The Dinner Party

by Anonymous

The surface of the pool glittered like broken glass. I could see the sun setting behind a canopy of palms that sheltered the villa from the outside world. Without my glasses on, the yellow rays melted and distorted the leaves, with the green and yellows combining to form a scrambled mosaic. As I stood at the edge where the concrete met the water, the droplets from my swim were already beginning to evaporate off of me, and I could feel a blanket of heat preparing to take its place. I made my way out of the pool area and through the overgrown garden. On my way to the front patio, I bent down to pick a single yellow rose. It was that time of day now where everything in nature seemed to breathe its last breath, emitting its last defiant shriek of chaos before submitting to the reckoning peace of nightfall. However, the worst hour was yet to come. The time after dusk when the sun passes its twilight and the last of those yellow rays disappear from the ether. Before the ground is secured again by the watchful moon and stars, the whole world becomes bathed in a purgatory of grey. That’s around the time the guests begin to flood through the gates. I rushed upstairs to change, but by the time I was there I could already hear them start to crowd the front door. I finished as fast as I could and sped through the hall. I stood at the top of the stairs with a yellow dress that swayed like a bell at my knees. I saw them float into the dining room like clouds, their sunken phantom eyes fixed on the food. Nine of them sat at a long table in the center of the room. They were already helping themselves when I started to walk down. One of them caught sight of me at the top of the staircase, notified the others and they all turned. Their near-translucent skin glistened in the chandelier light. They cheered for me, and it was an eerie sight. Their eyes were dead and heavy, but they smiled so widely it almost looked natural. Their welcoming cheers sounded even more hollow and distant as I came closer. Despite this, I smiled warmly and sat down, placing the yellow rose I had picked earlier into the bouquet in front of me. The ghosts returned to their echoed conversations, and I sat back and listened quietly until it was over, almost invisible myself.