Winged Sculpture
Comes to Life
by Robbie Rico, Vacaville Daily Informer

       Touch the Sky, a metal sculpture created by artist Martin Taylor, unexpectedly came to life Saturday night.  The fourteen-foot-tall sculpture has been installed on School Street Bridge for a number of months.
        Last Saturday, under a full moon, a coven of previously unknown local witches was seen performing some kind of ceremony which included the lighting of candles chanting, and dancing around the statue while flapping their arms like wings.  All of the witches wore masks and could not be identified by witnesses, but some bystanders claimed the coven had been seen hanging around the Vacaville Art Gallery for several weeks.
        After about twenty minutes, to the horror of the gathering crowd, the statue began to move!  First, the metal wings started bending gently as though stirred by a breeze.  Then, the feet broke loose from the pedestal and seemed to be growing talons.  Local photographer, Steve Hartley, moved in for some close-up pictures as the witches and terrified spectators fell back.  The towering figure looked down at Hartley with a snarl, then a taloned foot swung at him. Hartley collapsed to the ground, flinging his camera toward the menacing figure. Wings flapping, the giant winged apparition snatched Hartley up by his foot and began ascending into the sky.  Panicked witnesses started to flee into the nearby streets of downtown Vacaville, but some used their iPhones for the last known shots of Touch the Sky flying away with a screaming Hartley dangling from her feet.
        When interviewed in front of Main Grape, one of the witches, still wearing a mask, said they had just been playing with some old spells to bring statues to life.  The spells were in an old book one of the coven members purchased at an estate sale.  She said, ”We never had a spell actually WORK before! This kind of freaked us out!” When asked about Hartley, the witch said, “Well, he's always pretty carried away with himself, so no surprise a statue would carry him away, too.” 
        When contacted, Mr. Hartley’s family also did not express much surprise when told what had happened.  According to Mr. Hartley’s wife, “He’s always doing something stupid to get a picture.  He’ll probably turn up somewhere in a few days.  If not, I have a pretty decent insurance policy on him.”
        Police are asking witnesses and witches who observed the incident to please come forward to provide further details about the tragic event. Meanwhile, a search continues for the missing sculpture. The statue was on loan for a year.  If it is not recovered, the City of Vacaville will have to pay the artist for its cost.  No one seems to be searching for Hartley.

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