Causing The Unknown To Be Known

Chapter 8

Life without dance is hard. I've cried at night and my mother has had to come in and sleep with me so I wouldn't feel so alone. My brothers have been really kind and helpful to me since I've been put into the wheelchair. That's one benefit. Just think, though, I'll never walk again. I'll never dance again. This was the end of my life on land more or less. I hated this. This was hell and back. My number was not scored at Nationals which makes everything worse to me. One day, I was racking my drawers for something to do since I usually find inspiration in there. I come across a small blue notebook. The pages have dogs' ears and a dusty brown colour borders the delicate pages. I slip it out of the wooden drawer in curiosity and wipe it free of dust. This looks to be the journal that my grandfather gave to me! When I was little, I used to always be interested in his day's plan and I would always be found with my nose in the little notebook. When my grandfather was very ill, he gave it to me to remember him. Later in that hour he died. I grab a pen from my desk that I use for my homeschooling and open up the blue notebook. Remembering how much I loved poems and quotes, I jot down some of my own. 'Dance says more than words ever can', 'you're the dancer, you're the goal, you're the one that makes a little girl's dream whole.' I like this. I am going to keep this book forever and make my grandfather proud that I haven't thrown it away.
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10 years later
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"Time to see what our poem of the year is!" the television MC announces. I sit up in my new, high quality wheelchair in excitement. "It is, 'You're the dancer, you're the goal, you're the one that makes a little girl's dream whole,' by Nia Frazier!" I grin in delight. I wrote that down when I was about fourteen or fifteen! All of my quotes and poems have become famous, as have I. The story of my weak ankle and my determination has become legendary! Now, 10 years later when I am 24, I have a plan. I scramble over to my television and switch it off before heading towards the front door. I quickly swing it open and wheel myself up the sunny roads of Pittsburg. Finally, I arrive at the local Young Performers Center. My brother owns it so I am allowed to visit anytime I desire. I go straight through the double doors, into the hall and up tithe stage. Knowing my sweet little brother, he built in ramps everywhere just for me so everything is accessible. The round wheels of wheelchair squeak as they roll smoothly up the ramp and onto the stage. By now, I was in the corner of the stage. This was a big risk, but I have felt the urge to fulfil this desire since I was fourteen and got hurt at the National competition. Pain shoots through my still damaged ankle as I slowly layer my weight onto it. I am now standing on my two feet, definitely proud of myself! I click a button on my phone and briefly begin to dance as a sweet melody floods the room. I dance in pain, but I dance. I don't just freestyle or anything, though. This was the solo dance that caused the unknown to be known. Me.