"Scene and Unseen" by Madeleine PelletierI loll against the velvety wallpaper as the extravagant party swirls by. My friend had begged me, was dying to attend a costume ball, could never go alone. Now I’m here, hiding in the wings, struggling to see from behind my bargain store disguise, my friend turned invisible.
Opposite wall, a fancy lady in a stunning black gown. Confidently anonymous behind her feathered Venetian carnival mask, she doesn’t realize that her body is calling out her secret thoughts. Or perhaps she doesn’t care. A man stumbles towards her, dribbling wine with every second step. She averts her eyes and pats her updo. I imagine she’ll pull out a hairpin and stab him if he gets too close. I think he senses this too. He lurches off in another direction. Two women in too-high heels and too-revealing tops wobble by; the lady puts hand to onyx hip as her eyes follow them, waiting (hoping?) for someone to fall. Someone who thinks he’s somebody ambles over to her, puts out his hand. She smiles coldly and offers him nothing. He talks. She hears him out. He talks more. Her smile disappears. He shrugs and walks away. She hadn’t said a word. A flicker of blue satin to my left. My friend materializes. I raise my glass to toast her safe return. She passes me by without a glance. I spin away. Flustered. Discarded. When I look up, the lady is blowing towards me like an obsidian cloud. She carries two glasses of champagne. She hands one to me as she leans back on my wall. United, we savor our drinks, mutely shouting our disapproval.
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