Ballet of the Maid Hatter (The Magic Hat #4)

(for Kess)

It was a dance of reinvention, where the forced and angular movements were meant to give gestation to a mirror image of her hopes, a dance of engagement and retreat alternating between soul baring pale skin and the comic withdrawal of hat in hand.

Dance was important to her, the metamorphosis of banal walk to conscripted maneuver to graced flutter. It transformed her to the hummingbird that hovered above the crowded and littered streets.

Dance was important to her, from the time of Sesame Street gyrations that warmed her giggles to the desires for the entranceway to pop pantheon.

Dance was important to her, top hat Fred Astaire, the black and white tuxedoed films where fantasy blended into club life.

Dance was important to her, its sad and sweet afterglow, its fulfillment and fleeting energies, its coda of anticipated applause. How she waits, poised, posed, perfect in the passion.