211. Summer Dances in Sicily

He had spent the night being encouraged by his parents to marry a wealthy girl. She was flawless. He was accomplished, and women like this were everywhere. But she never really spoke to him. She kissed him on the cheek without looking his way and stepped into the taxi. The doorman looked tired at the young man and said "There is a dance in my home town tonight. It's in Palermo. I'll give you the address, I can't make it and my family will be wanting the turnout. Can you go and make my apologies? It will be good for you." He nodded and took the piece of paper. Maybe a summer dance would be a good thing to get his mind off of his love troubles. The proceeds went towards restoring the old vineyards that had been taken through organized crime, and the money went towards bringing the fields back to the people and making the soils fertile again.

Elena sat in the window of her room, fanning herself, daydreaming and looking out the window. Tonight was the village dance, but she didn't think anything of it. She got ready and stepped outside, in her white dress with her curled hair and walked over to her bike. His car swept passed her and knocked her clean off her bike. She swore loudly in Italian and got back on her bike, riding to the village center with a very muddy dress.

At the village dance, she walked over to the man and slapped him for knocking her off her bicycle. They spent the next 10 minutes fighting. He got annoyed with her and said "just dance with me, please?" She got offended and said "no. not with you! go jump in the lake." She meant it as a sarcastic remark, but he merely looked at her and said "fine. okay." and walked off the dock straight into the lake. As he came walking back out of the lake, Elena ran over to him and said "fine! fine, I will dance with you." The summer sun was sinking on them, and the dance felt like it would last forever. And it did. Him in his soaking clothes and her in her muddy dress.

This was the story of my grandparents and the summer dance that changed it all.

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