Tuesday 11 March 2008

Six. Dancing With Lint In My Eyes

It is dark in the club. The lights are those horrible ultraviolet ones, so even though I have worn black, I am glowing like a Christmas tree. I don’t think my jumper is actually made of wool anymore. It appears to have switched places with all the lint from the tumble dryer. It is on an exchange trip. And the lint is doing its best to be a jumper, and to be fair, it had me fooled for a good few hours, but it is not having a good time under the ultraviolet lights. It is entering a state of distress. It wants to go home.

Ivan is exactly the opposite. Ivan has become the Dance King all of a sudden. He is kicking his legs out at all angles and really going for it. He is having the time of his life. Probably. He hasn’t said as such, but I don’t think he has to. I think his grin speaks for itself. All I can do is watch him. He isn’t even that drunk. But the more I smile, the more elaborate the routine gets. He starts to do this thing where he slaps his hip, and with every slap, he does a weird jump, still grinning at me.

My jumper starts shaking uncontrollably, making it seem to onlookers like I am joining in, albeit in a toned down manner. I feel like Flavor Flav in the video for 911, but upright. And without the clock.

This encourages Ivan to dance harder, which in turn makes me and my jumper laugh even more. I beg him to stop, but he doesn’t. I think I am going to die.

I don’t die, but I tell him I need to go outside and breathe for a bit. He nods and follows me out into the night.

3 comments:

Ben said...

Hi Emma,
Thanks for your comment on howmenmakeloveetc - if you'd like to contribute anything to the blog, feel free. We post a new brief for a piece of writing every week or two, depending on how busy/motivated we're feeling. I really like the stuff you've written here, especially in the previous story, the bit about windows of opportunity. Yep. I liked that a lot.
Ben

sally said...

I'm really enjoying these, Emma. The image of lint entering a state of distress has affected me quite profoundly.

In other news I've been looking for some good pylons to photograph but haven't found any. Do you know any good spots?

Emma said...

Ben, you're very welcome, and thanks, and I will definitely keep my eyes peeled. And thanks again.

Sally, thank you. You know how lint is. As for pylons, I haven't found any good ones of late. I think it helps if there is a "spectacular sunset" in the background. Unfortunately, said sunsets have been lacking, though I hope the onset of spring will change that. I'll let you know.

xx