The Wind Hates Dancing Alone

Last night, the wind crept through my bedroom window. As I slept, she caressed my uncovered feet, and stroked my brow, leaving nothing but her cold touch. I woke up in a shudder, but couldn’t see anything. I rolled over in my bed tried to sleep.

She started to dance near the window sill. The blind tapped on the window to her beat. Her music woke me up. I quickly pulled my feet under my warm blanket and coiled further into my sheets.

But, her music was too loud. I could not rest.

Wrapped in my blanket, I walked over, raised the blind and closed the window. Whatever sound was being created outside, it faded to a hum. Yet, her presence still lingered in the room. The air had changed. I was cold. I lowered the blind and laid my head on my pillow once again.

I could still hear her dancing outside. She made her own music and the rest of the world could not stop itself from dancing with her. The trees swayed as she pirouetted under the stars. Their branches tapped on my window, and invited me to come watch.

With a sigh, I gave up on sleeping again any time soon. I stared at the ceiling. Even the undefined patterns on my ceiling danced with her. The street lights softly penetrated through the space between the blind and the window. The sight of the window was like a neon sign beckoning me to come over.

Cocooned in my blanket, I waddled over to the window, raised the blind and sat on the floor. Everything outside moved with the wind: trees swayed, loose leaves spiraled in the air, dust flew, and even my neighbour’s chairs inched their way across the veranda. Everything moved in unison. My nose felt cold, and so I sank even deeper into my cocoon. Now, only my eyes were left uncovered.

I soon fell asleep watching the performance. I woke up in a jolt when my outside bin crashed on to the pavement. It’s loud thunk was followed by scraping noises as it made it’s way across the street. It didn’t take long for me to realize that all my trash was spilling onto the street as well. I knew what this meant. I would have to go outside. She was teasing me, and now I’d meet her in the dark.

I emerged from my cocoon in my bright blue pajamas. I dropped my blanket behind me in a grand gesture as I made my way to the closet to prepare myself for my next journey, the outside.

I struggled to find the shoes I wanted. How did I collect so many shoes over the years? Boots, dress shoes, sneakers. Whatever kind of shoe you can imagine, I somehow have it in my closet. As I was digging through my pile of shoes, I stopped. My ballroom dance shoes. I chuckled. Why do I even still have these? I shrugged and put them aside. Those days are long over.

Later as I stood in the hall at the front door, I concluded that this was not my best look. My pajama pants hung lightly over the edge of my furry Ugg boots. My shirt was hidden under the thick layer of my winter jacket. And, to top it all off, I was wearing a woolen beanie, something which I would soon come to regret. I watched as the door tried to dance, softly shaking on its hinges. I swear I heard the lock sing as some air pushed through its gaps.

Inhale.

Exhale.

As I turned the door knob, the door quickly flew open, pushing me back in the process. I stood in the darkness for a minute, watching everything move outside. A branch had broken off a tree and was making its way down the road. Plastic bags and crumpled beer cans followed in the same direction. There was no doubt in my mind where those had come from. I poked my head out, and saw my bin down the other end of the street. A dancing trail of various items made it easy to find. I could feel my beanie start to inch off the top of my head. With a firm hand, I planted it back down and raised the hood of my jacket. I pulled the strings on my jacket tight keeping everything firmly in its place on my head.

I ventured out. My pants flapped aggressively as the wind danced around me. She changed directions constantly. One moment, I could hardly take two steps forward, the next I was blown in the right direction.

For just a moment or two, I stood in the middle of the street, unable to move in any direction. A gathering of leaves, plastic bags and crisp packets swirled around me like butterflies. I turned and watched them fly to her rhythm. I raised my arms to touch them in the air, but then instantly felt like an idiot. I’m not here to dance. I here to collect my bin.

I struggled back and forth for a few moments until with one big gust of air she carried me over to the bin. I tried to push some of the trash back in, with little results. I tried to snap the lid back on, though she kept taunting me by blowing right off again. She continued to dance, oblivious to my struggle.

I walked against her, trying to push through her movement. But she was too strong. My hood blew right off my head, and my beanie soon followed. I looked behind me and watched it dance and disappear into the night.

‘Seriously?’ I yelled. I didn’t know what to do. She was being impossible. ‘Fine! You wanna dance, let’s dance!’

I dropped the bin.

I inhaled, thought about how idiotic I was, and took the proper stance. My right arm bent out in front of me, my left arm bent upwards. With my legs apart, I stood in this position for a moment, until I felt the wind move in the right direction.

One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three.

I can only imagine what I must have looked like dancing at three in the morning in my pajamas, Uggs, and winter jacket, alone, in the middle of the street. But as I moved, remarkably, the wind moved with me. I could move effortlessly across any part of the street, and the wind glided with me.

Soon, I noticed the trees and leaves stopped dancing. The were watching us now. It didn’t take long until everything was completely still, except for me. I danced, and danced. I forgot how it felt to be together, to be in unison.

I don’t know how long it was before I noticed that she was no longer there. I was dancing by myself. I stopped and looked around. Nothing moved. Not even the plastic bags on the road.

I didn’t know how to feel. I was actually happy when I was dancing. When we were together. And in the quiet, I still felt comforted somehow.

I glided over to my bin, and stood surprised as it was left standing straight up, with the lid on. I smiled, and wheeled it back to the house.

As I made my way back to bed, I tripped over something in the dark. My ballroom shoes. I looked at them for a while, appreciating my past, and then made my way to my bedroom. I kicked off my Uggs, and threw my jacket on the floor. I picked up the blanket from in front of the window, and laid my head down to rest.

The next morning with my head still on the pillow, I struggled to believe what happened. Did I really dance by myself like a lunatic last night? I let out a laugh. It must have been a dream. I stretched out in bed, and decided to start my day. When I stepped out of bed, I saw my jacket and Uggs spread out on the floor. I stared at them for a while. I turned around to leave my bedroom only to see my ballroom shoes sitting at the foot of my door.