The Dance of the Rusty Scissors and the Symphony of Lost Raindrops. By Carlos del Puente

The Dance of the Rusty Scissors wasn't simply a dance; it was a manifesto, a rebellion against existential monotony, a silent scream against the uniformity of time. It unfolded in the city of Atemporal, a place where clocks refused to tell the time, where the sun rose and set at random, and where rain fell as discordant musical notes.

The protagonist was a woman named Iris, whose skin was the color of a full moon and whose hair, a swarm of golden bees, buzzed with unsettling energy. Iris was the mistress of the Dance, her movements a symphony of precise cuts and unexpected turns. Her scissors, rusted by time and melancholy, were an extension of her soul; each cut a declaration of independence, each turn a negation of linearity.

The Dance took place on an improbable stage: a gigantic inverted hourglass where sand ascended instead of descending.  The sand, instead of being simple sand, was a torrent of lost raindrops, each with a unique sound, each carrying a forgotten story. The music of the Dance was the symphony of these drops, a cacophonous yet profoundly moving melody.

The spectators of the Dance were beings as strange and wonderful as the stage itself. There was a man made of fog who wept drops of India ink; a woman composed of shooting stars who sang in an unknown language; a tree that walked on two wooden legs, its leaves whispering secrets to the wind; and a seven-tailed cat that predicted the future through mathematical equations written in stardust.

Each spectator had a unique story, a life marked by dissonance and unpredictability. They had come to Atemporal seeking a space where the monotony of linear time would break down, where irregularity would be the norm, where dissonance would be celebrated as a form of beauty.

The Dance of the Rusty Scissors wasn't just a dance; it was a ritual, an act of resistance against the uniformity of time. Each movement of Iris, each precise cut of her rusty scissors, was a challenge to linearity, an affirmation of unpredictability. The lost raindrops, each with its unique sound, united in a cacophonous yet beautiful symphony, a representation of chaos.

The Dance of the Rusty Scissors began at dusk, under a plum-colored sky that pulsed with an irregular rhythm—a rhythm only Iris, the mistress of the Dance, seemed to understand. Her dress, woven with threads of moonlight and whispers of wind, moved around her like a whirlwind of dark silk—silk that promised mystery and revelation. Iris, with skin the color of the sand from a worn sundial—sand that seemed to absorb time—began to move. Her scissors, rusted by centuries of melancholy and hope—scissors that had witnessed the birth and death of countless dreams—shone with a strange light. The stage, an immense sundial made of Gruyère cheese—cheese that melted slowly under the light of a full, ghostly moon—was ready.

The music began, not with a clear and precise note, but with a whisper—a whisper that became a moan, then a lament, and finally a cacophonous symphony of raindrops, each with a unique tone and timbre—drops that seemed to tell forgotten stories. Iris, with precise and elegant movements, began to dance—a dance that was both a meditation and a rebellion, a prayer and a challenge. Each cut of her rusty scissors was a note in the symphony—a note that resonated in the hearts of the spectators. The spectators, strange and wonderful beings—beings who seemed to have emerged from a dream—watched with a mixture of astonishment and fascination. There was a man made of old books—books that whispered forgotten stories; a woman with hair made of shooting stars—stars that flickered on and off to the rhythm of the Dance; and a cat that spoke in mathematical equations—equations that revealed the complexity of the universe.

The Dance went on for hours, or perhaps for centuries—time, in Atemporal, was a capricious and volatile entity. Iris danced, cutting the air with her rusty scissors—scissors that seemed to defy gravity itself, creating intricate patterns in the air, patterns that became ephemeral constellations—constellations that disappeared as soon as they appeared. The lost raindrops, falling from the Gruyère cheese sundial—drops that carried with them the weight of time and memory—joined her dance. Each drop had its story—a story revealed in its unique sound, its peculiar shape, its unpredictable trajectory. The Dance became a metaphor for life itself—a life full of unpredictability, ephemeral beauty, moments of joy and melancholy intertwined in a ceaseless dance. At the end of the Dance, as the sky began to lighten, Iris dropped her rusty scissors—scissors that merged with the sand of the Gruyère cheese sundial, disappearing into time itself—time that, in Atemporal, remained a mystery, an enigma, a game without rules. And the spectators, transformed by the experience, dispersed—dispersing into the light of the new day, carrying with them the echo of the Dance, the echo of dissonance, the echo of freedom.

The echo of the Dance of the Rusty Scissors resonated in Atemporal, a city where time was a sinuous and capricious river—a river that meandered at its whim, ignoring human conventions. The influence of Iris, the mistress of the Dance, spread like an indelible ink stain—a stain that dyed reality with the colors of unpredictability and freedom. The inhabitants of Atemporal, previously subjected to the monotony of linear time—inhabitants who lived their lives in a predictable sequence of births, lives, and deaths—began to experience the beauty of chaos. The music, once an ordered succession of notes—music governed by strict rules of harmony and rhythm—became a cacophony of unexpected and exciting sounds. The houses, once square and symmetrical—houses that lined perfectly straight streets—adopted organic and capricious shapes, reflecting the fluidity of time and the unpredictability of existence.

The clocks, which once marked the time with relentless precision—clocks that dictated the rhythm of life—refused to function, their hands spinning meaninglessly, their gears locked in an embrace of nonconformity. The sun, which once had risen and set regularly—the sun that marked the days and nights with relentless precision—began to appear and disappear without warning, bathing the city in a changing and enigmatic light. The rain, which once fell in soft and constant drops—rain that refreshed the earth with a predictable cadence—now fell in irregular bursts, each drop with a unique sound, each with a story to tell. The inhabitants of Atemporal, once slaves to time—inhabitants who felt bound to a predictable destiny—discovered the freedom that exists in the absence of structure, in the acceptance of unpredictability, in the abandonment of control.

And so, Atemporal became a beacon of hope for those who sought to escape the monotony of linear time—a beacon that attracted dreamers, artists, rebels, and seekers of unique experiences. They came from all over the world, drawn by the legend of the Dance of the Rusty Scissors—a legend that spoke of a place where time refused to be dominated, where beauty resided in irregularity, where freedom was the only law. And in Atemporal, they found not only a place, but a way of being—a way of being free, a way of being unpredictable, a way of being oneself. The influence of Iris, the mistress of the Dance, spread throughout the world—spreading like a wave that transformed the perception of time and life itself. The Dance of the Rusty Scissors, once a singular event, became a universal symbol—a symbol of freedom, unpredictability, and the beauty of chaos. And in every corner of the world, in every heart that longed for freedom, the echo of the Dance resonated—the echo of dissonance, the echo of life itself.

However, the absolute freedom of Atemporal, the total absence of temporal structure, was not without its challenges—challenges that tested the adaptive capacity of its inhabitants. Time, in its unpredictability, sometimes became hostile—a time that generated confusion and disorientation. The lack of a temporal frame of reference, which had previously been a source of liberation, began to generate anxiety and insecurity—an insecurity that threatened to disintegrate the newly found harmony. Some inhabitants, longing for the predictability of linear time—inhabitants who sought the security of an established order—began to question the wisdom of their choice. Uncertainty, once celebrated as a source of beauty and freedom—an uncertainty that had been the basis of Atemporal's new reality—began to generate fear and discomfort.

Iris, the mistress of the Dance of the Rusty Scissors, aware of this new threat—a threat that could destroy the freedom they had fought so hard to achieve—called an extraordinary assembly. The inhabitants of Atemporal, gathered under a sky that changed color every minute—a sky that reflected the complexity of their emotions—debated the situation. Some advocated for a return to linear time—a time that offered them the security of a pre-established order; others defended the unpredictability of chaotic time—a time that allowed them to experience the freedom of the absence of structure. Iris, with her innate wisdom—wisdom that came from her deep connection with time—proposed an intermediate solution. She suggested the creation of a new temporal system—a system that would integrate the freedom of chaos with the security of structure.

This new system, based on the observation of natural cycles—cycles that reflected the constant dance between harmony and dissonance—became a guide for life in Atemporal. Time, although still unpredictable—time that retained its irregular nature—began to have a new structure, a new harmony. Calendars were created based on lunar cycles, solstices, and equinoxes—calendars that marked the rhythm of life but without imposing a rigid linear structure. Unpredictability became an integral part of the system—an unpredictability that enriched the experience of life. Atemporal, once a place of absolute chaos—a place at the mercy of unpredictable time—found a new balance, a new harmony. A balance that allowed its inhabitants to live in freedom—a freedom that did not negate structure but integrated it into the chaotic dance of time. And the Dance of the Rusty Scissors continued—continued as a symbol of freedom, adaptation, and humanity's ability to find beauty in unpredictability. It continued as a reminder that life, in its essence, is a dance—a constant dance, an unpredictable dance, a beautiful dance.