Flash fiction

A strange party

The party was in full swing, drinks flowing, music blaring, the temperature rising along with the dancing. Sam was getting used to the strangeness. The darkness.

The blackout party was a new idea: no lights, only sound, taste, smell and touch. So much more intense than your standard dance party. Sam could not tell if she was dancing with a man or a woman. It did not matter, all they were doing was dancing, right?

It felt good. She had got very close to her partner. She could feel the dancer start to move in one direction, and she followed instinctively. She found that they were swaying, turning, even breathing in synch. As the music went on, Sam was becoming more and more attracted to her partner, and more and more aroused. It had been so long since she had felt this way.

Then, as a bolt of lightning out of the blue, a camera flash, the briefest instant of light, an impression engraved on her retina. Sam stopped breathing: she was sure she recognized that face. How could she not. Those asian eyes, mercifully closed, that perfect black hair, those lips slightly open in a most sensual smile. It was the face of a model. It was her brother's wife.

Sam felt a wave of heat engulf her, rising up to her throat, to her face, until her ears started burning. She had stopped dancing, and was being hit time and again by other dancers in the darkness. She made her way to the edge of the dance area, leaned against the wall, and allowed herself to sink to the ground.

Another flash illuminated the dancers. Sam could see her brother dancing with his wife. They had not noticed anything. Sam's shame was hers alone.