Melancholia

Remnants 34 - Music Box Dancer

One fine sunny afternoon, Jessica and Christine were heading back from school as normal, chatting all the way. Little did they know, two men were spying on them.

"How many have we got today, Luis?"

"One, Morris."

"So, two more left. Hey, I think those girls will do fine!"

"Heh. Whatever, just as long as we get the job done."

So Morris fired up his special gun and shot towards the girls.

"Ah! What was that?" cried out Christine.

"I felt a burning sensation..." replied Jessica.

They stopped walking and looked around. They couldn't find anyone suspicious, so they moved on.

"Christine, have you been to the new cafe that just opened? I'd like to go but I'm not sure where it is."

"Sure, I've been there. It's over on that street," Christine said, pointing towards the street.

"Eh! Your hands is golden!"

"So is my other hand, and my legs!"

"Eek! We need a doctor!"

"Jess, wait! I can't move my feet!"

Christine's shoes tore apart into white shreds of cloth and revealed her now golden feet. As the gold colour climbed up her legs, she gradually lost stability, and eventually had to stand on four limbs.

"I can't move my arms or legs," she cried out. "And my legs and arms are shortening!"

Indeed, her arms and legs were shortening to make her more balanced and stable.

From faraway, the two men were still spying on the girls.

"Hey, it's working," said Luis.

"Yeah. I wonder what they will become. Normally they only become dolls but now that there's two of them at the same time..."

"Christine, can I carry you to the clinic?"

"Get away! I feel like I'm about to throw up!"

But she didn't. Instead, her body expanded into a round-cornered cuboid.

"What's happening to me!? Hel-" Before she could even finish speaking, they heard the sound of a music box. Christine ignored it and continued speaking, only to continue hearing the music box. Soon she felt that her insides were metallic now, and no longer bone and tissue was she.

While that happened, her cuboid box expanded again and turned red. She was in so much pain that she couldn't speak. When she did try again, more music box voices came out. Jessica realized the sound was from Christine! Not long after, a keyhole with a golden key appeared at one of Christine's sides. Then, her face slowly disappeared, with her saying her final words, or music notes, in forte.

With Christine now a music box, a metal stick seemed to emerge from her back, and various golden lining and decorations appeared on her body.

Jessica didn't know what to do but to call the emergency number. Alas, her pockets were gone, and she was wearing a pair of white tights. Her phone was nowhere to be found.

"Look! The other girl is transforming too!"

Her school shoes slowly melded into the shape of ballet shoes, and the straps coiled around her legs so tightly that she couldn't remove them.

The skirt of her pinafore was slowly raised, her pinafore becoming paler in colour at the same time. Her skirt expanded and contracted a few times, gradually expanding to become a beautiful white tutu. Her uniform underneath merged with her tutu, her uniform and pinafore now a white tutu.

Then, her long ponytail was untied by itself, and it crept onto the top of her head, forming a bun. Her glasses then flew off her face, and morphed into a hair ornament, decorating her new hair bun.

"I'm a ballerina!" cried out Jessica. "Well, this isn't so bad. At least I'm not inanimate." she added, unconsciously dancing a pirouette.

"She's a beautiful prima donna!"

"Hmm... This machine may need some fixing."

"Where's the danseur? I need him to go on stage! What about the pas de deux training!" Her mind started to change and alter, believing herself to be the prima ballerina.

"What is she looking for?"

"What is she thinking of?"

Jessica looked and walked around some more and finally gave up, saying, "The show must go on!" With that, she climbed up onto Christine's back and balanced tiptoeing on one foot above the metal stick. With a pose with hands up above her head, she was ready to dance again. She pirouetted a few more times, balancing perfectly without wobbling, and slowly stopped, being unable to move her body anymore, she lifted her head up, and she was now a ballerina figurine, stuck in a pirouette position.

Christine saw what happened, but was surprised that Jessica did not feel as heavy as she should be. After Jessica froze, Christine felt a desire to sing, and, unable to do anything else anyway, so she did. She sang with her metallic and melodic voice, a tune that made Jessica start "dancing", pirouetting as the metal stick or base she was on turned to the tune. Jessica, on the other hand, was very happy to dance. She felt thrilled that the world could see her fantastic performance.

Eventually, the dance stopped, and they started shrinking. They shrunk until they were less than a foot tall combined, being able to act as a paperweight.

"Such a lovely music box they have become," said Luis, picking up the newly made music box.

"Yes, it is great! Twist the key again, why not?" asked Morris, just leaving their hiding spot.

Luis twisted it again, and Christine lost all control of herself, only being able to sing the same tune, even if she did not want to. She was helpless, unable to do anything as the music filled up her mind, rendering her unable to think or focus on anything else. Jessica, however, happily danced more, continuing her eternal pirouette. As a ballerina, she was proud that she could pirouette for so long, as it was one of the hardest moves she knew.

When the song was finished, Christine woke up to find herself at a high place, a place she had never been to before. She looked down, up and around to see where they were, and it turned out that they were in a toy store! She looked down beside her, and noticed a price tag! They were being sold! She tried to scream but not even a note would come out of her; she could now only sing under someone else's command. She then admitted to herself that there was no escape for her.

For Jessica who was still in a trance, the most important to her was her dance. The shelf she was on was just a stage to her, and the toys and customers were just her beloved audience. Now not dancing, she felt that the show just couldn't start fast enough. She could not disappoint her fans, after all.

And so it was, the two girls were now just a music box, waiting to be sold, or better, returned to their original forms, at least Christine was. In fact, Christine felt that it wouldn't be long before they were sold, and so she and Jessica waited on top of the shelf together.