The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Let’s Dance
by Elaine Pascale

“Come fairies, take me from this dull world,” she recited.

Brian smiled. “You believe in sprites?”

She wasn’t sure what she believed in anymore. What she couldn’t believe was her luck. Brian had seemed to magically materialize into her life. She had only known him a few short days, but they had become inseparable, and he had all the qualities she had always desired.

“I want to believe,” she said.

“They are not as nice as you would think,” he told her as they followed the path into the woods. “They make you dance until you die.”

“You make it sound almost romantic.”

They stopped near a ring of red-topped mushrooms.

“Dancing is romantic if done properly,” he said as he pulled her close. “Let’s dance.”

She leaned against him, taking in his sweet, honey-suckle smell. He sang softly in her ear, enchanting her so that she barely noticed the sudden emptiness around them. So lulled was she by their swaying that she ignored the startling change in temperature.

When she tilted her head closer to his shoulder, she saw couples enjoying a picnic on the grass nearby. In what seemed like mere seconds, they had devoured food and bottles of wine.  She saw a game of catch played and ended in what she thought was a minute. She saw children play and frolic. While Brian sang the song over and over, those same children left and returned: older, fully grown.  

She realized that no one could see her, dancing with this miraculous man. She patted him on the shoulder, to tell him she wanted to stop. His face changed; he was miraculous in a frightening way now.

When the children returned, old, she felt a coldness run through her. She wanted to call out, to tell them she was tired. She wanted Brian to stop singing. Or, at least, sing a different song.

She knew it would never stop; she knew she had to dance.

Fiction © Copyright Elaine Pascale
Image courtesy of Pixaby.com

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