A Broken Ballerina's Tears (Open Novella Contest III)

Everyone says Xorlali acts too old for her age and even she agrees, even though her ultimate reality is a ballerina's fantasy.

Being a 10-year-old Ghanaian-Italian is tough enough, but when combined with the sneers of her Nonna and racially abusive classmates, the world becomes a huge ditch waiting for the twirling ballerina to fall through. Despite the thorns in her flesh, she rises above all to become Syanora's first black Junior Award-winning Ballerina.

However, her dreams of being the next Misty Copeland are murdered by a tragic accident that takes away the use of her legs. Now crippled, Xorlali has become a shell of herself, no longer confident or positive and even hates anything slightly associated with ballet. Fantasy books have become a coping mechanism.

When her Nana visits her home on her eleventh birthday, she's in for a shock. She's gifted a locked titleless storybook with no further explanation, but that same night, she finds a bunch of twelve keys hidden under her pillow. They spark her interest and she puts one in the lock, little does she know that what lies within will change her life forever.
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This story is based on Writing Prompt 3 of the Open Novella Contest III, I tweaked it a bit though. I hope you'll enjoy it and hopefully I'll reach the 20K word mark *fingers crossed*.