A confused look, then a snicker. "No, I can't say that I have, Linda. When I see something good enough, I'll let you know."
"You won't have to tell me. Anyone around you will know it."
A few blinks; blinking back the recognition, blinking back memories long past? "No painting is going to make me have a scene, thank you very much."
A flicker of doubt flies between both of them. "It doesn't have to be this art." A knowing smile; Linda's memories of her own reaction stirring within her. "It can be a movie, a story, a dance, a song. . ."
But the voice has trailed off. Catherine is alone with her thoughts, with her reaction.
~
Four years before, and Linda's friendship hasn't happened yet.
"What are they doing?"
"You grew up next to a Reservation your whole life, and you don't know this dance?" A giggle. "I'm disappointed in you, Cathy."
"What is it, then?" Anger flushes Cathy's cheeks. She is too mesmerized to unleash it on the older woman.
Her counterpart sobers. "It is called the Dance of Loss. It's a ritual from a very long time ago. Someone probably died."
Somewhere in the explanation, Catherine has been lost. The sky has opened in her world, and the rain and darkness has begun to pour around her, and the light that breaks through has begun to mean something. Eyes wide, heart alert, she has become each dancer and each move, and they, in this moment, have become her identity. Her soul idly wonders if they can feel her, a few feet and a few universes away, peeking in on an act that should mean nothing from where she's standing. Yet, instead, there is nothing but this act. She sways with them, is whole with them, fists clenched, eyes opened, heart pulsing rapidly and keeping time with the solid ground below her.
~
"What brought this all on, anyway, Linda?" She is irritated, afraid of being moved too far, of her "profound reaction" defining her always.
"Well, I just heard the most wonderful song. It was beautiful; I was almost moved to tears."
They laugh. Of course, they both think to themselves. Of course she doesn't understand.
Of course I am the only witness to the Earth's soul.
