I wrote a total of 16 pieces of poetry and prose for the Fantasy Faire SL's LitFest Writing Challenge this year. This is the final piece of the seven that were written with a specific dedication, for someone in my life who has had a direct relationship with cancer. It has been a wonderful, soulful journey.
A Thing with Feathers
by Judith Cullen
© 2017
for Kathryn
"I brought the wine," she said. She sat down beside me, deftly handling the
two glasses and the bottle. The red wine poured elegantly. Everything my friend Kathryn did was elegant,
stylish, done with a certain understated flair that spoke of intelligence and class. She's the only woman I have ever seen
gracefully maneuver timpani down a hill in two inch heels. She handed me my
glass, and we watched the ebb and flow of the gossamer fish in silence.
"Not Butterfly,"
I said.
"Totally wrong for it," she replied.
"Maybe Menotti's The
Last Savage. It would be a stretch," I suggested. "Or Vivaldi's Argippo?"
"Maybe," she sipped her wine thoughtfully.
After a moment she grinned and I knew she had found just the
perfect piece, as she always did, "Bizet's The Pearl Fishers."
"Oh yes," I concurred. "Wouldn't THAT be
splendid to stage." The gold-trimmed white marble and the translucent
aquamarine water were a little high class for Bizet's subject. Yet with opera
you can get away with a certain heightened theatricality. Life, death, passion, revenge, hatred all on
a grand scale - that is opera.
"Mind you, I don't think Bizet had this kind of market
in mind. Have you seen these shops? They
are fabulous!"
She refilled our glasses, and rose, leaving the bottle
nestled under the bench. I followed her, as always a little in awe that someone
so stylish should choose to share company with me, Queen of the Rumpled.
We walked from shop to shop, her trademark heels clicked
along the bright marble walkway. My
shoes did not. She had to drag me out of
the shop with exquisite Celt and Nordic inspired furnishings, "Hey! I might need that for something."
"Come along, we are not shopping for scenery."
"What are we shopping for?"
