The novella “The Rose” by Charles L. Harness was published for the first time in 1953 in the magazine “Authentic SF”.

Anna van Tuyl is a composer, a dancer and a psychiatrist who is trying to finish a piece titled “The Rose”. When she realizes that her body is changing and thinks she’s getting ugly a period of crisis start for her. However, at the same time she finds more inspiration for her piece.

When Anna starts analyzing the famous painter Ruy Jacques, she realizes that he’s also undergoing the same physical changes and that they’re at a more advanced stage. The strange relationship that begins between Anna and Ruy aggravates the one between Ruy and his wife Martha, who is very jealous. Husband and wife are heatedly debating the conflict between art and science and Anna is caught in the middle.