Danse Macabre

Danse Macabre is a late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one’s station in life, the dance of death unites all.

That’s right. That means that Joe the Plumber, Tito the Builder, Michael the CEO, Biff the Dry-Cleaner, Raymond the Doctor, Glen the Barber, and Kevin the Douchebag are all equals. Created equal… to end equal. Look out the window. We are all walking dead men. Collect your things, buy ten houses if you can, but you won’t be needing them for long.

A bell tolls in the distance… it tolls for thee.

A sudden, chill breeze whips up the leaves around your feet along with their distinct scent, blended with just the faintest hint of some eerie childhood memory. A black cat crosses your path, and you could swear it was humming “Ring Around the Rosie.”

Although you are outdoors, you can hear the ticking of an old grandfather’s clock. Where is it? It doesn’t seem to be coming from anywhere.

You dismiss it as rubbish and continue walking along the sidewalk as the cloudy sky seems to slowly drain the world of color. You pass by a very nice, new house and notice that a single window upstairs is boarded up. The broken glass where the window used to be appears to be almost generations older than the rest of the house. Odd.

You see that they have put out an elaborately sculpted Jack-o-lantern on the porch, but something about that is unsettling to you. You stop and stare into the face on the pumpkin, transfixed. Finally, it dawns on you that the face carved in the pumpkin bears a striking resemblance to your own. Suddenly you hear muffled laughter from beyond the boarded-shut window. The laughter sounds like your own voice. You look down at your feet as the black cat from earlier brushes up against your ankles affectionately.

It has been a strange day so far. May the day bring many strange things to your world today. See you at the dance.

Happy Halloween.