by Hatty Norman
It is a weird thing, waking up in a room and not knowing how you got there. Nina had opened her eyes to bright fluorescent light and had tried to sit up but her whole body burned unbearably, forcing her to lie back down. Looking down at her hand, she sees a mass of bandages with an IV needle sticking out of them. She eases this slowly out.
“Nurse quick, call the doctor!” the voice drifts into her mind, muffled by a loud klaxon like alarm. Closing her eyes she feels the needle pushed back into her hand swiftly followed by a curious numbness.
Nina gasped, feeling the morphine working its way into her system, slowly paralysing her body until only her consciousness remained. Tiny facets of colour explode sporadically in the darkness of her mind. The colours gradually focusing into images and memories she recognises.
A large stadium filled to breaking point with spectators. A darkened stage surrounded by mirrors, reflecting her and her heavily sequined and feathered costume in a myriad of colours, not unlike a kaleidoscope. She, the Prima Ballerina, bathed in a soft white spotlight.
The opening dance starts. The fireworks blazing overhead. The gasps and cheers echoing as she climaxed her routine. The sudden screams of her fellow dancers as a stray firework ricochetes off a mirror sending splinters everywhere. The cameras tracking the firework as it smothered her in fire, making sure everyone knew what happened in Rio.
1 comment:
Such a chilling story, but well-described. I had a few problems at the beginning with the IV and the way the medicine works. There were some inaccuracies I found distracting. (Once an IV is in the needle is removed and it's just a little shunt-like tube and once you pull that out you can't push it back in. And the way the morphine is described is also problematic.)
Great contrast between the beautiful dancer and what she has become!
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