Commission art by the one and only wintersoul

And a tale:

Dancer

*Once, there was a hotel in a city by a river, who's partrons were Functionaries and other 'Big-wigs' of that era. The second floor possessed a grand, south facing window by the stairs. Former cleaning staff fondly recall dodging their vacuum cleaners around the border collie pup who used the space as a dance floor. She was the daugher of the hotel's Coincierge. *

Always in blurry motion, two pawed steps in rhyme, the border collie almost blending in with the sun light streaming through the glass. A tail wagging smile when the curious asked why; to become a ballet dancer for the Academy in the Capital.

Time passed. Even after her application to the Academy was rejected, she continued practicing her moves before the window. She became a firefighter for the city's Fire Brigade, dancing in front of the stairs by the window during her down time. Biding time to reapply.

She had been dancing that day, when the Pripyat Fire brigade captain charged in, calling for all hands to fight a critical fire at the nearby power plant. She, along with most of her colleagues, never returned.

In a dusty, peeling ruin, the window remains. Overlooking a radiation scarred city. A few who explore both city and the hotel's second floor have sworn on many a trip, they have looked up from their radiation counters and stood frozen in the hallway. Catching a glimpse of dust beams in the light and the phantom collie of Pripyat. Still dancing.