How long had she waited for something as exciting as this to come along? The alcohol she had ingested the previous night had lulled her to sleep--much to her dissatisfaction. She hoped, however, that when she awoke once again, she'd find herself in the very same ballroom she had gone on an adventure with the romantic sir Caliban and the flirty sir Brom. Unfortunately, when her eyes fluttered open, she did not meet the fantastic grandeur that she was had grown accustomed to seeing. Instead, there was nothing but the empty ballroom, faded memories of laughter and music distantly playing within the crevices of her mind. She folded her arms across her chest, her pointed tail refusing to playfully swish as it had the previous night.
She sighed.
Her gray eyes looked onto the spacious hollow, taking steps forward into the middle of the room. Her heels echoed amidst the silence, a bone crushing loneliness seeping through her. She stopped dead center of the room, ashen eyes narrowing at something non existent. She held back the tears that welled in her eyes, forcibly wiping them away with a prideful hand. She wondered why it had to end so quickly--why her pleasant trips to the ball were cut short. And then she realized the beauty in the flaw: it was the essence of it all. Dreams were beautiful things that brought you to places that gave you joy and happiness. It filled you with all the things you wish were real and true. But Dreams come with a price--they are fleeting. Like water, you cannot fully grasp them within the palms of your hand though they leave a mark: water drops that stay sprinkle your hand as if to say, 'it was real even for a moment'.
With that, she felt a smirk light up her features, a finger pushing the monocle up her face. "It was a pleasant dream," She angled her body, dipping to a curtsy, "Thank you. Until next time. And as her eyes shut, she heard the faded sounds of cheery speech and fond laughter.
See the thing with dreams are, though fleeting, they will always be in your heart.
((I want to express my deepest gratitude to the staff of this Masquerade Ball. Though I was disheartened that I could not attend it all through out and I couldn't enjoy all the rooms as I wanted, I still had a lot of fun. I hope that I get to attend the next one; and, I also hope that it will be longer. <3 I also want to thank the staff for choosing my story as the winner among all the stories, which were all well-written. Thank you so much again and as my character says, until next time! ))