Beastly's Arc

Chapter 2 of 7

The notice appears on the bulletin board outside the general store on a Tuesday morning. Beastly sees it on his walk to open the studio. The paper is white, the letters printed large enough to read from across the street. TWIRL OF TRIUMPH AWARD DISPUTE, it says at the top. He stops. His ears go flat against his skull. The notice claims a clerical error — that the award was meant for another competitor, that the results are under review, that a correction will be issued shortly. There is no signature. No official seal. Just typed words on white paper, pinned where the whole town takes their morning coffee and reads the news. Three people are already gathered around it, murmuring. One of them glances at Beastly and looks away quickly. Beastly walks to the studio without stopping. He unlocks the door and goes straight to the window where the award sits on its small shelf. The gold still catches the light. He picks it up, feels its weight in his hands, reads the inscription that has his name engraved in metal that cannot be erased. Then he carries it to the center of the room and sets it on the floor beside the record player. Not hidden. Not displayed. Just there, where only someone inside the studio would see it. He flips the sign to OPEN and starts the music. The first combination is a triple pirouette into a sustained arabesque — something he has never performed in public, something he has been saving. His reflection fills the mirrors as he moves through it once, twice, and then again with more force. When he finishes, he is breathing hard. The award sits on the floor where he left it. He does not look at the window. If they want to see what he can do, they will have to walk through the door.