Not a pagan Christmas
« Get off the MUSH! » Tom pleaded.
« Just a minute! » Corinne replied. « I'm marrying the Bajoran ambassador. »
« We're going to be late! » he whimpered.
« Yes, dear, » she murmured, not looking away from the monitor.
Tom sat down, logged into the MUSH, and typed p Tara=heyas
Seconds later, a line appeared on his screen.
Tara pages: LOLHe logged out of the MUSH and tapped his forehead against the desk.
A minute later, Corinne said, « Okay, let's go. » They donned their cloaks and stepped outside. Tom commented that it was getting dark, and they hurried along the path all the way to the forest primeval.
« You guys are just in time! » shouted Amber-Lynn, beckoning for them to join the circle.
« Hey, Amber-Lynn! » Corinne squealed.
« Hey, Greta! Hey, Andy! » she added, and continued greeting everyone in the circle.
« Hey! »
« Hey! »
« Hey! »
« Hey! »
« Hiya! »
« Hey! »
« Hey! »
Tom smiled and waved at everybody. « What's up with him? » he asked, gesturing to the boy who was pretending very intently to tend a herd of goats.
Greta snorted. « She broke him, that's what. »
« That bitch! » Corinne muttered. « All she cares about is getting her cunt filled. »
« Language! » Tom exclaimed. « Don't be so crude! »
« Well, it's true! » she grumped.
« Okay, people! The Equinox is approaching! » Amber-Lynn announced. She withdrew from her cloak a ceremonial dagger, and held it up for all to see.
One by one, they cut their palms and bled into a chalice. When the knife had returned to Amber-Lynn, she cleaned it off and sheathed it. Then she held the chalice up to the sky and intoned, « We offer this, our life's blood, to the Sacred Mother. » They completed the ceremony without error, and proceeded to snuggle in small groups.
Some time later, Tom's bladder hinted that it had an urgent matter for his attention. He extricated himself from a pile of humans, and wandered off to relieve himself. On the way back, he veered to confront the boy sitting sadly on a rock next to the goats.
« Why so glum, Geoff? » Tom inquired.
« I hate her! » Geoff shrieked, his voice cracking. « She said that she cared about me, but she didn't! She doesn't care about anybody but herself! »
Tom feared that he was in over his head, yet said, « Maybe she does care about you. »
« What? Did she say something to you? »
« Er, no. » Tom began to feel pangs of regret as Geoff appeared more and more crestfallen. « I've never spoken to her. »
Geoff buried his head between his knees and rocked back and forth, and Tom walked sheepishly back to where Corinne was dozing.
« Follow me, » he said, after he gently shook her awake. He led her by the hand to a grassy, open spot. She stood, teetering groggily, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
« Dance with me, » he said.
She smiled sleepily. They swayed together, with their eyes closed, not watching the moonlight glisten on their skin, not paying attention to the noises of the nocturnal creatures. They both swayed to music playing only in their heads. For some, it's hard to dance that way. For Corinne and Tom on this night, it seemed to come naturally: their two souls acting in concert, exchanging feelings, not words. They breathed in the scents of each other's hair, and basked in the warmth of their terpsichorean embrace.
When the sun rose, they walked, hand in hand, back toward the place where they had left the others.
« I love you, » Tom said.
« Promise you'll never leave me, » Corinne demanded.
« I promise, » he replied.
« I'll love you forever, » she said, almost as if in exchange.
They woke the others, said their farewells, and trudged home.
<p> <a href="/posts/parabola/maggie2.html">[...]</a> </p>