The Diary of Joy

Family Dance

24. Peace, the year of the Phoenix

Dear Angel,

Today is a much better day for me. My emotions are much simpler to understand. I am happy.

After the conversation I had with my grandparents, I was pretty conflicted. It felt good that I was finally accepted for who I was, that I wasn't excluded. On the other hand, I felt horrible for accepting something that wasn't provided for the rest of my family.

This morning I told dad everything that had happened, and he was so supportive and understanding that I didn't know what to say. He assured me that it was okay and that with time the 'old fashioned fairies' would learn to accept us as the awesome family that we are.

He said that I was just clearing the way for them because by accepting me, my grandmother and grandfather came one step closer to accepting all of us. Thinking that I helped did help, but I was still a bit sad, feeling as if I should have defended them more.

To cheer me up and Chatterbox, after everything that happened, dad decided that today would be family day. We didn't go to school or anywhere else. We spend the day doing fun things as a family.

You see, a few times a month we have a family day when we spend time together and enjoy different things as a family. Mom and dad don't go to work, and we don't go to school. It's just what we need from time to time.

We usually do this when one of us or more have had a bad day and need some support from the other family members to feel better. This time, I feel like both Chatterbox and I needed it, so dad had the perfect timing, as always.

It was decided that we would do one of our favorite things, to dance. Some of us more interested in dancing than others, but the family dance party is fun for all of us. There is no pressure, there are no rules, just us having a lot of fun.

That is also the only time we truly see our mother let her hair down and be the fairy that she was before everything became too serious before they had us and just enjoyed existing. I must say it's awesome since she is an amazing dancer.

We all join in the dance in our special way, and it's the most wonderful experience ever. We can express all our emotions, all our happiness, sadness, anger, in the dance and then we just let it go.

Having in mind that my parents and I have enough magic to go around, we prepared the party very quickly. Also, we put a bit of fairy dust on the other members of our family, that way my human siblings could also fly, or dance in the air if they chose to.

In less than an hour, everything was ready, and all we needed was to dress up for the dance. Of course, that was not obligatory, but we usually chose to do so because it is fun.

This time, we turned the living room into a ballroom and added a set of stairs that lead from upstairs to the ballroom so that we could officially go down the stairs as we would during the real ballroom dances we've attended.

The floors were polished white with stars sprinkled all over them. Not real stars, mind you, just the fairy dust that looked like stars.

The candles in the golden chandeliers twinkled, gently spreading just enough light for a pleasant but not too bright atmosphere. It was peaceful and comforting, fun and unobtrusive, just the way we like it.

While the decorations in the ballroom were simple, and the atmosphere quiet and comfortable, our clothing was anything but. It made the perfect contrast with our surroundings, at least to me.

I chose to wear a sparkling ball gown with stars constantly falling, my special creation. It was long, and it spun so wonderfully around me when I twirled. That has always been the most important quality I was looking for in a dress and I finally made it.

Also, I wore a garland on my head made of blue flowers, and I put a few of the smaller flowers in my hair where they settled in nicely, with a bit of magical help. Of course, I let my hair run down freely because that way it could float behind me while I danced.

Even Mischief wore a beautiful dark green dress with just a bit sparkle to it. However, she refused to wear any flowers, so her hair was just tied up with no decorations in it, just the way she liked it.

The twins had completely different ideas about what a dance entailed. Chatterbox wore a suit with a tall hat that looked a bit unusual, but he loved it and that is the most important thing. On the other hand, Peace wore green pants and a shirt which was just one of the traditional dressing styles of the elves.

Dad was, of course, dad. He wore the strange combination of elf clothing paired with what he thought was human attire, which I am not entirely sure was true. He also had a tall hat and for some reason, a cane that he kept twirling around for unknown reasons.

Mom, in her golden dress, looked like a vision. It was as if she was bathed in gold, and even her soul sparkled with a special light that we rarely got to see these days. Dad looked at her as if she was the biggest miracle he had ever encountered, and she probably was.

The moment we all came down, we conjured up some music and started dancing. We were dancing with each other, alone, whichever best suited us in the moment.

Still, I had the most fun dancing with dad since his attire and his formal attitude while dancing always made me giggle. It was so fun and exhilarating to just be free and enjoy the night. Dad sure knew how to do that.

He kept twirling me around in the air, and I was exhilarated. It was like flying through the eternity, with it flashing by me, and I could imagine how it would be to just let go and fly off.

Of course, I danced with all the other members of my family as well, but with my siblings, it was just funny dances and mom and I tried to do some modern human dances which made both of us giggle and fail in doing the 'right moves'.

Anyway, it was so fun to just have some quality time with my family, and honestly, I always feel better after days like this, especially when we are dancing. Dancing sets me free, and I can stop thinking, I can just be.

As you can imagine, I am exhausted. I am going to bed now. I just wanted to let you know that today was awesome!

Love,

Joy