They Dance on Air

Dedicated to everyone who knows the song "All small beasts should have bows in their tails".

Beadsy lives in the swamps of the Dark Forest. She's fat, toothy, kind and cheerful. Beadsy is the soloist of the fashionable forest choir. She loves round coloured pebbles with holes, so the entrance ticket to her concerts costs three of these pebbles. The more beautiful the pebble, the closer to the stage you can sit, and if the pebble is rare, you can gain a bowl of cloudberries.

Beadsy sings the most beautifully of all, but the choir she performs with is okay, too. This choir includes five frogs, two mosquitoes, the Old Beaver and the Kikimora. The frogs scream all the notes in a row. Old Beaver accompanies, loudly grinding wood with his teeth. The mosquitoes squeak with all their might, and Kikimora knocks her claws on the copper basin. She stole this basin one night from a village beyond the Dusty Road. And against this background of bawling and cacophony, Beadsy howls loudly. This choir can be heard throughout the entire area every summer Sunday evening, but no one complains. What's there to complain about? Everyone loves music. This isn't the snoring of the Big Gnaw.

The concert always begins with a trendy song. Firstly, only the choir screams it, but then the whole forest people pick up. The louder the vocal, the merrier. The beasts and creatures that sit closer immediately start dancing. Everyone comes here: the Big Gnaw, the Weirdness, and the One Who Throws Pine Cones painfully.

After a trendy song, the musicians begin to howl popular hits. And at this moment, everyone is already dancing. Some are jerking their legs, some are shaking their tails, and some are swinging on the branches. And those who have eaten too many cloudberries dive into the swamp out of stupidity and for fun. Kikimora has to pull them all by the legs and ears out of the bog.

By two after midnight, when the dancing turns into a frenzy that leaves paws and noses tired, orchids bloom in the swamps. And then Beadsy and the choir start singing extralong ballads. About adventures and exploits. About travel and wanderings. About the stars and eternity. About love and friendship. About real heroes. About good and evil.

And then all the tired beasts and creatures sit on the ground and the grass. They lazily eat cloudberries, listen attentively, and sway to the beat. Some sing along quietly, while others light fireflies in bells and raise them above their heads. As the stars begin to fade and the sky brightens, the forest inhabitants scatter to their homes and holes, and the choir (five frogs, two mosquitoes, Old Beaver, Beadsy and Kikimora) goes to the Merman's house under the snags. Rumour has they drink cloudberry compote and compose new ballad songs there. And old Merman knits socks from reeds, strings pebbles on thread for Beadsy, and grumbles and grumbles.