Autumn Nights
by Elizabeth Averay
It was beautiful: a full moon for the Autumn Dance. The little town really knew how to put on a show: elegantly dressed women in their ballgowns and handsome men in their tuxedos with top hats and canes.
A string quartet played classical music for the couples dancing beneath the moon.
Everything was perfect – not a thing could be wrong for these few dozen guests, for they are the chosen. They are the most beautiful, envied by everyone. But it did not do to look too closely at the musicians – if you did you’d be surprised, for they possessed pointed teeth and colourless eyes and exceptionally long fingers with which they lovingly plucked at the strings of their instruments.
These musicians emanated deceit and mistrust, but the dancing couples never seemed to notice – that, or they just didn’t care. They simply danced and danced and danced, carefree.
A young couple driving past saw the dancers and heard the music, and decided it sounded so lovely they must take a closer look. Creeping nearer, they made it to the edge of the light and stared in wonder at the majesty of the ball. After a time, they returned to their car – only it wouldn’t start up. No matter what they did, the engine refused to ignite.
Though they were loath to interrupt the merrymaking they required help – on a tight time schedule, they were due at their new workplace in the morning and hadn’t intended to leave things so late – and so crept closer to the light once again.
Unfortunately, the first time they’d approached the dancers one of the musicians had spotted them, and sneaked off to make sure they could not leave for it had been a long time since anyone new joined them at the Autumn Ball. Whenever anybody new chanced upon their sacred ground the pixies had no choice but to capture them in their magical web.
The king of the pixies wouldn’t free his musicians from playing every Autumnal full moon until they had one thousand couples.
The first couple caught in this web have been dancing for one thousand years. Locals have heard the stories, and the music, and stay away from the fields when Autumn nights descend. They stay inside and tell their children about the pixie musicians, the beautiful people, and the never-ending dance – all only to entertain the king of the pixies…
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