Constellations

Chapter 7

A picture of a woman is hung on the wall above the fireplace. Fresh candles flicker on the mantle piece. The woman looks so familiar, and I think I want to cry. Her piercing blue eyes are warm and her cheeks are full of colour. Where do I know her from? Shutting my eyes, an image of that very woman dancing with a child in her arms fills my head. But that isn't any old child, that infant is me, and that woman was my...mother. A smile crosses my face as the tears flow. This was her bedroom. I walk across to the wardrobe. Her clothes still hang there; they still smell of my Mum. I want to stay here forever and I want my Mum back.

Slowly, I pad out of the door and into the room opposite. I'm amazed at what I see before me. A room devoted to dance. I walk over to the barre and run my hand over it. A layer of dust covers my hand, which is a bit gross. As I'm looking around, I start to remember that painful night. I was two years old, my father was out drinking and I was at home with my mother. She took me in her arms and danced with me. She had her pointe shoes on and I remember the thrill of her as she spun on toes. I loved to dance, I till do, but I've never had a lesson in my life. Anyway, father came home, extremely intoxicated and in a stinking mood. He had gambled away all of our money, leaving us with nothing.

"That useless child will have to go!" father yelled, striking my cheek with his hand. The tears poured down my face with the pain.

"Shut up!" father hit me again and was about to strike again when mother jumped in front of me. He hit her instead of me.

"Get out of the way," he said coldly.

"No," mother's voice was calm and even, although she shook with terror.

"I said get out of the way!" father snapped, yanking my mother's beautiful hair and throwing her across the room. Just then, father grabbed a knife and charged at me. Mother ran in front of the knife. It cut her badly, and blood was spattered up the wall.

"I love you Caia," she whispered before falling limp o the ground.

"What have I done?" father cried, dropping to his knees and cradling mother's lifeless body.

In the dance room, I fall onto my knees, tears rolling down my cheeks, and then I feel a remote by my feet. I press the on button and some upbeat music plays. I gently stand up and feel the vibrations through my body. Without thinking, I let them take control of me and start to dance.