marble. Was she pleased with her decision? Did turning to stone feel amazing? Did she welcome the opportunity to become an inanimate work of art, the mere property of an eccentric collector? Had she yearned for eternity as a statue, displaying her stone body to all who gazed upon her?
As the spirited discussion swirled around her nude form, Camille stood in sensuous stillness. If she could answer the guests, she’d say yes to every question.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes!
A thousand times, yes!
Copyright 2023 Olivia Quinn
Photo by Antoine J. on Unsplash
Story notes
This StoneSport Short was a lot of fun to write! I love the concept of auctioning off nude women and petrifying them, and I hope to someday live in a world where that really happens. The only question is whether I’d cheer from the stands, bid for the bare beauties, or strut naked down the runway myself.
Ah, who am I kidding? I’d get naked and stoned in a heartbeat! There’s no higher calling than becoming a work of art.
Article Tags: Female · Nudity · Sci-Fi · Statue · Stone · StoneSport · Volunteer
