The Magical Ballet Shoe

• Tia Mirtschin, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2016

Here we go again another boring dance class. Don't get me wrong I love to dance but all this stuff is too easy. I want more advanced skills to work on. As I walked into the change rooms no one was in there, I was so confused. I checked the clock and I was fifteen minutes earlier than I needed to be. I looked around and saw this box, I looked around again, no one was coming so I opened it. I saw these old pale pink ballet shoes. It was like they were calling my name. Mine were also getting a little small so I tried them on. They were a perfect fit! They felt really comfy and supportive so I kept them on and put mine back in my dance bag.

I tried out some leaps and jumps. There were the exact height I wanted them to be. I tried my splits, that is weird I don't have a flat spilt on my left leg and now I do. Weird but I'm not complaining. A few minutes later everyone else was coming in. They were looking at my feet. I felt a bit uncomfortable so I went into the studio and started stretching. After stretching I started to do some acro to just be stretched a little more. I tried my walkover it was perfect. Since I felt super confident I tried to do an aerial. It felt like flying. And it was perfect! As I tried my back handspring my teacher walked in with the class walking behind her like baby ducks. She said it was absolutely beautiful, the classes reaction was completely different. Their jaws dropped like it fell off a cliff. Then she asked what else I can do to demonstrate to the class. All these thoughts rushed through my head. I decided to do my walkover and my aerial again. Everyone was amazed. I felt so happy inside. But that is when she finally dropped the bomb.

She thought I was ready for a more advanced class. I was so happy and excited inside. As my teacher walked me inside the advanced class I felt a little weird. I was not used to this and it doesn't help that everyone was staring at me as my shoes were different from theirs. I sat down nervously. I was told that I could demonstrate all my favourite and best skills. As I danced I flew across the room like a strong powerful deer. Everyone clapped and my new teacher was quite impressed. She said I was ready for pointy shoes.
I stood there and stared at her like are you serious. Okay this all happening too fast. I excused myself and rushed to the change rooms. I had to calm myself down. Did that just happen. Is it the shoes? How could it be. It is just an ordinary pair of ballet shoes or were they?