"It’s a great honor, being asked to pose for you, Mr. Jakobs," Penny said, as she accompanied the renowned sculptor through the long hallway of his exquisitely decorated mansion.

"Actually, my dear Ms. Hoze, I feel I am the one who is being honored. You have placed great trust in me, agreeing to pose for a complete stranger." Jakobs was partially correct. While Penny did have some experience modeling, sometimes in rather skimpy outfits in front of large groups of people, it was still something quite different to pose in a similar fashion for just one man, in a secluded setting, under very secretive conditions.

But since that one man was a world famous artist like Franz Jakobs, Penny felt the private circumstances and confidential conditions were not unreasonable. The two met for the first time on a local morning talk show. Penny was there due to the notoriety of a local fashion shoot featured in that month’s issue of the city’s entertainment magazine. The photo layout featured several attractive and local young women modeling a new line of pantyhose being marketed by a local garment manufacturer. Penny and a couple of the other young women were wearing those same leg fashions this morning on the show, albeit wearing a great deal more clothing than they had in the original shoot.

Jakobs was appearing in conjunction with the recent unveiling of another of his masterpieces, commissioned by the city to decorate the downtown square. After the show, Penny was trying to think of some clever way to introduce herself to Jakobs, and to tell him how much she admired his abstract sculpture, when the middle-aged, lanky, goateed artist surprisingly approached her first. He was the one expressing admiration, remembering Penny from the magazine layout, and offering an interesting proposition. Although his public work had always been exclusively objects and not living things, he was considering sculpting a human figure. And the artist seemed to think that Penny would be the perfect subject. Before she could catch her breath, Jakobs obtained her phone number, and promised Penny that he would be in touch soon to arrange a sketching session.

That call came the next day. Jakobs had reviewed the photos in the magazine once again, and was particularly impressed by the ‘Pearlized’ set of photos, with Penny modeling shiny white pantyhose, a pearl necklace, and little else in a sexy reclining pose. The sculptor asked if she would agree to be sketched wearing that same pair of hosiery in a private session at Jakobs’ estate. The artist did set one condition: since this shift in subject matter would be a major news story in the art world, he asked Penny not to tell anyone about the meeting. Once he made the sketches, and decided whether he would sculpt her, then she could make the news public.

Penny agreed, with only a slight bit of trepidation, and now she was accompanying the famous sculptor down a large set of stairs into his private studio. The heels Penny was wearing, along with a just-a-little-too-tight short blue dress, made maneuvering difficult. But soon they were in Jakobs’ large studio.

"Do I need to undress?" Penny asked the artist, as he picked up a sketch pad and pencil. This type of modeling was new territory for the lovely blonde.

"Don’t worry, Ms. Hoze. You are not here to ‘see my etchings’ as they say. Nor do I plan to sketch you in the nude. I want to capture you as you were portrayed in those photos – sexy, yes, but also approachable and attainable, wearing the kind of clothing – like those pantyhose – that any woman could wear. Let’s begin with you disrobing down to your undergarments - not like a striptease, but just as if you have returned from a night on the town. I will make some very rough sketches, and if I see a look or movement or pose I like, I’ll ask you to hold that. Okay?"

Penny did just as Jakobs asked, removing her heels, then unzipping her dress and stepping out of it. She wasn’t wearing a slip, so she was quickly down to a blue bra and bikini, and, of course, her pearlized pantyhose.

"Go ahead and sit on the couch," Franz instructed. "Don’t try to pose, just recline naturally - like you are tired after a long day. That’s it."

The sculptor was trying to make Penny feel at ease, but this ‘reclining’ seemed very uneasy. As much as Penny liked to wear smooth comfortable pantyhose, what she’d really do after a tiring day was take everything off and get into a nice hot bubble bath. But, this was Jakobs’ production, not hers.

After a few moments of sketching, and looking her over from head to toe with the penetrating eyes of an artist, Jakobs paused. "Hmmm, something is not right."

"Maybe I should try some standing poses – or something a little more sexy," Penny offered, immediately wishing she hadn’t.

"No, no, that’s not it. Let’s try a few things - if you don’t mind. First, the blue lingerie is breaking the symmetry of the shimmering white flowing into the flesh and then into your blonde hair. Would you mind taking both the bra and panties off - you’re welcome, of course, to cover your breasts by folding your arms. In fact, I like the innocence - the shyness of that. Please do so."

Penny’s first thought was that for someone not interested in nudity, he sure was getting most of her clothes off pretty quick. But, the arms covering breasts gesture was a little reassuring. So, she complied.

"Excellent. Now, to reproduce the look of your photo shoot, I would like you wear these." Jakobs reached into the pocket of his artist’s smock, and pulled out a long jewelry box. Inside was a beautiful pearl necklace, very much like the one Penny had worn in the magazine layout. Instead of making the lovely young blonde remove her arms from over her breasts, Jakobs gently but quickly placed the necklace around Penny’s neck, lifted her blonde hair and fastened the clasp in back.

"Finally, Ms. Hoze, I’m going to ask you to be a bit uncomfortable for a few moments. Instead of being on the couch, would you mind reclining on this long pedestal?"

Jakobs escorted the pantyhose clad model back to a long gray pedestal along the wall of the studio. The pedestal was about five feet long, and only a couple of feet off the floor. It was a bit cold as Penny sat on it, even through her nylons. Jakobs helped to pose her, lifting her stockinged ankles and feet onto one end of the pedestal, as Penny slowly slid her upper body to the other end. She was visibly shivering by now.

"Oh, how inconsiderate. I apologize for the cool stone. I have a heater built into the structure, let me turn it on." Jakobs walked over to a large gray box on the wall, near the front of the room. There were several switches and knobs inside, but the artist took only a few seconds to locate the right one, then turned it slowly.

"Is that better, my dear?" he asked.

Penny immediately felt the pedestal becoming warm. "Oh, yes, much better. Comfortable, even."

"Excellent," the artist said. As Penny continued to rearrange her body for maximum comfort, she failed to notice that the artist was beginning to sweat a little, and his normally steady hand was beginning to shake, hovering near the switches and dials in the box.

"Now for the proper pose," he said, his breath more rapid. Still standing at the box, he called out instructions to Penny: bend both knees; point the toes more, but keep the feet touching the pedestal; lean back slightly, place one hand on the pedestal for balance, and keep the other arm covering her naked top. A few more shifts, and then he yelled, "Hold it!" Penny’s pose on the pedestal was now almost exactly like the one in her ‘Pearlized’ photo from the magazine. "Is that satisfactory, Ms. Hoze?" he asked.

"Please call me Penny. And, yes, I’m okay for a few moments, but I’m not sure I can hold this until you finish your sketch?" the model offered.

"Oh, I’m sure," Jakobs whispered at first, and then as he turned a dial in the box, he yelled, "I’m very sure, Penny!" and pushed up a large switch. Penny immediately began to hear a noise in the pedestal, and then feel a small vibration in those body parts touching the stone. Then the vibration increased, and began moving up from her foot and legs and waist - into the rest of her body. She took a couple of deep breaths, and then her chest stopped moving and her breathing virtually ceased, although she knew she was still alive. She could blink, see, breathe through her nose and mouth, even turn her head slightly. But, she was unable to move any other part of her body

"I . . . I . . . can’t . . . move," she said haltingly.

Jakobs closed the box, and slowly walked over to the paralyzed beauty. "Excellent. Magnificent. Just as I had hoped." He slowly walked around her motionless body on the pedestal, occasionally touching an elbow, feeling the line of her back, running his fingers down her smooth nyloned leg. "Another masterpiece."

"What have you done to me? What’s going on? I don’t want to pose anymore. I want to leave now." Penny was trying to stay calm, or at least as calm as she could under the circumstances.

"My lovely Ms. Hoze, it would take a long time to fully answer all of your questions. Just let me assure you, you no longer have anything to fear. Ever again. And you don’t have to pose anymore. Your posing days are over. You are posed - once and for all eternity."

Jakobs finished his inspection, then returned to the box on the wall. "And as for what’s going on - perhaps this will help." He flipped a succession of switches, and several motors started up. Then, the walls on both sides of the studio came to life, work tables and shelves starting to turn. And when the back sides of the turntables had come completely forward, the motion stopped. And Penny understood what was going on.

Now lining the studio walls were a number of pedestals - one or two were long like Penny’s, but most were round and a bit higher. And on those pedestals stood the most lifelike female statues Penny had ever seen.

Jakobs began to walk slowly up and down the studio, showing off his collection to his guest. "‘Beach Bunny’" he read the inscription of the first. And there on the pedestal was the bronze statue of a young female, standing in a sexy pose, still wearing the small bikini she wore on her last day - it too, bronzed for eternity.

‘Boudoir Temptress’ was next. This was an older woman, very attractive and well built, dressed in a red teddy with red garters and red stockings, reclining sexily on a long pedestal like Penny’s. Unlike the bikined girl, the clothing on this figure was still cloth. But the woman’s body had been plasticized into a lifelike eternal mannequin.

The gilded statue of a young coed still wearing her cheerleading costume was on the pedestal labeled ‘First Place Trophy.’ Two stone slabs down the wall, a black flight attendant in full costume had a polished, brown wood-like veneer from cap to heels, and was titled ‘Coffee, Tea, or Ebony?’

And there were several empty pedestals in the room, as well. Apparently, Franz Jakobs intended to increase his collection.

Tears welled in Penny’s eyes, and she blinked rapidly to clear them, as they darted from one figure to the other. She thought if she looked long enough, she would discover them to be simply statues, not what she thought they really were. And maybe, after sharing this little perversion with the model, Jakobs would let her go. She heard a loud metallic clink, and then something heavy being moved on wheels. Her eyes left the statues, and moved back to the front, where she saw Franz Jakobs wheeling out a rather large canister with a thick hose attached to the side. As the canister moved closer to her pedestal, she could make out two words stenciled on the side: LIQUID MARBLE.

"Once I saw you in those beautiful pearl colored pantyhose, Penny, I knew I had the next figure for my gallery. The marbleizing will preserve your beauty forever. I even have the label prepared for your pedestal: ‘Precious Pearl.’ Do you like it?"

Penny didn’t quite know what to say. "You’ll never get away with this."

The sculptor looked around at the other figures. "I beg to differ, Ms. Hoze. Now, just so you know what’s going to happen. I’m going to spray your legs and torso thoroughly with the liquid marble. It is not painful, but it is rather quick drying and sealing. By the time I’m finished that, you’ll be more statue than person. After that, I’ll increase the paralyzing voltage to include your head, and then apply the marble by hand there, and then finish by spraying your hair. In no more than a few hours, you will be my newest sculpture. Any questions?"

"Yes. Will there be a level of hell deep enough and hot enough for you to go to when someone finally catches you?"

"Poetic - but a rather impractical last statement." Jakobs removed the thick spraying hose, turned the valve on the canister, and pointed the nozzle at Penny’s white stockinged feet.

"Welcome to the world of art, Penny Hoze," said Franz Jakobs, as he pulled goggles over his eyes, and prepared to begin spraying . . . .