The Dance of Death

Wendy Tyler Ryan is having a Blogaversary Blogfest today. This is my 500 word flash fiction I hope you all enjoy it.

The Dance of Death

Mist settled over the moonlit streets of the forgotten city of Anglicar as the children, Elara and Tamaris, played quietly in a dark alley. Tamaris drew in the muck of the street as Elara watched. The children had been living on the streets for as long as they could remember. They only knew that Elara with her long black hair had been around longer than Tamaris.

The thrum, thrum beat of Mambo music broke the once silent air.  Tamaris stopped and Elara looked up, seeking out the sound. They rose ethereally from the deluge of filth that they had been playing in. Gliding down the alley toward the street the two looked curiously from side to side.

Reaching the end of the alley, Elara pointed down the street, toward a light where the sound seemed to originate from.  The red moon reflected off of her bony white finger. Tamaris nodded slowly, his slick black hair barely moving as they started down the street.

The music grew more intense, the beat of the drums could be felt in their chests. Slowly, ever so slowly they approached the music and light in wonder and awe of how it affected them. They had not felt in a long time; before the times of myth and days of the mongrel king Utharis.

They reached the light. A musky smell wafted from the group of shapes that swayed side to side in a rhythmic motion to the beat. How strange the shapes were that enmeshed one another, not worrying about the sickness that touch could bring.

The two children watched the odd shapes in wonder as the red moon rose into the dark night. How their bodies moved, like waves crashing into the rocks at the point of dreams. The mist would swirl and turn around their legs, unnoticed by the shapes that danced, unattended by those who would soon dance no more.

Elara moved closer, her black dress flowing around her softly like smoke coming off an almost dead coal. She touched the shadows around her, unnoticed, unattended. Tamaris joined her, their bodies beginning to mesh like the shapes around them. The music became part of them as they moved to the beat, faster and faster. The moon almost down and the sun beginning to rise, they danced on until the music stopped.

The grins widened as the two children held each others hands, almost but not quite feeling the warmth that they had once shared. Their white hands slowly fell to their sides. The grief and pain that they had pushed down for so long began to surface once again. Shame filled their eyes, their smiles faded.

The children floated slowly away from the square where the shapes lay in huddled masses. The shadowy bodies of the dancers lay twisted and grotesque from the disease that had touched them. Looking back the children sorrowed, knowing that they would never feel the beat of the drum, the music, or the touch of flesh again.