The Spring Dance

 The air was cool, and the smell of jasmine drifted gently along the breeze. The faded red barn had been transformed from a drab, lifeless old building to a structure that was alive and breathing with music and laughter echoing through its rafters. An array of colorful dresses flashed across the rustic dance floor, and I sat quietly to one side, smiling softly as I watched. I glanced shyly about, wondering if anyone would even notice I was there. I was wearing my only good dress, which previously belonged to my older sister, and as I glanced down at the worn lace and faded print, I heaved a sighed. 

 It was 1935, and life was hard for everyone. Daddy was trying his best to keep our family afloat, but with four mouths to feed and jobs as scarce as a four-leaf clover, we had often gone hungry. I wished so many times that I could do something to help, but it seemed I was only good for shelling peas and canning fruit. I felt so useless, and…

 “Hello, there.”

 Startled away from my thoughts, I glanced up into the most beautiful blue eyes I’d ever seen. A young man, one I’d never met before, stood before me holding two glassed of punch and wearing a kind, open smile.

 “H-hello,” I stammered.

 “Mind if I join you?” He asked, motioning to the chair beside me.

 “No,” I shook my head.

 He sat down and offered me one of the punch glasses, which I accepted with a shy smile. We sat in awkward silence for a moment, both pondering what to say.

 “You don’t care much for dancing?” He finally asked.

 “I never learned how to dance,” I replied softly, cheeks flushing.

 “Really?” He asked in surprise. Sensing my embarrassment, he shrugged and said, “Well, it’s not really all that great if you ask me. I’d much rather sit and talk to a pretty girl than stomp on her toes.”

 A giggle passed my lips, and I glanced over at him, noting the look of pleasure on his face at my reaction.

 “Are you from this area, Miss…?”

 “Annie,” I answered his unspoken question. “Yes, I live on the next farm over. And you?”

 “My name is Marcus, and I live about three hours south of here. I came to visit my aunt and uncle for the weekend. They persuaded me to come to this party tonight, although I don’t know anyone…”

 As he spoke, I took the opportunity to study him more closely. He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, with a slightly crooked nose and wavy dark hair. His face wasn’t the most handsome I’d ever seen, but there was such an easy-going, charming way about him that I found myself unable to look away.

 “I’m sorry,” he laughed sheepishly. “I’ve been chattering on too much, haven’t I? I tend to do that when I’m nervous.”

 I felt my eyes widen at his last comment. “Why would you be nervous?”

 He blinked. “Well…it’s not every day I get the opportunity to talk to such a pretty lady.”

 I felt a rush of heat burst onto my cheeks and sat back a bit, uncertain of what to say. I was seventeen, and yet I’d never really carried on a conversation with a man other than Daddy. I hadn’t any idea of how to handle myself, and suddenly wished I hadn’t come tonight. 

 Lucy, my sister, had talked me into it, stating, “It’s not good to stay cooped up in this old house so much, Annie, you need to get out more! No one ever has parties anymore these days, so who knows when you’ll get another opportunity?”

 She was right, of course, and so I’d relented. I was nervous and anxious and hoped to just sit quietly in the corner so I could watch everything going on around me, never once expecting a handsome, young man to approach me.

“Are…” I swallowed, “are you enjoying the party?”

 “I am now,” he smiled, leaning back to cross an ankle over his knee. After a moment, he suddenly motioned to a nearby couple and said, “I give them two minutes.”

 “Pardon?” I asked, brow furrowing.

 “See that young man over there?” He pointed to the far side of the room, and I nodded. “He’s been dying to ask the young lady to dance all evening, and he’s just about to work up the nerve.”

 “Do you think she’ll accept?” I asked, intrigued as I, too, began to closely watch them.

 “Oh, yes,” Marcus nodded assuredly. “She came with this fellow here, but she’s been batting her eyes at the other guy for the last hour.”

 I wondered how I’d missed that, my eyes following the scene that soon began unfolding before me. The young man Marcus pointed out did, indeed, begin to make his way through the crowd towards the couple, and I noticed the spark of pleasure on the girl’s face when she caught sight of him.

 “I wonder how her beau will react?” I whispered.

 “Not well, I’m afraid,” Marcus sighed dramatically. “He’s the jealous type.”

 I’d just opened my mouth to ask how he knew such a thing when the young man finally reached the girl’s and asked for a dance. 

 “No, she’s with me,” her escort stated loudly, placing a hand protectively at her waist.

 “That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to dance with anyone else, silly,” the girl laughed, accepting the young man’s hand with a flirtatious smile. Before her angry beau could protest further, the young man swept her away and the two were soon gliding graciously amidst the other couples. Marcus and I watched with a bit of trepidation as her beau stomped through the crowd, fists clenched.

 “What do you think he’ll do?” I asked, eyes wide.

 “He’ll back off,” Marcus replied confidently. “He isn’t brave enough to start a fight here.”

 Within seconds, Marcus's words were proven true. The young lady’s beau stalked out the side door, slamming it behind him.

 “Well, that was certainly dramatic,” I said with a slight laugh. Turning to look at my new companion I asked, “How did you know what would happen?”

 Marcus shrugged. “I’ve always been sort of a wallflower, so reading people is just something I’ve gotten pretty good at.”

 “What do you read about me?” The question popped out before I could stop it, and I felt my eyes widen at the forward words.

 Marcus didn’t seem deterred by my question, however. Tapping his chin with one finger, he studied me for a moment before answering. “You are like a tiny, white daisy,” he spoke slowly. “Small and quiet, yet delicately beautiful. You prefer to be invisible, only speaking when spoken to, but I believe that, if only someone would take the time to listen, you would have more to say than everyone in this room put together. You have the eyes of a very wise woman, but the smile of an innocent little girl, and I’d bet my life that your heart is made of pure gold.”

 It felt as if all the air in the room had been sucked out through the windows. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. No one had ever spoken to me in such a way, and I felt that, for the first time in my life, someone truly saw me for who I was.

 “I hope I haven’t offended you?” Marcus asked, tilting his head uncertainly.

 “No,” I whispered, a smile slipping past my lips. “Not in the least.”

 With a sigh of relief, Marcus leaned back once again in his chair and we slowly began to talk. We pointed out other couples, creating scenarios about their lives with giggles and whispers. We talked seriously of our hopes and dreams of the future, and I discovered that Marcus was studying to become a doctor. We spoke of our families and homes and what it was like growing up during such hard, desperate times. Before I knew it, the night was coming to an end and I saw my sister heading our way.

 “Oh my, I didn’t realize how late it was,” I laughed, secretly motioning for my sister to wait a moment.

 “Is it?” Marcus asked, glancing around the room in surprise. With a moan, he sat up straight and said, “I was supposed to be back by nine o’clock. My uncle wanted me to help him with something.” Turning to smile sadly at me, he added, “I hate to leave, though. It’s been so nice, sitting here talking to you. I feel as if I’ve known you my whole life.”

 “I feel the same way,” I smiled shyly in return.

  Running his fingers through his hair, Marcus eyed me hesitantly for a moment. “I have to leave tomorrow, but I’d really like to write to you if...” he swallowed, “if you don’t mind?”

 I felt the thrill of his request clear down to my toes. “I’d like that,” I whispered.

  With a breath of relief, Marcus held out his hand and said, “Until next time?”

 I accepted his hand, relishing the feel of his strong fingers as they wrapped around mine. “Until next time.”

 Holding my hand for a moment longer than necessary, Marcus finally stood and walked away. He stopped at the door and turned to wave at me one last time. I waved back, my heart fluttering like a dozen butterflies in my chest.

 I fell in love that night. For the first time, I knew what it was to think of someone constantly, to have that warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Marcus wrote to me, just as he said he would, and I read his beautiful letters every single day.

 That was thirty years ago, and I still think of him, still wonder how his life turned out. I never replied to any of his letters; I never saw him again. You see, I didn’t explain to Marcus that I hadn’t learned to dance because I was crippled and couldn’t walk. I didn’t mention that the reason I sat so still and quiet in that chair was because I couldn’t do anything else. I’d been carried into the barn and placed in that chair long before the party ever started, and Marcus never suspected a thing. 

 Perhaps you think it cruel that I never wrote to him, that I never explained, but I couldn’t bear the thought of his disappointment and pity. I fell in love with a brilliant and beautiful shooting star that would have only dimmed and burned out had I been a part of his life. Marcus didn’t sit and talk to me that night because he felt sorry for me, but because he saw something that no one else did, and I wanted him to continue thinking of me in that way. I wanted him to move on and find a young woman that could match him step for step and provide him with children and a warm, happy life. And perhaps, every now and then, he would think back to a certain cool, spring night with the smell of jasmine in the air and remember a shy, lonely white daisy with the eyes of a wise old woman and the smile of an innocent little girl. And maybe he would even miss her, just as she misses him.