A Time to Dance
Carys Crossen
Dancing was sinful , but only when Salome did it .
She learned this when she was thirteen . Before that , dancing was her greatest joy .
At weddings , festivals , great feasts held by her stepfather , even gathered around the fire
of an evening , if there was music , Salome danced . She would point her toes and arch her
feet , raise her arms to an arch of stars and twirl in wild circles , her black hair cutting
through the air like a whip .
Salome was a wonderful dancer . All the women said so , from the maids to the
wives of the noblemen of the realm . Some even remarked that she even outshone the
professional dancers at court . Salome delighted in such praise , but truthfully , she would
have danced even if they had thought her dreadful . Dancing gave her joy like nothing
else in the world , not even prayer , when she was meant to be filled with the joy of
servitude to God .
Salome ’ s joy was curtailed when she turned thirteen . Her mother , shining and
cold like a sword , came to her rooms one day and curtly told her she was never to dance
in public again .