Dancing in the sun

Some people say that as you get older your memories fade. Others say with age comes wisdom. I say the moments that change your life you never forget, no matter how old. I know that I won’t forget that day sixty summers ago when I was just a girl. That fateful day when I met Ruby.

It was the night before the solstice gathering and my mother was putting the final touches on my silky dress. My mother had worked long and hard on the dress, saving up to buy the soft floral printed fabric. I stood there in the wavering light of the oil lamp, as my mother tied a bright blue ribbon around my waist. It was the color of a clear blue sky on a sunny day. My mother stepped back and indicated that I give her a twirl. The skirt flared up and I spun and spun, a huge grin breaking across my face. Just then my brother entered the room and told me how beautiful I looked, that I would have no problem finding a husband. My mother slapped his arm with the brush she was holding. My brother just laughed. I sat down in the hard wooden chair in front of the dressing mirror and carefully colored my lips with a pale pink lip stain, the color of freshly bloomed wildflowers. In the mirror, I could see my mother glaring at my brother, he grinned sheepishly and presented her with a bunch of roses the color of blood. My mother took them and carefully arranged a few of them in her braided crown of hair. Then she did the same to my raven black hair, the red popping from the ebony waves. I finished with my face and stood to face them, smiling as bright as I could. My brother smiled and clapped his hands, and my mother had tears in her eyes. Gently I slipped into my worn leather sandals and followed my mother outside. My brother kept a firm hand on my shoulder. For all he joked about me finding a husband, he didn’t actually want me to be taken away. I could feel the heat from his body, and it was pleasant in the cool night, and I could smell him, he smelled of sweet sap from a pine tree. My mother hurried in front of us, walking briskly to another family already waiting by the fire pit. The family had two children, a boy - almost a man, tall and handsome. And a girl, about my age, with long undulating locks of auburn hair. Her eyes were bright green and watchful, and her cheeks pink and smiling. She stood when we arrived as did her brother and her parents. The men bowed their heads and the women gestured to the sky in greeting. But I just stared at the girl, and her at me. With her calloused fingers, my mother lit a match and threw it at the logs, soon we had a raging fire that warmed our cheeks. The women took off their sandals and began to sway back and forth. The men held their hands behind their back. We stood there, waiting, for a long while. Finally, we had about seven families. Everybody gathered around the fire, swaying. The girl and I stared at each other, searching our eyes for something. Under our breath, the group started chanting as one. Praying to the sun, for warmth and good food. As the sun comes up on the horizon, in a pink and orange stroke, the chanting grows louder and louder, until it’s so loud and the sun is fully over the horizon. Everyone cheered and began to unpack food to feast on. I took my meager ration and sat on a log, staring intently at the flickering flames of the fire. This was it, the beginning of summer. I felt someone sit beside me, it was the girl. I looked at her. Her beautiful hair was adorned with small wild daisies.

“I like your dress.” She said. I looked down at the dress, I had been so proud of it, but looking at her’s it was hard to.

“Thank you,” I muttered under my breath. She smiled, her teeth shimmering in the morning sun.

“I’m Ruby.” She said. She had such a good name.

“I’m Aelia,” I said quietly.

“Like the sun?” She asked, and I nodded. Suddenly she grabbed my hand and led me away from the fire. “Do you know why we pray for the sun?” She asked.

“So we have a good crop,” I said. But she shook her head.

“No. We pray for the sun because otherwise, it won’t come.”

“But, it comes out every other day. Why do we only pray for it on the solstice?” She took my hands in hers, her eyes focused on them.

“Because the sun is ashamed. It is worrying that if it comes out, it will cause damage. So it stays on the horizon, hiding. And if we didn’t call to it every solstice, it would lose hope and confidence.” She said so seriously. “Sometimes even elements need a friend.” She looked into my eyes with a deep understanding unnatural of a fifteen-year-old. I got the feeling that what she was telling me, wasn’t actually what she meant. “Life doesn’t go on forever, and one day we won’t be here. I want to help you, Aelia. But first, you have to help me.” Ruby was like an old woman shoved into a young girl’s body. She was so full of wisdom, that I didn’t even question the fact that I didn’t know her. I stared into her perfect green eyes and without giving it a second thought I said: “Sure.” We sat down in the soft green grass, that hadn’t yet been scorched by the hot summer sun.

“Tomorrow.” She said. “At dawn, my mother is sending me off to the city, where I am meeting a man. He is to be my husband, Aelia. I don’t want to go. Please.” When my brother joked about me finding a husband, Id never thought of it as a punishment, but the way Ruby was clutching my hands her eyes filled with tears, I understood what she felt. I was suddenly scared that my mother might send me away.

“Then tonight meet me at the fire pit. Bring food and clothes as well as any money you can spare.” I said determinedly. Ruby sniffed and pulled at one of her curls.

“Just meet me there. You won’t get married, I promise.” She nodded and hurried away to her mother, who called for her harshly. I went back with my mother to our house. Now that the sun was in the sky we were all free that day. I took the time to pack a small satchel with some of my brother’s old clothes. I took a comb, a picture of my family, and a small bracelet made of wood, crafted by my father. At dinner, I snuck a bit of bread, a chunk of cheese, and a small bottle of milk into my overflowing satchel. When I was wrapped in my blanket hiding my fully dressed body, my mother braided my hair in a single braid down my back. She tucked me in and turned out the light. When I was sure she was gone I threw off the covers and walked to my dressing table. Tears filled my eyes as I picked up the scissors laying there and snipped off my braid. I wiped my eyes dry and picked up my satchel.

I met Ruby at the fire pit. She was dressed in a long wool dress and a baggy brown coat. Her long hair was tied back with a scarf. She held a bulging pack with one hand and a stack of money in the other. She took one look at my clothes and her face took on a shocked expression as she realized my plan.

Ruby and I reached the city and used her money to buy a small flat. We got married under a fake name, and our parents never found us. I still live in that flat, I still think of my brother and my mother and what they must’ve thought that night. But I don’t regret my decision to leave my home and go with Ruby. She and I had a happy life together. She changed my life and I changed hers. And even though she’s gone now, I will always remember the smell of her hair, the complaints she gave after a long day, and her laugh. I may have broken my promise to her, but she didn’t. She helped me out of my shell and I helped her, and the sun still comes up every day.