What Inspiration Created

Here is what I wrote after being inspired at the dance. I edited it and feel better than I did before, but it's really just a flash of a moment that I hope I captured well.

Last night I danced with a fox in a Cleopatra mask of gold and black. We were in a circle of four, and her nose was always turned up to the air seeking something. She sought a larger group of dancers, a louder bunch of girls, fancier dresses and the heat of the center of the crowd. She wanted her hands to touch the body of the boy who danced on the hands of the crowd for a moment. She wanted to follow the shifting patterns until she reached some sort of end where everything was bright and permanent. Every time she approached something with excitement, hands outstretched, it melted. The boy who danced and flicked his suspenders trotted away. The girl who wasn’t afraid to move any part of her body laughed and left. The ones who moved too fast for her to do anything but look at them longingly flashed by. She didn’t have her finger to the pulse, but that heartbeat pounded in her ears. I couldn’t see her eyes behind that mask and it seemed as if she couldn’t see me at all. She was seeing the world in heat vision, but we in our circle were dancing like pebbles, senseless to the warmth. Insensible, but light. We danced slowly and still had the cores of ourselves when the music stopped. Beneath our masks we still had eyes and we had seen each other all along. I even imagined I could see the fox’s eyes now under Cleopatra’s golden face, but it might have been a trick of the light. The night deflated and so did she.

I don't know this person very well but I do like her very much, and this isn't meant to be a negative portrayal. It's just something that struck me that night.

Image Credit
http://www.nolaimports.com/store/images/neworleans-saintsmask.jpg