"Be at the Big Auditorium at five o'clock sharp and don't forget your costume, Little Ballerina."

The Little Ballerina nodded and smiled. Tomorrow was the Big Recital.

That night, when the sky was velvety black and the stars shone like diamonds, the Little Ballerina slept and dreamed she was a princess who danced on her toes--without ever getting dizzy.

The Princess danced round and round, holding a spindle in her hand. The spindle was a gift from the Wicked Fairy, who hadn't been invited to her christening--sixteen long years ago.

The princess pricked her finger on the spindle and fell dead. But the Lilac Fairy--who had been invited to the christening--cast a spell that made the Princess sleep instead.

She slept on and on, in a castle overgrown with briers. She slept a hundred years or more. Until one day, a handsome Prince followed the Lilac Fairy through the brambles to the bed where the Princess lay sleeping. He kissed her on the lips and she awoke, and that very day they were married.

They danced a pas de deux (pah de DUH), a dance for two persons. In the corps were all the fairies who had been at her christening. The Lilac Fairy, the Fountain Fairy, and the Fairies of the Crystal and the Glade. Even the Sunbeam Fairy was there, and for a few moments she danced a little dance all by herself in the center of the palace hall. And then the whole company danced together in a colorful swirl until...

...the Little Ballerina woke up.

She jumped out of bed and said with a cry, "Today is Recital Day!"

That night, in the dressing room of the Big Auditorium, the Little Ballerina got dressed. Her mother helped put on green eye shadow, pink blush, red lipstick, and orange sunrays shooting out from her eyebrows. The Little Ballerina was a sunbeam!

On her hair there was hair spray to hold her almost-bun together and a big orange headdress made of feathers that bobbed and waved when she moved.

The mothers--and a few fathers--had made the costumes. They were made of wonderful stuff: taffeta and satin, silk and gauze--all dyed in glorious colors. The mothers--and a few fathers--had dyed the girls' tights and leotards to match their costumes.

Mamzelle came backstage and visited her girls.

"Remember to breathe, little girls," she said."

The Little Ballerina nodded. "Yes, Mamzelle," she whispered. How her heart fluttered!

Then the music began and the curtain rang up and the Dance of the Sunbeams began. The Little Ballerina danced the steps of the dance as if she'd known them always, as if she'd learned them in a dream.

Afterward, her father and mother came backstage and gave her flowers.

She curtsied and said: "Did you see when I itched my nose?"

"Never," said her father. "Sunbeams don't have noses."

Her parents asked her to choose a place to have dinner, any place in town.

"The Hot Shop, please," the Little Ballerina said, "for a cheeseburger and a chocolate shake!"

At the Hot Shop, the Little Ballerina looked around and blinked and yawned and stretched. The other people there stared and smiled at the Little Ballerina in her Sunbeam costume. She smiled back sleepily.

In the car riding home, the Little Ballerina wondered if she'd ever been up this late before. And her head grew heavy as someone whispered, "Go to sleep, Little Ballerina, and rest."

*applause!*

Hi

Greetings and salutations!

 

 

I can hardly type!

Fingers... not... working....

*licks Songstress's fingers*

Go to bed, crazy-face.