Evangeline waited in the wings, playing with the tule in her skit in an attempt to keep her hands from shaking. the light danced, just a step away. One step and she’d be out there.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” a deep voice rumbled in her ear.
Evangeline whipped around, but she was alone. Except for the stage manager. And the other performers. Now all staring at her. Her face burned under the thick layers of makeup.
“Nobody asked you,” she hissed back, hoping no one would hear her or would think she was trying to psyche herself up.
The voice laughed—a dark and sumptuous thing. the hairs on Evangeline’s neck stood up, as if someone was lightly dragging their finger from her ear to her collarbone. “That’s where you’re wrong, mon petit cygne.” She could almost feel his breath as he whispered in her ear. “I was asked. Many times.”
Shit, she thought. He was right. Every time she practised this sequence, or any sequence for that matter, she was asking him what he thought. Did she hit her marks? Did she look graceful enough? Did she keep her lines? Was she perfect?
“You’re always perfect,” he murmured as if he could read her thoughts. He could, of course. Her blood ran hot.
Bars of music so familiar, she may as well have them tattooed on her. “It’s almost my cue.”
“Then show them how you fly tonight.” Evangeline felt a sudden chill at her back. He was gone.
The music rolled to its peak, resolved. A pause.
And Evangeline stepped out en pointe.
I made it! Today ended up being quite busy (again), but I still got this done!
Fun fact: I was not a dancer as a kid, but my university held adult beginner ballet classes that I enrolled in. I LOVED it! I loved dancing ballet. I almost got to a point where I could go en pointe (seriously, don’t do this at home without training), but then I graduated. Finding Adult beginner classes outside of that one place, especially now that I live semi-rural, is basically impossible and I haven’t danced since.
I still love it though.
If you’d like to join the challenge, feel free to hop in! the point (lol) is to simply show up every day and write SOMETHING—a sentence, a fantasy epic, a steamy romance, a braindump . . . don’t matter, just write! We have a new prompt everyday and support each other in my subscriber chat!
Lovely! I enjoy the little note at the end, telling us more about you. I did one ballet class and my mum pulled me out. She says I hated it, I don't remember that being how I felt. I often watch dancers and wish for the grace they have. I hope you find yourself another adult class one day.