Marvelous Tales #16 - The soul of a city

This is an entry for a competition found here

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“Miss, you shouldn’t be up here.” Spoke a young night guard in a voice barely tinted with authority. He observed a silver haired figure bathed in moonlight sitting on the edge of the building. The woman in observation brushed her fingers through her shiny tresses but didn’t turn around “You must be new here”, she noted. Her voice was stronger than her figure suggested but it wasn’t in any way accusing. The guard sighed “That obvious huh?” and walked towards her, stopping at her side. “You still have to leave miss”, he tried again. She turned from observing the city towards him, meeting his eyes “I will leave, but could you answer a question first?”

He was stricken with her molten mercury eyes and had a fleeting thought that she looked like a specter before he shuffled his feet with awkwardness “I suppose I can, it’s not like I have anything better to do”. She smiled at him and nodded her head “Good.” Then she made a sweeping motion towards the cityscape “What do you think of this city?”

The guard put his hands behind his back and hummed, deep in thought. He didn’t look back to her when he answered “Well, I’m new here but as far as I can tell it’s the same as other cities. Bustling during the day and interesting during the night. Lots of little secrets. It makes it seem like the city has it’s own soul”.

The woman started swinging her legs as if happy with the answer she received “Right? It has it’s own heart beat”. He looked at her again, tentatively asking “Say, miss. What do you think of this city?”

She tilted her head like a curious dog and gazed at him, judging if he deserved the answer. Happy with what she found she answered in an even tone “You see, this city is an old one so it hides many secrets and a lot of ugly truths. Its people can be ruthless but at the same time they work with each other like a well oiled machine.”
A slight breeze moved her long silver hair, capturing in the movement the pale light of the moon, making it shimmer. She stopped talking for a moment to put it back behind her ear and to catch her breath. He silently observed her and noted her blissful expression.

“And because this city is so old, it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Currently, something big is brewing again, I can feel it.” She laughed a little and continued “Right now the city is like a newly minted ballerina trying to outdance everyone at the hardest ballet imaginable. It looks graceful to untrained eyes but she stands on thin legs, ready to collapse. Both the ballerina and the city are very stubborn though, so they’ll be fine after they rebuild themselves.”

After she stopped the young guard wonders out loud “What a strange thing to say. It sounds like you’re cheering for the city even if you know it’s weak right now.” He started walking towards the entrance of the stairwell “Well, we have to leave now miss. Come I’ll escort you down.” After he didn’t hear footsteps following him he turned around saying “Miss, you really have to leave”.

He didn’t see anyone there. Just to make sure he turned all around, but there was no one at all. He shivered, murmuring to himself “I’ve been told this city had someone watching over it, I just didn’t think it was true.”