A Joyous Color by Melinda Giordano

I found her in a darkened hallway of a museum that was new to me. Yet she glowed with a mirth and color that mocked like the sun frolicking across the ocean’s surface, picking out the jeweled lights on Neptune’s brow.

There was no marquee of adoring lights to surround her. There were no benches placed before her. Those who came to visit, to proclaim their ardor and admiration, would have to stand as they would before a princess. Her glance, full of shallow youth and pride, insisted:  You will stay, and you will wait. Her coral smile, a faint dimpling on soft, dangerous country, added:  And you will enjoy it.

There was nothing coy about the mischievous creature I found in the shadows. She was lush and bold. Pearls, translucent marbles that rolled from the mouths of oysters, wrapped around her neck and cascaded down her breast. The thick, nacreous ropes were arranged with careful abandon over skin that was white and suffocated with arsenic. Her hair melted into auburn coils, its henna exuberance held back by a pink ribbon, which happily admitted its silken defeat.

Liquid colors flowed about her, swift-moving pastel rivers of blue, white and pink. The currents of a spring sky — delicate, willful prisms — rushed through the fabric of her gown and gave it stormy life. Her sapphire plumage matched in intensity only by the parrot balanced on her lithe fingers, cautiously pulling open her gown.

Who was she?  ‘Young Lady With A Parrot’. Frustrating! No name, and so she would forever remain a mystery — her dainty secrets locked away. She might have been a lady-in-waiting, a royal daughter, or a courtier’s sin, but all I had was her beguiling light and joyous color.

© 2012 Melinda Giordano

Melinda Giordano is a native of Los Angeles, California.  She is a graduate of U.C.L.A. and works in public relations. Her written pieces have appeared in Lake Effect Magazine and online magazines as well, including Danse Macabre, Gloomcupboard, Mirror Dance Fantasy, and Battered Suitcase. She writes flash fiction and prose poetry that speculates on the possibility of remarkable things.  In addition, Melinda is a published artist. She is interested in many histories — art, fashion, social (everything has a past) — and anything to do with Aubrey Beardsley.

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