Prologue
The winter night is dark and cold. Snow is piled up on the sidewalks and streets. The constantly falling snowflakes create a joyful wonderland, especially for the little girl. She's wrapped up in layers and layers of clothing, a hat firmly on her head, cute boots smaller than the size of your hand fitted on her feet. You can barely see it, but her chcolate brown hair reaches just below her hat. Her hands, concealed by her white wool mittens, are gripped by her parents. Mommy on the left, Daddy on the right. They are walking towards a brightly lit building. They stamp across the snow together at six fifty-five in the evening.
"Where are we going?" the little girl asks timidly.
"A show," her mother replies. She says nothing more. A show. What is a show? the little girl wonders. Will it be scary or happy or funny? Excitement builds up in her. She can't wait to find out.
The group trudges on through the cold streets. Soon, the family is inside the building. The little girl finds herself seated in a dark room between her parents. What what what is going on? She is about to ask her mother when she is interuppted by a huge round of clapping. Standing on her seat, she sees a man walking down to a music stand far below. He's surrounded by people carrying strange things in all shapes and sizes, some made of metals, some made of wood. The man bows towards the crowd, then faces the people carrying those things that she is so so curious about. They pick them up: some onto their shoulders, some bend the objects sightly towards themselves. "Now be quiet, okay? The show's about to start," her dad whispers. All of a sudden, the little girl's ears are filled with music. It's coming from those strange things! And it sounds wonderful and mysterious all at the same time...
So this is what a show is, she thinks, sitting down and gradually becoming much more comfortable in her seat. Th music keeps continuing and then-- what is happening? A curtain goes up, revealing a wondrous Christmas tree with a dazzling golden star at the very top. Presents, wrapped with different papers of different shapes, some with bows, others with flowers, even one with unicorn print on it! The little girl gasps. And who are those people? Jumping through the air and standing on their tippy-toes? The six-year old watches, her eyes growing wider and wider, sparkling with delight at the glittery costumes shaped like pancakes and the spinning and the twirling and and and... just the beautiful, magical feeling of everything.
"Did you like that?" her mother asks her on the car ride back home. The girl's eyes tell her mother everything. It is as if it is her birthday.
The little girl nods her head with much force and excitement. "When can we go again?"
Her mother smiles, and so does her father, who says, "We'll see."
But they don't realize that their little girl has been captivated. She doesn't just want to watch the dancers, she wants to be a dancer. She wants to wear pancake-shaped costumes and stand on her tippy-toes and fly through the air, too. And deep down inside of her, there's a voice that whispers, "I'm gonna do that someday. I'm gonna be one of them. I'm gonna be a dancer."
