Moonlit Dance

This being my very first post, I decided to post something short and sweet that I wrote to better my descriptive skills.

Moonlit Dance

She danced back and forth, to and fro, her shadow sliding across the ground smoothly like water over worn down river rocks. She bent down gracefully, her long, slender fingers trailing on the ground in a small circle around her hunched over body before she sprang up, throwing her arms in the air and arching her back, letting her head fall and her silver hair cascade behind her, all in one fluid motion. The moonlight lit up her face, making her white skin shine as if emitting a glow of its own.

The boy, young and alone, sat watching from the bushes. His knees and hands were scraped and red from his repeated falls on the harsh, unforgiving forest floor. He had been walking all day, lost and scared, trying to find his way home. When the moon had reached its peak at midnight he had stumbled upon the clearing and the beautiful girl dancing in it. It was, in fact, the most beautiful thing he had, and would ever, see, for, he was watching the Moon Princess dance.

The girl twisted around, spinning and leaping into the air as the music of the night got faster and more distinct. The boy could hear now the howling of the wolves, chirping of the crickets, and whistling of the wind, that seemed to move the girl gracefully around the clearing. Her shimmering silver gown left a trail of glitter on the ground as it swept behind her. The boy was suddenly struck with sadness, the image of the glitter spilling from the girls eyes as though she was crying moon dust. The howling of the wolves seemed sad and longing, something the young child couldn’t yet understand. The song slowed the movements of the girl becoming smaller and closer to her body, until she froze, her arms above her head as though she was a ballerina frozen forever on the top of a beautiful glass music box. The boy sat back, the shuffling of the leaves like a loud, unwelcome interruption of the silence suspended around the shinning girl.

Her eyes opened, a startling deep blue like the ocean, and focused on the boy, her stone-like face breaking open in surprise. The boy gasped, unable to move as the blue eyes held his gaze, her stare unwavering. She dropped her arms, the wind picking up around her, her dress flashing through the air, shedding sparkles on the grass. Her eyes never left his as the moonlight basked around her, as though a moonbeam had formed a path just for her, her body shimmering like a desert marriage. The boy stood, wanting to reach out, to speak to her, but her sad stare kept him at a distance. She turned, her body wavering as the moonbeam flashed around her. Then she was gone. The moonlight shone in the clearing where she had been standing moments before. Without her presence the clearing seemed drab and unremarkable, no different from any other part of the woods. The ground glittered in the moonlight, sparkling silver dust scattered about the grass was the only proof that she girl had really been there.

“Bryan!”

The boy looked up, tears forming in his eyes as his parents crashed through the thorn bushes surrounding the clearing, the woman scooping him up into her arms and hugging him fiercely.

“Oh Bryan! Baby, we were so worried about you!” She held him away from her, looking at the wet streaks on his dirty face. “Why are you crying honey? You’re safe now!”

His small finger pointing to the large, gleaming disk in the sky, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks. “The pretty Moon Princess is lonely and sad.”