"Club Chrysalis" by Rochelle Leya Watts

      I was sitting in the club by myself. Tikka and Crystal had decided not come out tonight, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I needed some time out of the house. I had danced a little, and was now resting on a stool and sipping a chocolate martini.
       The dj started playing this new song. It sounded like a techno lullaby, if you can imagine that. As I watched the people on the dance floor, one girl kept catching my eye. The green spotlight would highlight her every few beats of the song. She was an okay dancer and all, seeming to be lost in the music, almost unaware of the other dancers around her. I have to admit I was staring for a minute or two there.
       I turned away and took another sip of my martini. When I looked back, the music had started to speed up a little bit. The girl was still out there dancing away, flinging her red hair over her shoulder, and I could see then that she was singing. But it was just music playing; there were no words. I tried to tell what she was saying but the spastic lighting and smokiness of the club made her lips unreadable. I almost moved out onto the dance floor, to get closer and see if I could hear what she was saying. Then I saw the leaves.
       As if they were growing out of the dance floor, vines sprouted around her feet. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. I had a passing thought that the bartender must have slipped drugs into my drink. The vines got longer and started to wind up her legs. That's when those on the dance floor started to notice.
       The people closest to her backed away and others behind them saw what was happening, leaving the girl in a widening circle. The vines got thicker and wound up around her torso. Her legs were held in place but her arms kept moving as if she was still dancing. She didn't even seem to notice the vines. By the time the song ended, they were up to her chest. The dj was too stunned to get a new song on, so the techno lullaby started over again. No one screamed or ran for the doors; they all were overwhelmed and could do nothing more than stare.
       The vines grew over her head and up her arms. Then, they started blooming. There were these huge, pink buds that burst open. The air shimmered around the blossoms as each one bloomed, sending sparkles of light that drifted upwards and dissipated against the ceiling. A collective gasp went through the crowd; even I found myself sighing out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The vines had twisted into a large shape, with four leafy panels. The last few flowers bloomed with brilliant sparkles. The panels peeled away, like the cocoon they formed around the girl was a giant flower bud cousin of those that decorated its sides.
       In the middle of the four petals, she was sitting on the floor. From her back, two beautiful colored wings spread open. They were swirled in constantly changing patterns of purple, blue, and green. She blinked and looked up at the circle around her. I managed to tear my eyes away from her to look at the other people in the club's faces. They all wore expressions of awe and wonder.
       When I looked back, the girl was standing up. Her movement broke the spell that had held the crowd back. They surged forward as so many people tried to touch her, to feel those gossamer wings. The girl fluttered her wings and lifted off before the mob could reach her. Quick as lightning, she reached the open skylights and was lost into the night.
       I looked down at my martini. It seemed dull and dim now in the club and I didn't feel like drinking anymore. I got up and was taking my coat off the back of the chair when I noticed a petal by my feet. I snatched it up before any one else could see it laying there.
       The vines were withering away, but the petal in my hand stayed unspoiled. It was so soft, pink, and smelled of a summer's day in a meadow. I gently put in my coat pocket. When I got home to my shoebox of an apartment, I put in a dresser drawer. It's still there, smelling as sweet as when I first found it. The memory of it all seems like a distant dream now but the petal reminds me of that strange night.