Diorama, The (Short Story)

The Diorama is a short story by James Van Pelt. It appears in Transversions (1999), Strangers and Beggars (2002), and Curious Fictions (Feb 15, 2019). It was included as an honorable mention in Gardner Dozois' The Year’s Best Science Fiction, 17th edition.

Word Count: 6,932

Author's Note
From Curious Fictions:

''Restrictive neighborhood covenants protect property values and maintain a sense of propriety in a subdivision, but they also allow the most controlling people power that they can't resist. Maybe not everyone wants to be like everyone else. Maybe that's a good thing.''

Characters

 * Owen Burrows - the former president of the Homeowners' Association
 * Emma Burrows - thinks Owen should pay more attention to their house
 * Gary Guy - paints a diorama so the light will hit it just right

Others

 * Roger Bing - Owen's next door neighbor and oft time ally
 * Carol Craft - condemns Owen for suing Gary and using association funds to do it
 * Vonda Heaton - the Homeowners' Association treasurer
 * Elston Newkirk - the elementary school principal
 * Phuong Kim Nguyen - the new president of the Homeowners' Association
 * Lisa Younger - the long-suffering City Manager

Summary
Owen is furious that Gary, the neighbor across the street, is painting his house (side, trim, windows, door) a flat black.

Emma, Owen's wife, suggests he talk to Gary. Owen already dislikes Gary because Gary parked a houseboat on the street and the ensuing legal battle got Owen ousted as president of the Homeowners' Association. When Owen tells Gary he can't paint his house black, Gary brushes him off. Gary calls the city and speaks to Lisa Younger to complain. Ms. Younger tells Gary they can't do anything about it.

A week later, at the Homeowners' Association meeting, not only do they decline to support Owen's complaint, Carol Craft gives a speech condemning Owen for suing Gary over the houseboat. Carol further says Owen should have to repay the association. The gathering agrees with Carol and Owen leaves in a huff.

At home, Emma explains she's been talking to Gary. Gary's wife passed recently and his children prevented him from buying a houseboat and getting away from it all. So now he's creating a diorama. The trees he's planted in his yard will be echoed in the trees he's painting on the house. She explains Gary would like to walk into that painting and get away. "What if the sun was just right? and my attitude was right, and I only had a few seconds where I could slip in?"

Owen thinks Gary is crazy.

A few days later, Emma goes to Gary's for a picnic. She invites Owen, but he refuses to go. Instead, he goes to the basement and looks at old photographs of Emma and him on vacation. In the morning, it's quiet and Emma isn't there. Owen rushes outside and, for a moment, sees the painted trees rustle. When he tries to run into the diorama, the house is solid.

Lisa Younger, calls Owen and tells him she's got a solution for repainting Gary's house. Owen tells her the diorama has to stay.