She too sensed the bubble they existed in was soon coming to an end, and there was no way of knowing how life would be once time caught up with them; perhaps it would be the same as before, perhaps not.

“Take hold of Herbie,” she said, and with that, she picked her furry friend up from her shoulder and placed him in her lover’s hands. He looked somewhat perplexed, but as he exchanged glances with the airy ball of fur that wriggled in his fingers, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Why are you carrying around a hamster?” he asked.

“Because he’s my friend” she replied, and when the two exchanged grins, there was no need to say anything more. Kneeling down, she lifted a sleeping Bertie from her feet and placed him among the nearby cats who were watching their every move. Bertie momentarily stirred, meowed, and then went back to sleep, seemingly unconcerned with anything other than wanting to catch up on a good rest. Taking Herbie back from her lover, she kissed her friend on his little nose and whispered into his ear. Squeaking a response, he turned to the man who’d been holding him and squeaked at him too, and with that, she gently placed him into the pocket of her dress.

“What are you up to?”

Giggling to herself, she didn’t respond. Instead, she took hold of his left hand and then placed his right upon her hip.

“If you step on my feet, I shall hit you,” she said, “and very hard at that.” He knew at once she wasn’t joking, and yet the threat of violence made his smile grow from ear to ear.

“Ah, so it’s a dance you want?”

“Not any dance, but a slow dance” she replied, “and when it feels right, I want you to kiss me, but don’t just kiss me, make me feel like I’m the only one you’ve ever wanted to kiss in your entire life.”

Pulling her close, he squeezed her hand in his.

“Like you had to ask,” he said, and with that, he pressed himself against her. As the animals behind them cleared a path to the Ferries wheel, the two of them began their waltz. It was clumsy at first, for the tears in their eyes made every movement feel like a drunken one, and yet when they swayed to the music of the universe, it was as if nothing else mattered, which was true, for nothing else mattered at all.

“And all those years you told me you could never dance,” she said giving him the eye.

“I was just waiting for the right song,” and with that sly response, the two of them spun before the glowing lights of the wheel that reached so high into the infinite sky. Like the animals had done, the stars parted, and as their bodies below twisted and turned, their orbs ascended into the heavens, and there they had a dance of their own among the constellations that to all but the few would forever be out of reach.

“You smell like home” she whispered before nestling her head against his chest as they swirled before the shining eyes of the animals. The thoughts and feelings that flowered inside of her were too numerous to mention. The one thing that she could focus on with any certainty was that she was exactly where she wanted to be. Nowhere else would ever come close.

“My heart is home to many things,” he said, “and it’s felt the touch of others, but it belongs only to you.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

A Journal for Damned Lovers UK

A Journal for Damned Lovers US

Anthology UK / Anthology US