Work or Play? by Drow

“I’m back! Hey ya’ll, how’s life? I am so excited to be back at the Blood, Sweat, & Majic, my work place. It is the place where I can dance, and just be me. I can hear it now; the music, the music pumping through me. I can feel it flow through my body as I sway to the beat on the dance floor amongst the crowd. I see it, Number Four. Mine. My cage. My muse. The place where I spend three to four hours every night. I love to dance; not just for my boss, or because I am paid to, but because I can, and I am good at it. I know people love to see me dance, I get enough tips. But, somehow, Katie, my girlfriend, watching me is a dream come true. “#4”, I see that little brass plaque and I always have to smile. That seat right there, to the right, is where I met her, the place where my world changed forever. The way I am loved is so different; I can come and know that I can return home to someone who loves me for who I am.
As I look around from my cage, I can see my friends too. Leo and Rammy, the blondes, mortal enemies to my darkness but some of my best friends anyway, I don’t see why I should hate them on sight… and Nick, the only human one of us, The Four. We are the night shift, the entertainment until 3 o’clock in the morning. I’m at this restaurant from 5 P.M. until about 3 A.M. My goodness. At first I am a waiter in the food portion of the place, in a nice uniform of black slacks and black polo, taking orders like a good little waiter to families and couples, until 11 P.M. or so. Then I get to change into my black and white camo pants and climb into my #4 and dance and dance and dance. Sometimes it’s slow, sometimes fast, using my entire body to move and pulse. Stop. Start. Jerk. Robot. Pause. I’m flowing in and out of the music until I can’t tell where one stops and the other begins. “Hey DJ, change the song, we’re getting board! Slow it down a little and give us a rest.” The music slows and we sway, holding onto the bars of our enforced imprisonment. Three hours are up and I climb out of the cage and jump to the ground. I look around with a fierce pride at this place, the dark walls and the black lights, everything, the people that come are just like the rest of us: looking for a place to belong. And that place to belong is here, at “Blood, Sweat, & Majic”, a club, bar, and restaurant all in one. One place to get almost everything. People stare as I walk away; my upper body is gleaming with sweat. This is just another day and night at work.