Beastly's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

Beastly stands in the doorway of his dance studio, watching the empty street. He has been open for three weeks. The mirrors behind him are clean. The floor is polished. No one has walked through the door except to ask directions or apologize for the mistake. He polishes the award again, though it doesn't need it. The Twirl of Triumph sits in the front window where anyone passing can see it. The gold catches the afternoon light. He won it in a competition two towns over, before he decided to open the studio. He placed it there on purpose — proof that cannot be argued with. But people walk past without slowing down. This morning he heard them talking outside the general store. Two voices he didn't recognize, discussing dance lessons for a daughter. One voice mentioned his studio. The other voice laughed. "Nobody would take dance lessons from a monster," she said. The first voice didn't disagree. They moved on to talk about the weather. Beastly adjusts his bow tie and flips the sign in the window to OPEN. His ears twitch once, then go still. He crosses to the record player and sets the needle down. Music fills the empty studio. He begins to dance — a precise waltz, every step deliberate and flawless. The mirrors multiply him into a full class, each reflection moving in perfect time. When someone finally walks through that door, they will find him exactly here, dancing as though he never needed them at all.