Behind the Curtain

 Written for the Behind the Curtain Flash Fiction Contest, hosted by Anna Meade over at her blog Yearning for Wonderland.

Performance of her life

Helena switched on the music and one by one they arrived.

They hung out with her daily; flopping down onto the sofa or sitting round the table, gathering in the room to enjoy the same music as her, talk about the same things and just enjoy the ambience of good living.

Every morning her husband would go to work. She would prepare his pack lunch, kiss him goodbye and think about what was in store for her that day. Who would come? How many would  there be?

When Helena had first moved here, she had struggled. When you’re born a city girl, village life was hard to get used to even if you weren’t in a foreign speaking country. She had believed she was coming to join a community, share a life, be a part of something, but she hadn’t been prepared for the enormity of the culture differences, especially the language barrier. They could all speak English when she was just a visitor; it didn’t occur to her that once she was living here they would stop.

Helena’s favourites would always come. Many knew each other - it was hard not to when they were all in the same business. They liked coming; it was an opportunity to network, to hang out in private and away from the public eye; a place where they could be ordinary people again and not ‘celebrities’.

Once everyone had arrived she would turn the music up and the show would begin. She would get up and dance, even sing sometimes, and Kate would join her; they would perform together, totally in synch and everyone would be mesmerised. And she would feel alive again, appreciated again, surrounded by people who wanted to be around her.  

But she would always keep an eye on the clock; make sure she had enough time. She had to make sure there was time to switch off the music and usher them out, so that the house was tidy and dinner was waiting.

As Helena performed for them, she performed for her husband too as the dutiful wife. She didn’t want him to know about their visits.  She wanted to keep them separate. Even if they were only imagined, they had become a tangible part of her life here and the only thing that kept the intense loneliness at bay.