July 3, 2024

The Dance Eternal
​by Kevin Hogg

Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash

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Click here to listen to this story on the Kaidankai Podcast.





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Unceasing through the darkness, the music of the dance eternal. Its beat, pulsing for many, heard by only a single living soul.

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“That was a close one!” Jana shuddered, holding onto Eleanor for comfort. A clatter of rocks rushed down the steep cliff wall, sending water in every direction as they crashed into the river below.

Unable to speak, Eleanor clung tightly to Jana. Both girls breathed deeply, considering how narrowly they had avoided disaster.

Eleanor broke the silence. “We’ve been out here two days now. How do you keep your hair smelling so nice?”

Jana laughed, running her fingers through her chestnut hair. “Maybe it’s just nice compared to some of the other smells out here. Anyhow, it’s full of twigs and all sorts of stuff.”

Suddenly self-conscious, Eleanor felt her own black curls. “At least you’re looking half-decent. I think I’ve successfully ripped every piece of clothing I brought.”

Jana said, “I can’t believe this is our last camping trip before graduation.” She paused. “Are you sure about taking the offer from Hope College? I’m going to miss you next year.”

“It’s the closest school with a veterinary program, and I’ll be home every long weekend.” Eleanor’s eyes sparkled. “But I’ll miss you, too.” She bent to retie her shoe.

Jana asked, “So, I guess we need to get it out in the open. What’s the deal with prom? Who are you hoping to go with?”

Eleanor hesitated. “Well, actually, I was hoping—"

But what she was hoping, nobody would ever know. The ground gave way beneath her feet. Jana tried to grab her arm, but it was too late. In her last vision of Eleanor, the sparkle she had loved so much was replaced by wide-eyed terror.

                                                                  * * *

Jana couldn’t sleep. That was nothing new, though. For weeks, every time she closed her eyes, the scene replayed in her mind. Search and rescue crews had combed the forest, but the river was fast and wide due to an unusually large spring thaw. They said it was unlikely that they could find anything for another month.

Nobody spoke to Jana about the incident. Deep down, she knew most people were trying to be kind, but she couldn’t help feeling judgment or suspicion in the averted eyes. Just yesterday, she had finally attempted a short walk. She turned around abruptly after overhearing a whispered conversation: “Why were the two of them out there alone anyway?”

And now, she heard the music. It started quietly but became louder throughout the night. She covered her head with a pillow, put in some earplugs, turned on a fan. Nothing would drown it out. She considered waking her parents, but she felt guilty enough for sleeping on their bedroom floor ever since the accident. She needed to regain control of at least part of her life.

By 2 a.m., Jana gave up. She turned on the light and opened her book. It was no use. The music was so loud that it blocked any thoughts. How could her parents sleep through it? How could anyone?

Jana got dressed, put on her coat and shoes, and walked outside. The echoes of nearby hills made it difficult to figure out where the sound was coming from, but it seemed to be beyond a ridge to the west. Before she knew what she was doing, Jana was walking down the driveway and out toward the forest. It felt good to feel some sense of purpose and direction after three weeks of indifference.

She knew the forest well from years of childhood exploration, but with the thick cloud cover, it was nearly impossible to see. That was no problem, though. She could follow that music anywhere.

As she looked down from the top of the ridge, she saw lights below. The Tabors’ old barn. It made no sense, as Mr. and Mrs. Tabor had died when Jana was in elementary school. The house stood empty for years until it eventually collapsed. After that, the barn had been wrapped in “Caution” tape in case it suffered the same fate, and anybody with any sense stayed away from it.

But now, it was the site of a raging party. Jazz music blasted out of its broken windows, piercing Jana’s skull. Surely this must be waking the entire city…

Inside, eight musicians stood on a pile of boards. Each played a different instrument, belting out an upbeat swing number. Somehow, the music was quieter inside, if not by much. Eight dancers strove to keep up with the rhythm. Jana wandered between them. Although most moved too quickly for her to get a good look, Jana saw that they were from all age groups. The closest woman must have been pushing fifty. A couple, the only two dancing in a pair, may have been in their eighties. At the far end, a girl could have been close to Jana’s age.

No. She was Jana’s age. As the girl turned toward her, Jana saw the smile that she would recognize anywhere. The smile she had seen right before the cliff had crumbled…

“Eleanor?” she shouted.

She ran across the barn. “Ellie! You’re alive!”

Eleanor continued to dance.

As she swung around again, their eyes met. The sparkle that Jana was sure she would never see again. She reached to hug her friend.

Eleanor spun again and took two steps away, never missing a beat.

“Come on, Ellie! Let’s go home. People have been searching for you for weeks.”

Eleanor held up one finger.

“One what? Please, Eleanor, talk to me. Let’s get out of here. Let me take you home.”
Eleanor held up the finger again.

Jada shrugged her shoulders, confused about Eleanor’s lack of urgency. Did she not understand that everyone believed the worst? “What are you trying to tell me? One dance?”

Eleanor’s eyes sparkled.

“Okay, one dance. Who should lead?” As Jada took a step closer, Eleanor moved further away.

“You want us to dance separately?”

Her feet still moving, Eleanor glanced at a bench against the wall.

“You want me to sit down while you dance?”

Sparkle.

Jana couldn’t understand the reception. Did Eleanor blame her for the fall? Did she think that Jana had abandoned her?

And yet, Eleanor looked happy as she danced. Jana waited, certain that the song had to wrap up soon. Twenty minutes later, the band showed no sign of slowing down. Jana got up, but Eleanor immediately started across the floor away from her. Her arms and legs were almost a blur. How had Jana never realized what a talented dancer her friend was?

She sat back down. Another thirty minutes, and Jana was asleep. She woke up in the morning as the sun came through a hole that had once been a window. The barn was silent. No band, no dancers. The boards that had made up the stage were leaning against a wall. When Jana looked out the window, she saw the Caution tape. Even more surprising was the floor. The only footprints breaking up the dust led from where she had entered to where Eleanor had been dancing and then to the bench.

Jana ran to the door and ducked under the tape. Outside, only a single set of footprints. She ran home, out of breath but unable to stop and rest. A police car was parked outside the house. “Jana!” her mother called. Her father held her tight. “Where have you been? We were so worried when you weren’t home. The front door was opened, and we were worried that…” He stopped himself, unable to voice the thought.

“I was following the music. It was coming from…”

“Music? What music?” the officer asked.

“The jazz music that was blaring all night long. I followed it to…”

He held up his hand. “I’m sorry. I’m not understanding. Did anyone take you out of the house or ask you to come with them?”

“No, I needed to find where it was coming from.”

“Following music? So you left the house of your own accord?” He flipped his notebook shut.

Jana nodded.

“I don’t think I can help you with that. But it looks as though you’re okay.” He looked to her parents. “Are you good to take it from here?”

Jana’s mother looked slowly back and forth from Jana to the officer. “I think so. Thank you for coming. I’m really sorry to bother you.”

The officer smiled. “This is the best-case scenario. Just glad to see the family together again. Especially after…” He caught himself. “Well, I’ll be seeing you.”

After the officer left, Jana’s parents sat her down on the couch. “What were you thinking?” asked her father. “Do you have any idea what we’ve been going through?”

This question brought out the defense mechanisms of the past few weeks. “Yeah, I think I know a little about loss, dad. I…” She paused. “But Ellie’s not dead! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I was watching her dance in the Tabors’ barn!”

Jana’s mother reached over and squeezed her hand. “The Tabors are dead, Jana. And I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s been weeks, and nobody has found Eleanor.”

“I found her, mom. There was loud jazz music, and it led me to the barn, and…”

“You walked all the way to the old Tabor barn in the middle of the night?” her father asked.

Her mother gave her a tight hug. “Jana, honey, why don’t you try to lie down? You look exhausted.”

Unable to reason with them, Jana went to her room. Her mind was racing, but her body won out. Her parents woke her up for dinner, but Jana was too worked up to eat much. She had seen Eleanor. But where did everyone go? Why were there no other footprints?

That night, the music returned.

Jana was unable to resist, even if she had wanted to. Would she see Eleanor again?
As Jana walked in, she noted that the Caution tape was nowhere to be seen. The band played as fast as the previous night, and all of the dancers had returned.

Sparkle.

One finger.

Although it hurt to be so close to Eleanor but not be able to talk to her, to hold her, Jana was just happy to see that her friend was okay. She could wait for the end of the song.

Again, she woke up to the sunshine and an empty barn. Again, her parents were upset, although there were no police today.

The next night was the same. She didn’t understand what was happening, but Eleanor’s smile was all she cared about.

On the following night, the smile was gone. As Eleanor moved about the floor, the lights caught her face at a different angle. Jana began to doubt if there had ever been a smile. She saw Eleanor’s dark skin glowing with perspiration. As she looked around, she saw that everyone was straining from the exertion. And yet the music went on, never losing the tempo.

Jana walked to the stage. “Excuse me!” she called to a woman playing the trombone. The woman inclined her head to show that she heard.

“Are you going to be wrapping up this song soon?”

The woman shrugged her shoulders, continuing to play.

“Can you please stop?” Jana asked.

Shrug.

In desperation, she asked, “Are you even able to stop?”

Another slight bow of the head.

Jana looked back out over the dance floor, seeing Eleanor weary but still keeping up with every note. She needed to free her from the grip of the music. But then the terrifying reality hit her.

“If you stop, can Eleanor come home?”

The trombonist shook her head.

Jana could barely get the next question out. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

Hesitation, and then a nod.

“When the song is over, she…” Much like her father that first morning, Jana couldn’t finish her sentence.

The woman nodded.

It was so tempting to sit back down and watch Eleanor, knowing that this was the only place it could ever happen. But the look on her face, which Jana was now convinced she had mistaken for a smile, longed for release.

It was now or never. “Do I have to stop you?”

Another nod.

Jana tried to swat the trombone out of her hands. The woman spun around, nearly hitting the guitarist with her slide, but the music kept on.

Jana tried to push the drum set over, but it wouldn’t budge. She screamed at the band members, cried and begged them to stop, shouted so loud she felt like she almost drowned out the music.

And then she noticed that the band, too, appeared on the verge of collapse.

She returned to the trombonist. “Are you trapped, too?” she asked.

The woman nodded as the song continued.

Jana looked back at Eleanor. She watched until their eyes met. Jana knew what she had to do.

She reached out toward the woman. “May I take your place?”

The trombonist lowered her instrument. Gasping for breath, the trombonist asked,“Do you understand what you take on?” Although she spoke quietly, Jana heard her clearly over the music.

“I do,” Jana said.

“I thank you,” the woman smiled. “And I’m sure Eleanor does as well.” She handed over the trombone, walked toward Eleanor, and tapped her on the shoulder.

Eleanor paused and faced the stage. One final sparkle, and she was gone.

Jana lifted the trombone to her mouth and looked out at the dancers. As she played the first note, she saw the former trombonist nod briefly as she joined the dance eternal.

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Kevin Hogg is a high school English and Law teacher in British Columbia's Rocky Mountains. He holds a Master of Arts degree from Carleton University and is a longtime Chicago Cubs fan. Outside of writing, Kevin enjoys Lime Pepsi, grapefruit juice, and lemon tea. His goals for the future include solving a Rubik's Cube, visiting Walden Pond, and meeting television star Gabe Kaplan. His website is https://kevinhogg.ca.

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