Behind the Curtain Flash Fiction Contest Entry

Welcome one and all to my continued efforts with Submit-O-Rama and my contest entry for the Behind The Curtain Flash Fiction Contest. So far, I'm on track with submitting once a day and today's no different. So, without further ado, I give you today's submission: my entry to the contest. Enjoy!

Behind the Curtain

 

The theater is filled with fog. It spills out across the stage, falls down into the orchestra and reaches out across the seats until every thing is cloaked in mist. The dancers pirouette in perfect unison, graceful limbs eerily white against glittering costumes.

They are too far away to get a good look at their faces, painted like porcelain dolls. But I watch them move, bending and twisting to the music. It seems impossible, such graceful dancers, their movements so in sync.

The music is as ephemeral as the fog, creeping through the dark theater, filling my ears. It circles the dancers like a nest of serpents.

At the end of the show, applause erupts from the audience as though they just woke up and found themselves standing and clapping. I stay behind when they leave, flattening myself against the ground and crawling beneath the seats as the janitors start cleaning up.

I climb down into the orchestra pit, pushing against the big black door that leads backstage.

The musicians are gathered on the other side, clutching their instruments in skeletal hands, blank featureless faces staring at one another despite their lack of eyes, as though chatting after the big show.

I creep past, staring back at them in fear, but they don't seem to notice me. I should leave now, but I have to see the dancers. I want to know how they can move so beautifully, in such perfect unison.

I find them behind the curtain, just off stage. They stand motionless, as still as the furniture around them. I approach, despite the hairs raising on my arms, and gently tap a dancer's alabaster arm.

She doesn't move, doesn't flinch, her flesh icy cold. I come around to peer at her face, but there isn't one. Her make up wasn't done up to look like a doll. She is one. They all are. And on their limbs are thousands of delicate strings, disappearing up into the rafters.

I turn and leave as quickly as I can, anxious to avoid meeting their puppet master. I don't breathe until I'm safely outside in the fresh air, striding away. I don't look back and I never return.

It's never a good idea to peek behind the curtain.

Contest entry details and other entries can be found below. And as always, your feedback is always appreciated in the comments section below. 

Contest details: 

I have included an inspiration board on Pinterest: Behind the Curtain. You are not required to use an image there, but I do encourage you to do so. If one does inspire you, please include it in your entry.

Your stories may be up to 400 words, but don't let that fool you. BREVITY is the soul of wit. Only include those words that allow you to tell a powerful story.

The contest opens at midnight EST on Oct 2 and continues till Midnight Saturday, October 13. That's less than 11 days, better get started.

Post your story on your blog and link up through the tool below. Be sure to include the appropriate code so people can read through the other entries from your blog. Read the other entries and comment - writers love the feedback.

Only a few other rules.

No fan fiction - original worlds only.
No erotica - seduction and sex is fine, but graphic descriptions should not be the focus of the story
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1. Meg McNulty	2. Last Krystallos	3. Jeffrey Hollar
4. Mindy Williams	5. Cameron Lawton	6. Melanie Conklin
7. Angela Goff	8. Kate Nyaaba	9. Stacy Bennett-Hoyt
10. Paul Ramey	11. Mark Blackmore	12. JB Lacaden
13. Bullish	14. Sophie Moss	15. SJI Holliday
16. Mark Ethridge	17. Rachel Kall	18. Miss Bliss
19. Laura	20. Lori Fitzgerald	21. Victoria Pearson
22. Am McDonald	23. Angie Richmond	24. Promises - Jean
25. Keith B Walters	26. paul lonergan	27. Christina Krieger
28. Brewed Bohemian	29. Jules Vilmur	30. J. Whitworth Hazzard
31. Car	32. Rachel Stanley	33. jazzbumpa
34. Sarah Barry	35. Diane J. Reed	36. Chris Fitzner
37. Melanie Cole	38. Louise Sorensen	39. Sarah
40. Holly	41. Colin D Smith	42. Jessica Marcarelli
43. drmagoo	44. Vicki	45. Pepper Thorn
46. Dale S. Rogers	47. J.M. Blackman	48. Emmie Mears
49. Rebecca Fyfe	50. Patricia Paris	51. Raiscara Avalon
52. LittleWhiteDove	53. Afsaneh K	54. Jeff Tsuruoka
55. Laura Howard	56. Jo-Anne Teal	57. Miranda Kate
58. Alissa Leonard	59. Kenzie	60. Lillie McFerrin
61. Vicki Orians

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