This is an old Story I wrote on a whim, about a performance given by a fox at a club in the desert. Evocative imagery was the goal... Written when I was still whole!

Dancing Fox
By: The artist Known as Sirj

Upon a raised stage, found deep in the heart of the desert, in a large bustling town, the kind known for exotic dancers and sinful delights, a slight fox stepped forward. The crowd murmured in surprise, a rolling sensation of outrage, apprehension and confusion. The patrons were told to expect dancing and spectacle, but the fox looked unable to give any performance, save perchance for a lecture. Clad in simple black robes that hung from his body, and wearing large rimmed glasses that hung from his massive sandy ears, the fennec looked vulnerable and shaky under the gaze of the audience. The lights dimmed, and pulled in on the small creature, head bowed, ears low and to the sides, keenly aware of the dissatisfied murmuring. In his left paw, he clutched a weighty tome, one that looked to be about as thick as his own chest, sealed with a large buckle and leather belt, with stars and planets depicted on its cover. Slowly, he pulled the grimoire forth, undid its binding, pulled it open, revealing yellowed and aged pages, before placing the book into the air before him, where it hovered without support.

Looking up for the first time, the fox showed a quiet sense of determination, tears pricking at the edges of his eyes, and fire shining in his pupils. He held one small paw out, dwarfed by the weighty tome it hovered above. his ears twitched, and as the murmuring of the crowd grew to a fever pitch, he pulled his paw up and towards the sky, each digit held rigid and extended as all the lights illuminating him were suddenly extinguished. The crowd grew silent, but before long, a small ember of awe was stoked as a stream of light began to draw from the thick tome to the fox's paw, a pale green light that illuminated his figure.

As this light, a thin whipsy coil, reached his outstretched paw, a gentle wave of his free limb drew forth four spheres in the darkness, from which a low peaceful melody began to pour, before swelling in intensity to match the result of this small light, as frail as a sprout, reaching to the hand of the meek creature bearing his soul. A great flash filled the space, the little fox struggling, his body leaning back as if to contain the power held in his hand, before releasing it with a bang, stars and nebulas filling the entire tavern. A gasp of awe came from the crowd as the fox pulled the universe back onto the stage, before holding it in his paws, the vast emptiness held between two gentle paws, before being released to cover the stage.

What resulted seemed to be a full recreation of the universe, galaxies and comets moving around the stage, accompanied by gentle symphonic music, produced by the orbs kept just out of sight. Slowly the little fox began to move, dancing a slow and sorrowful rhythm to the music, guiding comets with his paws, creating stars with showers of lights and particles.

He continued on, slowly moving faster and faster, drawing forth the universe a swirl with life and light, moving in peaceful harmony as if he was conducting it all with his deliberate movements. Time passed, indicated by planets circling stars, as the focus came closer to a particular galaxy, and before long they were inside it, their solar system on display, with a blanket of stars keeping them safe. The fox danced through them all, before stopping at the planet that any even slightly learned individual would recognize, their own. The fox held it in his paws for a moment, cradling it like the seed of all life, before gently placing it between his ears atop his head. Slowly, the planet grew larger and larger, as if zooming in on a particular spot. Closer and faster they flew, before stopping abruptly. The place the show had zoomed into was none other than the very tavern they stood in. Every audience member found a copy of themselves, watching just as they did, the small fox who looked into the eyes of another small fox, this one in matching robes but made of a pale green light.

The two embraced, their paws dancing over one another, before locking grasps, another explosion of star dust filling the stage with dazzling diamonds. As the two danced, the fox's robes began to billow out, markings of stars and planets spreading across the pitch black cloth mirroring the birth of the universe that had just been shown. Just as the creation of it all had spread life across the universe, life was planted into this fox by the love of another just like him. They danced slowly about the stage, passion in their movements, steps punctuated with flashes of lights, spectral flowers sprouting up around them.

The show culminated with a low dip of the spectral fox, a gentlemanly kiss placed right on its ethereal lips, just in time for the light show to fade out around them, leaving the spectacular fox in low lighting, music playing around them softly, his robes once again a jet black, a certain sadness in his eyes, and his act completed. Drawing himself up, the lights slowly returned, and the fox grabbed his tome, sealed it up with the belt, and bowed deeply, before rushing off stage, without even waiting to see how the audience reacted to his little performance.