Halloween
Part One
by Linda Mercury
Rare, delicious freedom! Sula shimmied her shoulders
to the bhangra beat in her headphones. She escaped her family’s choking grasp by
claiming a new knitting group and snuck out a Halloween costume in her
voluminous bag. One accidentally-on-purpose left behind cell phone and the
night was hers. Giggles erupted as she got off the bus at the crowded Portland downtown transit
mall.
At a nearby greasy spoon diner, she disappeared into
the bathroom to step into silver platform boots. Wild purple glitter on her eyelids
transformed her sweet ‘Daughter of India’ face into the unfamiliar wildness of
glam rock. She wandered the streets, laughing with everyone’s high spirits
until a playful bass line tickled her ears.
The pounding led her to a masquerade fundraiser for the
Dove Lewis Animal
Hospital. She paid her cover
and took the ancient elevator to the ballroom. A goth, butterfly, and a zombie
all complemented each other on the creaking ride up. The metal gates opened and
Sula caught her breath.
Gossamer fabric and twinkling hanging lanterns transformed
the space into a 1001 Nights fantasy. She bobbed her head to the funk as she
got a Tequila Sunrise.
The ballroom echoed emptily at this early hour of
the night, but the DJ, a blonde woman in a wheelchair, had the place thumping
with sexualized vibrations. Sula took a deep drink, set down the plastic cup,
and claimed a corner of the dance floor. The rhythm loosened her spine. The
beat freed her mind, informed her feet. Years of repression boiled out of her.
Part Two, coming soon!
**************************************
Tell me, who is your favorite All American hero?
**************************************
Tell me, who is your favorite All American hero?
I like how the words "the rhythm loosened her spine. The beat freed her mind, informed her feet" have a rhythm and a beat of their own. the rhythm of the language here really supports the image. :) Brava!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nita! You make me see my writing in new ways. :)
Delete