FICLET: Triple Salchow

RATING: PG

AUTHOR: Mint Witch
SPOILERS: None
DISTRIBUTION: I'm not only easy, I'm free. Just ask.
FEEDBACK: Give it to me baby, uh huh uh huh! Mintwitch@yahoo.com

When I was a kid I wanted to be a figure skater. I would beg my parents to take me to the rink, happy to spend hours going around and around and around. Gliding on the ice, everything was perfect, my life as smooth or rough as the water I danced on.

Strangely, these memories don't include Dawn.

Now, hunting mythical creatures in stinking alleys, I know my dream has come true. Which just goes to show that you should be careful what you wish for.

The sounds system plays the Cranberries for tonight's performance. And every double axel ends in death.

A stray cat meows its approval as I finish my routine, and I curtsey, a vision of athletic grace in my deceptively skimpy costume. Dust falls like roses around my feet. I blow extravagant kisses to my fans, invisible in the darkness outside the circle of light, and glide towards the wall. The show is over for tonight, but come back tomorrow folks, we'll be here for the rest of my life.

The song changes, something thumpy and primal that lures me in from the alley. They should really start locking the back door. Maybe I'll mention it to the bartender later. Right now I want to dance.

It's strange to be here alone. Phantom friends seem to wave me over from the corners of my eyes, but when I look they are strangers, staring right through me, as if I too am a ghost.

But the beat embraces me, wraps around my bones to tug me out onto the floor. The music will be my friend tonight. And I'm not really being bad, right? This is just like practice and it's not like my coach is around. My coach hasn't been around for a while; he's coaching someone else, now. Not that I mind. No, really, it's okay. Really.

Forward and back, side to side. Raise the arms just so, hands extending the line. Yes, this feels right: spin and pivot, stay with the rhythm, arms and legs, hands and feet. Anonymous in the crowded space, no need to skate around teddy bears here.

Maybe tonight I'll finally land that triple.