Lonely Perfection

Smile!

Head held high!

And perform !!

My body follows those practised moments once again. My mind keeps track of my jumps, twirls. Sometimes in between soft and simple parts, I look at the audience. Everyone seems to enjoy the dance but, none understood my movements. The tune slowed down near the ending. My body relaxed into a comfortable position and cheer from the room. I wanted to escape this noise and hid back into the shade of silence.

As soon as I get peace, another round of preparation starts. My makeup freshened up, dress changing and fixing of my hair. My manager beckons me to go back into the spotlight. As I enter, the lights went dim, and expecting silence grew. The sound of playing of keys with the movement of my hands. The anticipation is breaking, the pace of dance increases. The dance got faster along with the rhythm, and my mind wandered into the past.

When these steps were new and unpolished, the song was rough, and stride went off track. My friend and me having fun as we performed together to the walls. Even if we ever performed in public, claps were barely audibly, and dismay grew within us. Our parts fused to become complete but, the fusion was too patched. The stitching was visible resulting in the performance feeling a bit broken. I never knew the value of this imperfection until now.

The excited uproar broke my trance and made me realize that music had ended and set me free. I went back to my house with no one there but silence to greet me. It was comforting in a manner. But at the same time, allowing my mind to go back into the past.

We practised more and more to polish our act. But our quench of perfection lasted too long. My partner overwhelmed herself with this desire to fulfil our dream of a flawless performance which amazed the audience. She died due to a lack of water for our thirst. I still remember that day when I was left all alone. I wanted to give up as I felt scared of the fate of overwhelming ourselves. But even though I wanted to give up, I couldn't. I wished to view the dream we dreamt of and hear the crowd. I practised with all my will but did not forget to rest. The feeling of scared grew distinct and vanished. I performed on a big stage and heard the crowd. But it wasn't what I was expecting. Instead of music, I heard a noise. Instead of feeling proud, I felt unimpressed. This scene felt lonely. At that point, I understood that this is not what we dreamt. We dreamt of perfecting our unity. But now, I think I prefer that flawed completion over this lonely perfection.