Our Last Dance [ONC 2021]

Chapter III ~ Another Name and Gondola Rides

The next day was chaos to say the least and as I was standing amid a dozen different clothing items, I silently cursed this nameless stranger. I'll see you tomorrow at the bridge, as if there was only one bridge in a city literally nicknamed city of bridges.

I still hadn't found a name for him. Nothing seemed to suit him: either it was too formal, or it was too common.  His name had to be one that he would immediately recognise as his when called in the streets. What was the use of a name if you couldn't call it your own? The list with conditions it had to apply to had gotten longer and longer the more I'd thought about it, so in the end I did the rational thing and stopped thinking about it.

After one last check I turned away from the mirror and with a deep sight I walked onto the busy streets of Venice.

There were countless bridges here. If he really thought I was going to look for him at each and every one, he was dead wrong. My shoes were chosen for a gondola ride, not for a city promenade, so if he thought I was going to walk any farther than needed he could—

'Hello again, darling. You're late.'

His pocket watch closed with a small click as he locked eyes with me. His outfit was the same as those of real Venetian boatmen: a striped shirt and a hat typical for gondoliers, made from straw and adorned with a crimson ribbon.

'Well,' I shot back, 'I don't remember you giving me a time, or a place for that matter.' As proof, I held up the neatly folded note between my fingers. 'Anyway, shall we get going?'

'After you, ma'am.' He again made a small bow, just as he had done the other night, and directed me towards a set of stairs leading down to a mooring place. Not far from the edge, a few poles stood in the canal, between them lying a beautiful gondola. Unlike the others, this one wasn't just black, but painted with a complicated pattern of red roses.

'My lady.' He held out his hand and gently helped me in the boat. 'Careful now, we wouldn't want to ruin your dress, would we?'

I looked at him sceptically. Choosing an outfit had taken me longer than I'd wanted. The weather hadn't helped at all. It was sunny at the moment, but it might rain later on, and I did not wish to catch a cold just because someone had insisted on a gondola ride.

In the end I had chosen for a simple blue dress which left my shoulders bared. Just seconds before I'd run out the door, I'd chosen to cover them with a small cape, which I think a woman at the shop called a pelerine?

Nevertheless, I lifted my dress a little higher as to not get it wet.

I would lie if I said the gondola ride wasn't pleasant. As he steered his way through the small canals of Venice, we talked, and when he got tired, he sat down across from me and as the boat slowly drifted as it wanted to, we talked some more. He was still nameless, but he told me he didn't mind. 'We'll have time for names another time,' he said. I agreed.

The clouds had been driven back by the sun and I had long discarded my pelerine. At one point we even went to get ice cream. Everything seemed so nice in that moment and it was only when he walked me home that afternoon that I remembered I wasn't supposed to care for this stranger. It was a tiny voice in my head, screaming at me to run away from him. He will be gone soon enough, it said, and then you'll be miserable again and wish this never happened.

But my joy was too bright to care for that voice now. Time for regret would come later.

And oh, how it did.

Months went by, five to be exact, and I could say with conviction that those had been the happiest of my life. As the summer grew hotter, we went back to get more ice cream. Our conversations were mystical, about subjects nobody but us would fully understand. Summer quickly turned to autumn, and before I knew it, it was winter again.

My time was running out and with every day that passed, the voice in my head became louder. I told you this day would come, why did you ignore it? You can never run from this. Not anymore.

I knew I should tell him, something, anything. But if I told him, would he believe me?

It was night and I was sitting in my window, looking up at the constellations. I had tried to reason with the voice, but in the end, I had given in and now it was babbling worse case scenarios like its life depended on it.

I wondered if the stars would look different when I came back. How many would fall in my absence?

'Ophelia, Ophelia!'

The voice was finally silenced as the stranger, who had started to turn into a friend over the past few months, appeared underneath my window. It was already late, and I had no idea what he was doing out at this ungodly hour, but this might be one of the few moments I could have with him. So, I grabbed a cloak to keep me warm and descended to the street.

The stars were beautiful when I'd watched them earlier, but why was it that they seemed to shine so much brighter with him next to me?

Because you like him.

With a shock I realised that, for once, the voice was right. The last couple of months had been great, carefree and it was because of him. I had actually enjoyed his company. Now that I looked back, it seemed so obvious.

Slowly, I turned to look at him. Lately, he'd cut his hair and the locks refused to stay behind his ears. A smile was plastered on his face as he tried to distinguish the constellations above him. It wasn't one of his grins, but a genuine smile. He deserved an explanation, I decided, I owed him that much.

'I'll have to leave soon.' He didn't stop walking, as if he hadn't heard. 'You'll probably not see me again, as in, ever.' He stayed silent and I nervously bit my bottom lip.

Finally he turned to me. 'That's okay. I'm used to people saying goodbye. Of course there's always the small spark of hope that it doesn't happen so fast, but I understand. You're hardly the first.'

I didn't know what to respond to that and we walked on in silence.

'Icarus.'

'What?'

'Icarus', I repeated, 'I will call you Icarus.'

I could see his lips forming the name, his name. Icarus.

'Thank you.' He smiled again, a sad but genuine smile. 'I don't know where you're going, but I wish you the best of luck.'

He left me at the bridge where we'd met for our gondola ride all those months ago, and walked away, not turning back.

'Icarus!' I screamed, tears escaping my eyes. I tried to reach for him. 'Icarus!'

Just as he turned around, I fell to the ground, eyes wide, my hair spread out on the cold stones of the street. Icarus.

~ ~ ~

It starts with a wave of fear, your heartbeat speeding up and your pupils dilating. Then the shock when you're unable to grasp the air around you and the light-headedness that comes with oblivion. The painful feeling of fighting for breath. The realisation that it will be of no use. Surrender. Darkness. Light. Air.

And then...