Here Cums The Bride Dancing Bear ((full)) -

The dusty gramophone needle scratches to life. A wheezing waltz spills into the sawdust-scented air of the traveling carnival tent. And then, the canvas flap rips open.

Here cums the bride—all five hundred pounds of grief and grace. The music stops. She bows, snout to the dirt. The groom removes his hat. A child throws a single rose.

She doesn’t walk. She lumbers. A massive silhouette against the setting sun, draped in a veil of torn lace and wilted daisies. Her fur is the color of muddy honey, matted with confetti and old champagne. A rusted tiara sits crooked between her small, dark eyes. here cums the bride dancing bear

The bride dips. The groom stumbles. Together, they turn in a clumsy, heartbreaking circle.

Here cums the bride.

It lands on her nose. She doesn’t eat it. She holds it, ever so softly, between her teeth.

And somewhere, in the darkening meadow, the real wedding guests—the foxes and the moths—begin to applaud. The dusty gramophone needle scratches to life

She is the Dancing Bear.