Two quiet dancers, three little sparks of orange.
An Extra Four
“One, two, three—”
“Four!”
Alf stopped turning.
Across from him, Iris looked past his shoulder. A small orange fish hovered beside a ribbon of seaweed, looking pleased to have arrived at the right moment.
Another appeared on her left.
“Was that the start?”
A third came up between them, then backed away until both seahorses could see him.
“I’ve missed it, haven’t I?”
Alf glanced at Iris. It was her birthday, and he had asked her to meet him in the little clearing where the seaweed grew taller than either of them.
They used to dance there before breakfast, when neither had anywhere to be.
He had practised the opening turn twice that morning.
So far, that was the only turn they had done.
Come Along
“We can start again,” Iris said.
The three fish spread themselves around the clearing.
Alf moved a little closer to her.
“One, two—”
“Do we turn towards you?” asked the fish by the seaweed.
“I turned away,” said the one on Iris’s left.
The third tried both. A flash of orange passed beneath Alf’s nose.
Iris watched him make a very tidy circle.
“You’ve done that before.”
“Mostly round rocks.”
Alf smiled, but he had stopped counting. A long green ribbon swayed between him and Iris. He waited for it to drift aside.
She looked from him to their visitors.
“What did Alf tell you?”
“To come along,” said the first fish.
“He said there would be dancing.”
“And that you liked company,” added the third.
Alf remembered the conversation. They had met him outside the clearing while he was waiting.
“I meant you could watch,” he said.
All three became still.
“Oh.”
“I didn’t say that part, did I?”
“No,” said the fish by the seaweed.
Iris tipped her head towards Alf.
“I’d like a dance with him first. Just the two of us.”
The fish on her left moved back.
“We can watch.”
“Then will you show us?”
Iris looked at Alf. He nodded.
“The next one,” she said. “All of us.”
Their Own Turn
The three fish settled at different heights among the green stems. One peered round a leaf, then shifted so he could see without moving it.
Alf faced Iris again.
“From the beginning?”
“Before we get any older.”
He counted quietly. This time, the fourth beat passed without anyone announcing it.
Iris rose a little, and Alf turned beside her. They curved apart, came back facing each other, and paused before the next slow turn.
Above them, the seaweed reached towards a pale patch of light. Its long leaves bent one way and then the other, opening glimpses of blue between the stems.
Alf almost counted the next turn aloud. Iris was already moving into it.
He followed.
At the edge of the clearing, a little orange face dipped behind a leaf. The fish beside it waited until the pair had turned before moving up for a better view.
Iris saw them as she came round.
She smiled, then returned her eyes to Alf.
They finished near the same two stems where they had begun.
“Happy birthday,” he said.
She stayed facing him for a moment.
“That’s the one I wanted.”
Three Beginnings
The fish by the seaweed leaned forward.
“Now?”
“Now,” Iris said.
The other two came out from the leaves. Alf moved aside to make room, and Iris showed them the first turn.
“Either way is fine,” she said. “Just leave room for whoever’s beside you.”
The third fish looked round at his neighbours and adjusted his place.
“Do we need the counting?”
“It helps us start together,” Alf said.
They waited, five faces turned towards the middle of the clearing.
Alf drew breath.
“One!” said the first fish.
“One!” said the second.
“One!” said the third.
Iris began to laugh. Alf lost his count.
For a moment, nobody turned.
Then all five did.
Leave a Reply