Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Moonlight Waltz

Moonlight Waltz

The night had turned silver, changing without acknowledgement of the party guests. The courtyard garden seem to be the only place in the world that was this still. With the flower blossoms closed shut to the sky, the crickets and cicadas sang a quiet lullaby. She had never seen the garden in full moonlight; its leaves so much darker and the trees so much wiser. It was as if the greenery all nodded knowingly to each other. She soon forgot her hasty escape from the bright ballroom. Bronze and gold people and décor, all laughing and jubilant. Too much so, it made her heart quicken and chest seize.

The trees and bushes were open and kind. They called her forward. The princess rose from the stone bench, cold in the black night. Her skirts drifted on the grass around her, creating a muted shuffle that seemed so natural to her she thought it incredible she had never been a part of this. Her soft fingers caressed each leaf she walked past and found patterns and stories in the tree bark. Stories she will keep secret and all her own.

Orchestration from the ballroom found its way to her ear, ever so faint and so sweet. She allowed herself a deep breath of the night air. The cold blue filled her lungs, making her heart quicken and chest seize. This time out of excitement. Finally, she had a sense of belonging. Here, out in the garden and away from the constricting castle walls. The feeling overcame her and lifted the sorrow from her lips.  She found herself moving in tempo, spinning in the garden's moonlight with an invisible partner. But she soon forgot him and waltzed in her own steps. Graceful and free, she let her hair down and loosened her bodice. The chilled wind raised goosebumps on her exposed skin. It sent a thrill through the trees and they applauded her elegance. 

She looked back at the gray stone of the castle with its golden light and iron rods. In that moment it is no longer the place she calls home. With a beautiful smirk she turns to the darkening garden and walks

1 comment:

  1. I like your warm personification of the plant life, what you say about the stories and secrets she can feel as she touches the bark. And I like the image of her free and unrestricted at the end, dancing away from a place didn't seem to be "open and kind" to her the way the forest was.

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