Salsa: The 27 (39) & The 49 (61)
Finally, the 27-year-old and the 49-year-old agreed to meet over dance at the dancefloor by Esperanto Square.
On Wednesdays, during the summer, before sunset and after sunset the patch of empty space between the Energy Tower of Gothenburg Energy and the Walled City of central Gothenburg buzzes with people of different ages and unusual denizens only Google can ‘smoke out’. For the betterment of outdoor activities for Gothenburgers, the City of Gothenburg has turned the empty space by Esperanto Square as a skating rink and a dancefloor next to one another.
The skaters and dancers could annoy one another or enrich one another with their sound and music but together they make the spot attractive if not only for the cats-on-the-chase-for-rodents.
The 27 and the 49 decided to meet exactly at five pm on the wooden bench facing the dance floor for there are other wooden benches.
The 27 arrived three minutes earlier to the spot and sat on the bench keeping an eye on the bicycle and for the 49. The 27 is a person of paranoia for the possessions ranging from erasers to pencils to cents.
The 49 sprinted sportily towards the dancefloor from the side of Language Café. The 27 spotted it, and had glanced at the 49 many a times on the digital screen and tried to assess its credentials as told in its profile.
The 49 cast the glance at the skaters and dancers and planted its glance at the bench where the encounter would take place. Walking in the direction of the 27, the 49 had the distance with it to assess the credentials of the 27 as told digitally but each step gave it the lesser time for assessment.
The 49 reached the exact spot as agreed, and greeted the 27: hello!
The 27 brought a reluctant smile on its face to express the happiness for the fruiting date. Probably, the age of the 49 disappointed for that reluctant smile and that the age of 49 was reflected in the sagging pouches in the underarms irrevocably wrinkled. The 27, however, inferred that the 49’s face shone like the streetlight, and, there was the sparkle in the eyes and smile on the lips and that its age could be 61.
The 49 spoke few words very slowly lest someone might be eavesdropping. Indeed, there were many: waiting to dance, waiting to skate, waiting for someone but watching the dancers and skaters, passers-by, tourists and loners who were constantly breezing in and breezing out of the happening spot otherwise the spot was the haven for rodents to skirt past warily in the daytime and freely in the nighttime. The 49 looked closely into the lips of the 29 to detect its age, in the corners of the lips, and observed the hairs on the head and hairline. The 49 guessed that the age of 27 could be 39.
The 27 and the 49 had no time to ask or express further for the music was inviting, and the dancers were preparing to dance for the next song. Hand in hand, they traipsed to the dancefloor. The 27 and the 49 danced to the songs set to fast and slow music, and music to various moods (and to the moods of music box owner the DJ). And the owner of the music announced, time for salsa, get ready. The dancers took a pause for a drink. Once they were hydrated, and hand-in-hand they hit the dancefloor.
Salsa: before the 49 and the 27 could make the third move, one of their legs could not cope to the salsa music and collapsed on the floor with the 49 below and the 27 above. The 49’s leg had a fracture and shouted for medical help but the 27 was clueless to call for help who also suffered a fracture in its left elbow.
One of the waiters by the dancefloor was a GP reporter. The GP reporter swung into action to call for the emergency service, and inquired about the 49 and the 27 meanwhile the ambulance was on its way. The reporter, who never wrote a news item other than from press briefs, found a scoop from the encounter of the 49 and the 27: Online Daters Hit the Dancefloor, Break their Limb and Arm!
—Lucinda Palme
