The Lady in Red
By Lakshna, age 17, United Arab Emirates
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
She entered the ballroom as though she were the night's focus. Every head turned towards her, every dancer paused, every breath taken away. And all she did was walk into the room. She soon had a throng of people surrounding her, wanting to be with her, talk to her, be in her company, shine in her attention, breathe in the air around her.
"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry; you don't know how lovely you are." He smiled as he recognised how apt those words were. He watched her for a while. Her hair shone like ebony, streaked with a red that matched her dress. She laughed with a childlike glee. She danced with a lady's grace and a liveliness to match that of a candle in the wind. And every time she faced him while dancing a smile spread across her face. The kind of smile that could lighten up the darkest room, brighten the dullest day, placate the most troubled heart.
Very soon they were dancing together, and nothing else mattered. All that he could see were her eyes, shining up at him. All that he could feel were her hands in his. All that he could smell was the scent of her. All that he cared about was her.
The sudden pain came as a surprise and the trickle of blood seemed out of place. He looked at his hands again. He looked around him, and then down at the broken glass pieces. The ghosts of yesterday had faded. The room was no longer a place of song and music. The air did not reverberate with laughter. His hands no longer held hers. His eyes no longer beheld hers. She was gone.
"Nobody said it was easy. It's such a shame for us to part. Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be so hard." He smiled as the relevance of the words washed over him. He bent, picked up the pieces as best he could, and walked away. He never looked back.
