The Blue Cotton Gown by Patricia Harman

Author:Patricia Harman [Harman, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8070-9684-0
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2008-07-18T16:00:00+00:00

Dream of the Dance

All night I’ve felt sad for Penny, felt like sending her flowers. As if that would do any good, would give her back her mother, take away her pain.

“Breathe in … breathe out. Let your mind be at peace. Breathe in …” I peer at the clock. It’s 3:00 a.m. My mind is clacking away like Donna’s keyboard. I get up and slug down my sleep medicine. There’s no sipping. Then I snuggle up to my husband, who didn’t notice I was gone, and try once again. “Breathe in … breathe out.” I try counting backward from one thousand and then I’m … I’m in an open meadow …

I hear music. It’s a waltz, gentle and easy in the slanting green light. One-two-three, one-two-three … The melody is floating up from a golden dome. Curious, I run down the long grassy slope and open the door. The piano gets louder, the golden light brighter.

This is a ballroom, but there are only women here, women I know. Candles flicker from candelabra set into the walls. The music swells. There’s Holly, wearing blue satin, dancing with Nora, who’s dressed in rose silk. There’s Shiana in green chiffon. Then Aran, Trish, and Nila move in.

A bleached blonde walks up to me. It’s Penny, who picks until she bleeds. She holds out her arms, and we begin to waltz, awkward at first. One-two-three, one-two-three. I’m getting the hang of it now. Everyone’s dancing, all the girls, all the women, in their beautiful rainbow dresses. Feet flash in golden slippers as we spin faster and faster, laughing, holding on to each other.

When Penny, my partner, throws back her head, all the scars on her face are gone.

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