B (7:52)
Music, unlike any you have ever heard, is the first thing you notice. You lie still listening to it for a few moments. You cannot pick out the instruments, but the melody seems to wind itself through your mind. Finally, you open your eyes. The first sight that greets you is the sickle moon, shining like a wan smile in the dark sky. There is not a cloud in sight to mar your view of the moon. It seems particularly bright this evening. The silvery light of the moon showers down around you. In comparison, the diamond points of stars seem to flicker and twinkle, desperately battling for their light to be seen. You stare at the stars and the moon, noticing with surprise that they are not the ones you recognize from home. You look around. You are lying on your back in the middle of a perfectly manicured lawn. You could swear that each blade of grass is exactly the same height as its neighbors. Stranger still, they do not appear to be cut. It is as if they all grew to the same height and then stopped growing. You press yourself up to a seated position and continue your investigation of the area. The lawn is very large, but here and there you can see little tables with parasols and chairs. As if at any moment there could Be a garden party. Thick rose bushes border the lawn, creating a hedge as tall as a person. A rose arch at one end leads beyond this garden. You stand and walk towards the arch. The scent of the evening air and the roses wafts about you. As you walk across the lawn, you see that some of the roses are blooming even now at night, the moon illuminates them. The roses come in nearly every color imaginable. They seem to melt into one another. The pure white blooms fade into blush pink, which in turn give way to bright pink, orange and yellow flowers. On the rose arch bloom deep red roses so dark they are nearly black. You cross beneath the rose arch and are immediately confronted with the impressive view of a huge manor house. The building is at least five stories high with a circular tower room in one corner. The ground floor is dominated by two story high windows. They are lit from within by an inviting and cheerful golden light. Even at a distance, you can see figures moving around behind the windows as if drawn by an invisible tether. You find yourself drifting towards the lights and sound. The music that has enticed you since you opened your eyes is clearer and stronger here. It is coming from this most impressive and alluring building. As you get closer, you realize that there are hundreds of figures moving about within. They are all dressed in the most fabulous clothes. They twirl and flit around the room, clearly dancing to the music. You barely register the golden door and the attendant standing beside it until you are just feet from them. The attendant is dressed in royal blue and gold. Everything from his shiny buckled shoes to his golden half mask seems to gleam. His mask is simple but elegant, and you can see the glint of his eyes beneath it. He gives you a small bow and opens the door for you to enter the party. As soon as you cross the threshold of the ballroom, you feel the sensation of a warm breeze pass over your body. You feel the gentle pressure of a mask on your face and look down to see your clothes have changed. You are wearing the most beautiful outfit you have ever seen. You spin around to look at yourself in the reflection of the windows. The person who stares back at you from beneath a full mask is one you barely recognize. Your clothes are a deep emerald green, embroidered here and there with what look like real emeralds woven into the shape of leaves. Your mask covers your whole face. It is mostly green, though huge ruby red roses bloom from it. The roses are also found at your shoulders and down your sleeves. You look like a rose vine come to life. You turn back to the party, finally Able to get a good look at your fellow guests. Every single one of them also wears a mask. Many of them glide across the floor in pairs or on their own, dancing to the music. Others line the walls, chatting in small groups or grazing at the long refreshment table. In the centre of the room there is a raised dais. It supports half a dozen musicians, each playing a different instrument, none of which you recognize. The music they create seems to waft around the room like a haze. It is the perfect volume for dancing if you are amongst the dancers, and yet also a soft background volume. When you step closer to the wallflower, it infuses your mind. Always there and never ending. The ballroom is the largest room you have ever seen. The ceiling is another story above you and is decorated with a magnificent fresco. It appears to be the garden of the world. Vegetation twists around in pleasing patterns. Between the plant borders are painted scenes of animals. Some are ones you can identify, such as stags, wolves and hawks. Others are ones you have never seen before. A jackrabbit with antlers, fish with colorful butterfly wings and a unicorn also gaze down at you from the ceiling. This twisting design centres around the grand chandelier in the middle of the room. It lights every corner of the ballroom. It looks like an upside down golden spring has erupted from the ceiling. It flows out like water, exquisitely carved and holding hundreds of of fat white candles. The light it gives off fills you with a cheerful glow. The walls of the room appear to be hand painted. Vines reach up from near the floor and twist up towards the ceil. A few of them are accented in gold which reflects the light of the chandelier, giving the entire ballroom an ethereal, shimmering quality. The floor is highly polished to reflect the light above and seems unscuffed by the hundreds of feet walking and dancing across it. You look straight down and catch a gasp in your throat. The floor is painted to look like the surface of a vast pond to you. It looks like your fine green shoes are suspended over still water. You can see water, grasses, colorful fish and wide lily pads beneath your feet. In the glimmering candlelight, it almost seems as though the scene beneath you is moving. You turn your attention back to the dancers. The music presses on your mind and entices your body to move. The dancers seem to make a space amongst their number for you as your legs move without your instructions. Before you know what's happening, you are winding through the other bodies, dancing with a grace that you have never felt before. Partners come and go as easily as the tides as you glide along the water like floor, one moment you are dancing with someone in an ornate peacock costume. The the mask they wear is embellished with real peacock feathers that sway with the music. Behind them trails a long tail made of hundreds of peacock feathers. Each one at least six feet long. Their mask has shimmering shades of green, green, blue and purple edged with gold and comes to a pointed golden beak in the front. Before you can compliment your dance partner on their outfit, they are gone. As they disappear into the crowd of bodies, a silver fox takes their place. The fox mask before you has tufts of what looks like real fur at the ears. The silver pattern on the rest of the mask swells like snowflakes in a winter storm. The mask is so remarkably beautiful that it takes several moments before you notice the puffy white tail your partner has. It seems to whip and curl playfully as the two of you make your way across the dance floor. Looking into the face of your partner, you notice fox like eyes staring back at you. They are a cute, curious shade of amber and seem to glow in the darkness of the mask. Again, before you can say anything, the silvery fox twirls away and you find yourself before yet another masked person. This one is a beautiful butterfly. Their wings are so large that the other dancers give you two a wide berth. The wings contain every colour in the rainbow and have a curious sheen to them. They look as delicate as spun glass. They even open and close chances gently as the dancer moves. Their mask is black with two glittering half spheres where the eyes should be. Two long and delicate black antennae curl gracefully from the top of the mask. It gives the impression of beautiful being carved from one huge chunk of onyx. Finally, the song seems to end and your partner leaves you. You take this opportunity to find some refreshment. As you wander towards the long wall of the ballroom where refreshment tables stand, you peer at the other dancers. Their costumes, if they are indeed costumes, appear to be as lovely and intricate as those of your dance partners. There is something curious about the costumes, however. For instance, it it may have been a trick of the light, but you're sure you saw the long tail of someone with a cat mask flick with uncharacteristic realism. A hawk masked person also appears to have made feathers on their ruff rise in annoyance. Briefly, you put the issue from your mind. Suddenly, very aware of how thirsty you are after the dancing, you approach the tables and are immediately dazzled by the collection of glittering tableware. Everything is made from pure shining crystal. The light from the chandelier shines through each piece, tossing rainbows around the walls, ceiling, and floor. They flit and dance as the other guests pick up glasses and plates. On every table, there is at least one huge crystal fountain. Each one contains a different drink that rushes cheerfully into a large serving bowl at the bottom of each fountain. The drinks are variously blue, pink, and pale green. They look light and refreshing. After your frenzied dancing, you pick up an ornate crystal goblet. It is expertly carved and lighter than you expected. You bring the cup to one of the bowls and delicately pour a couple of spoonfuls of the pink drink into the goblet with a crystal ladle. One or two of the other guests around you lift their own cups to you as you take your first sip. The liquid is perfectly chilled. Though you have not seen any ice in the serving bowl, it dances over your tongue with a refreshing, bright flavor that is not overpowering. After your first sip, you feel re energized and ready for more dancing. The floral and fruity notes are not overly sweet, and you find that the drink is nearly halfway gone. Every time you taste brings to mind an image of open wildflower meadows on hot summer days. Your goblet now empty, you eye the other two drinks. You decide to try them all. The blue liquid looks as pure and fresh as spring water. It touches your lips and you feel transported to the top of a mountain. The sharp crispness of fresh snow, evergreen trees, and a touch of mint hit your senses. You are not sure if you taste or smell these things, but the experience is even more refreshing than the pink drink. A guest who wears the mask of a white polar bear has been watching you taste the blue drink. You catch their eye, and they nod approvingly at you. Finally, you fill your goblet with the green liquid. Even before it touches your lips, you can almost see the sun dappled forest that it brings forth in your mind. Bird song and the comforting embrace of the woods overwhelm you. The flavor is earthy and hearty. The animal masks of the guests seem even more lifelike when you are sipping this drink. They appear in your mind like creatures drifting between large trees and out from behind the underbrush. Part of you wants to remain in this temporary illusion just for a moment longer. But when your glass is empty, you know it is time to return to the dance once again. It is as if the dancers and the music are one being, in and of themselves. A creature that can read your mind and knows exactly when you are ready to find your place in the Swirling tidal eddies of the dance floor. A space seems to open up before you and all you have to do is follow your feet. Your first partner is a glittering crocodile. Each electric green scale looks like a gem and the mask seems to grin at you. With a knowing smile, you grasp two hands that feel scaly in your own. Much like the animal itself, this dancer is surprisingly quick on their feet. You have to focus to keep up with their fancy footwork. Though there are noticeably different songs, the music itself melds together for you, creating a joyful haze in your head. Your vision is rose tinted as you gaze at the plethora of glittering masks all around you. They are every color, shape and texture you can imagine. Scales, feathers and fur are are just as common on the masks as bright jewels and ornate details. A thought drifts through your mind like a quicksilver fish. You have yet to hear anyone speak. As soon as the thought crosses your mind, it's gone, darting back to the depths of your subconscious and lost to the sound of the music. After the crocodile glides away on glittering green shoes, you are next partnered with an individual bearing an impressive octopus mask. Large lamp like eyes on the mask are coupled with curling tentacles. Each sucker on the underside of the eight tentacles is decorated with a deep purple gem. The entire mask seems to glint in the candlelight, as if its wearer has just stepped out of the water and was still wet. You resist the urge to touch the beautiful mask and watch in amazement as the mask changes color to the beat of the music. Much like a real octopus changing colors at the bottom of the sea. You are suddenly gripped by an insatiable desire to stop the dancing. Hold your partner. Sit. They cannot leave. And ask them who they are, what this place is and how they all found themselves here. The urge passes, however, when a new thought overtakes you. This night, this palace and these people are not things from which you should demand answers. This night is about experience, enjoyment and letting go. Why worry about questions with no answers or answers you cannot comprehend? Why not spend spend the night in the pure pleasure of the masquerade? What other times in your life do you get to enjoy something so completely? This thought calmly laid across your mind like a warm blanket. You spin away from the octopus and into the arms of your next partner. This partner surprises you not because of their mask or their otherworldliness, but because you get the certain sense that behind their resplendent sunflower mask lies someone like you. Where the other dancers give off an ethereal and mysterious air, this dancer seems Purely human. You can see by their eyes that they recognize you as human as well. The pair of you nearly stop dancing in surprise. But the music carries you through like the tide, both too stunned to speak. You keep flowing with the music and following your feet for a while. Finally, as one song drifts to an end and another fades into beginning, you both have the chance to sleep. Slip off the dance floor. You find a secluded corner through silent agreement and look at one another. It does not feel like the right thing to do to take off your masks. Instead, you grin at one another, eyes glad, crinkling with joy. Behind your masks, you compliment one another on your costumes with the wry air of knowing that the other person has no idea how they came to be wearing it. Your brief conversation is overcome with giggles like two small children playing the same, same game of imagination. There does not seem to be a need for more words. You get the sense that this other person, this other human being, knows as much as you do and is simply enjoying the ride. You lean against the wall, intending to take in the dance and enjoy the companionship of your newfound friend. When the wall gives way slightly behind you, your companion grabs your arm to steady you. You both turn to inspect what you once thought was a wall. You can see a thin line and test it with your hand. It gives under the pressure to reveal a hidden door. Without a second thought, the two of you open the door just wide enough to get through and sneak in, closing it softly behind you. You find yourselves in a cool corridor, dimly lit with single candles in simple holders along the walls. The corridor is not too long and quickly transitions into a tightly winding st staircase. You share a look with your sunflower friend. You can tell from one glance that they are as eager as you are to explore. You start to climb the stairs at regular intervals. There are long, thin, painless windows that reveal small slivers of the world outside the building. You catch glimpses of the moon, even higher now and shining brightly. You see the rose garden in all its blooming glory. Through one window, you think you see a field of the tallest sunflowers you have ever laid eyes on. The cool night air blows through these windows and refreshes you from your night of frenzied dancing. Finally, you and your companion come to a door at the top of the stairs. It is a simple wooden door with a cast iron handle. You open it easily to reveal a wide open, wide stone balcony. You have ended up at the top of one of the towers. You get an uninhibited view of the dark land around this strange place. As your sunflower friend also peers around in wonder, a bright flash of light zooms past the tower and into the sky. A firework more colorful and bright than you have ever seen in your life explodes above you. Before you can catch your breath, another appears in the sky. You and your companions stare in wonder and astonishment at the fireworks display. It is entirely unique and not like the ones you have seen in the past. The sounds are softer and less jarring while the colours, patterns and reach of the fireworks are more fantastic. Suddenly one bursts into the sky and becomes a blooming rose. Its petals change color as you watch before it fades into the night sky. A moment later the sunflower replaces it, shining even brighter than the real sun. You turn to your new friend who returns your gaze. Both of you laugh and hope in your hearts that this masquerade never ends.
