Mittens ran his paw anxiously through his silky black fur as he frantically searched through the art studio. When he became the sculptor’s apprentice, he thought his job would just be tidying up or fetching coffee. He never expected to have a sculpting assignment so soon! But his boss had demanded a new wax sculpture by morning, and the last thing Mittens wanted to do was make him angry. This is how he found himself still in the studio late at night, trying to scrounge together the required materials for the sculpture.

Mittens walked over to a large vat almost as tall as himself and peered over the edge. The orange wax inside was heating up, starting to churn and bubble as it softened into a moldable form. It looked like it was almost ready. The cat reached down to test the temperature with his paw, but found his claw couldn’t quite scratch the surface. The vat was too deep. Stretching his arm further, Mittens leaned all his weight against the edge of the vat...and toppled it over! A veritable tidal wave of hot wax rushed over the feline, sending him tumbling tail-over-heels onto the floor.

“Nnnngggh…”

Mittens groaned and tried to stand up, only to realize that it was becoming increasingly difficult to move. His eyes widened as he realized the wax was hardening around him. He had to get clean! He jumped to his feet and started marching with stiff legs towards the sink on the other end of the room. His movements slowed to a crawl, the goop growing heavier and thicker with each passing moment. Every step made a sticky squelching sound as he struggled to lift his paws from the floor. Just a few...more…...steps………
“Mmmph?”

Mittens blinked. The sink was just a few feet in front of him, but his body had locked up in mid-step, completely encumbered with the hardened wax. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and focused all his energy on leaning forward, but it had little effect. His encased body could barely twitch. He was frozen in place, stuck in a rock-solid and skin-tight prison of wax.

“Hmlp! Hm'm fthgg!” Mittens tried to shout through the shell, but his mouth had been completely smoothed over and sealed shut, thoroughly muffling his cries. From the outside, the nervously shifting eyes were the only indication that the wax figure contained a living, breathing cat.

Mittens huffed through his nose in a long sigh. When his boss returned in the morning, he would indeed find a new wax sculpture standing in his studio. He could only hope his boss would melt him free instead of selling him off to the highest bidder!

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Here's the piece and story tidbit I made for  panapoliz for our art trade. Mittens makes a mighty fine wax sculpture, no?

This was my first art trade, and I'm very happy with how it turned out! I'm open to doing more trades in the future, either with art or just stories! If you're interested, feel free to hit me up on FA notes or Discord.

As always, comments are welcome and appreciated!