City of After

Maybe… the dancer is waiting for her boyfriend outside the rehearsal studio by the river. He’s late. The water ripples, starting to glimmer with the approaching evening. An old man is walking along the river, careful steps with his dog, a feisty jack russell leaping at the small sparrows heading back to their nests. He passes the dancer. The dog finds her intensely attractive, sniffing, exploring. The sweat from her rehearsals the most exciting smell he’s found that day. The old man apologises. Bones creak only a little as he shoos the dog away with surprising agility. He apologises. She smiles. It’s okay. The old man walks on and turns a corner. The dancer looks down. He’s dropped something, a piece of paper; a note. She picks it up and skips round the corner, a sound on her lips. But the old man’s not in the street. He’s gone.