The Music Box Dancer

Machines bleed too, in a way that we don't consider it as bleeding. They have feelings even though we say they don't. They have souls and a life in them, even though we deny it. We have been abusing these machines for too long.

~*~

 

Her stark white, porcelain face shone under the silver moon.

She stood poised in an eternal dancing stance.

Her arms ached for a rest. Her music was slowly fading and her energy was slowly depleting.

She could not go on forever as the shop keeper had boasted about to her Mistress.

Her eyes ached for a blink, they were dry and lifeless... empty.

 

Then, suddenly there was a rustle of bedsheets beside her.

She was picked up into cold and rough hands that rotated her lithe body clockwise.

She stiffened slightly, though a Ballerina must never show her anxiety, as there were a few tight clicks.

Tinkling Music filled the air and permeated the sweet silence in the darkness.

Even though her weary and tired body begged for a rest, she was compelled to dance, to entertain her Mistress.

 

Her cheeks ached from her eternal smile, etched into that fine porcelain skin of hers.

She danced and spun around as if she enjoyed it, even though she was breaking.

A little pirouette here and a little standing split there, she could feel herself falling.

She continued to dance and entertain, it was her eternal punishment for being created, to entertain and never stop.

 

Suddenly, she was falling, falling through thin air.

She felt a genuine and joyful smile on her face, joy filled her soul as she was liberated.

She hit the hard cold ground, but there was no pain, and broke into a million pieces.

The Music tried to continue but it just could not do so.

Her Mistress screeched in shock and horror.

 

She smiled as she danced her way up to the skies.

Her cold, porcelain prison had opened its doors and set her free.

As she danced her way to freedom, her Mistress lay on the floor, crying over her remains.

 

~*~

 

Author's Note

It was an experimentation on machines with feelings.
Inspired by a drawing I once saw where a mechanical item was breaking down and bleeding.
Comments and reviews and queries are greatly appreciated.
If you do not understand a particular phrase, feel free to quote it and explain.

Reviews

[Banished]

congratulations on making me feel bad for an inanimate object lol
this was very well written :)
i loved how you made the format more poetic than an actual story and how there was a happy ending for the music box (well depending on how you interpret it anyway...)
so yea...im adding this to my favorites...great job =]

[Kon™]

I love the new perspective on machines, it gives me a whole different viewpoint. This was well-written and with emotion filled parts. I really enjoyed the emotion that was expressed. Keep it up :)

[RelinquishFate]

I did enjoy this piece quite a bit, its one of those that I think you can't grasp the full perspective of without reading it a few times. I went over it 3 times and each time I was more and more impressed with the imagery used in your writing and the emotional yearning of the ballerina expressed through your words.

A great read, well written.

[Tina Kline]

Like this a lot. Written from the point of view of the music box. Never thought of how they could be suffering and just want that suffering to end. This is great. Very impressive.

[Nicole]

Wow.. I totally thought of my music box, and how much the ballerina probably hates me.. O.o
Amazing job, I loved it. xD

[ebur™]

this is was interesting and well-written. it gives a whole new perspective on machines/music box ballerinas and actually made me feel her sorrow. well done!

[Micco Gibson]

Interesting take, it shows how some things just ache to be free, and it's shown well with an inanimate object like a machine (or a porcelain ballarina). I really enjoyed reading this, a lot of your writes are very different from a norm (in a very good way though) and I hope you put even more up in the future. :D