Benedict

Dancing

I cooked and we had a nice dinner. I was glad we were fine again and she seemed, too. She wanted to hear all about my day at skydiving and told me a bit about her friends. But after we had finished eating she turned quiet, slowly following the beat of a song coming on the radio which she had turned on for background atmosphere. Not knowing what to say I started cleaning the table as I felt her hand suddenly on mine.
'Come on. Let's dance a bit.'
Turning up the volume she pulled me softly towards her as we followed the rythm of the music. I didn't know the song but it was catchy and we put some crazy dance moves together laughing at each others interpretations. After that a slow song followed and I pulled her close, leading her through the room. She leaned her head at my chest and the smell of her hair lifted for a moment the heavy sadness and pain that had been laying on my chest in these past weeks. Somehow I felt a lightness and freedom, guiding my moves, making me smile. I didn't think about anything I just felt, forgetting everything around us.
Then the song suddenly ended and the amazement got replaced by a kind of confusion I had never felt before. Sophie murmured something of being tired and with a forced smile she hastily helped me cleaning the table and went upstairs.
For a while I just stood there, trying to find a thought that would make sense. As that didn't work I decided to lit a fire and read a book. But I couldn't concentrate. My mind was spinning around with a crazy mix of happiness and pain, Sophies hair, music, emptyness, confusement. Finally I just stared into the fire, watching the shadows dance in the warm light, until the calming sound of cracking wood lulled me into sleep.