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Tiny Dancer
By Starwolf Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Starwolf
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-5247-8
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
"Oh my goodness! What is happening? Why is it so dark? Hello? Is anyone out there? Why is everything shaking?"
The last thing I remember is that I was in a bright open space where dozens of-what do you call them-Oh, yeah, people were walking around. Often, one would stop and admire me. Some would actually pick me up and turn me around, but then would put me back where they found me. People came and went a lot during the day. Some stayed for a while to hear stories; some didn't stay long at all. Today, a beautiful red-haired person picked me up and I heard her whisper: "You would be perfect." The next thing I know, the man who dusts me and turns my key has grabbed me off the shelf and smiles at me with his kindly old eyes. "You are going to be something special to a child now. No more shelf for you!" Then I am wrapped up tightly in the dark and I'm being tossed about like a plastic bag on the wind! I am so scared!
"Hello? Can you hear me? Where am I?"
Oh dear! I've stopped moving! I wonder where I am. It is still too dark to see anything. I wonder what has happened. Where have I been taken?
I have never been so scared! Wait! What is that noise? Oh! OH! I am being tossed again! And that rattling, crinkling, roaring noise ... what IS that awful sound? It is so loud and scary! Oh dear! What is happening to me?
I seem to have stopped moving again. There is some noise in the distance, but I cant quite make it out. It sounds like the noise I would hear in the open space. I think the people called it "laughter". But it seems higher pitched and there is so much more of it than I have ever heard before! Oh! Where AM I?
Oh, Oh! I am moving again! "Hello?" Ooof! I am being tossed about again! I am so scared! And that awful rattling noise is back again! It is so loud that it makes my ears hurt! AH!! Bright lights! And a people face! It is a young people-a girl, I think it's called. She has light red-blonde hair like mine, and freckles across her nose. Her bright eyes are the color of warm brown honey. She looks like she is about five years old. I look around me and I see a lot of pink, white, and purple round things around the open space. I think I heard someone call them "balloons". And there are pink, white, and purple things (streamers?) hanging from the ceiling. In the corner, I see a castle shaped object with five colored sticks placed on the turrets. They look like flags from here.
Oh, look! There is a sign: "Ha ... ppy.... Birth ... day ... Angel!" I wonder what a birthday is. It must be something happy because there is a lot of laughter.
"Oh, mommy! She's beautiful! And look! She has the same color hair I do, and look at her pretty dress! Mommy! I love her!" The little girl cried out smiling at me and fingering my lavender colored satin and tulle tutu.
"Now remember, Angel, she is very special. You have to take very good care of her. Look on the back of the box. That's right, darling. Turn it around. See there? There is a wind-up key. Wind it up and see what happens."
Oh, no! I am being turned over and around! I feel my key being wound up and I start to move-to dance! Oh how I have missed dancing! Tiny, tinkling music fills the air and the people around us grow quiet. As I turn around, I see myself in the little mirror behind me! How graceful I am! My arms arching over my head, my leg kicking out, first bent, then straight. I bend at the waist and turn in a graceful pirouette! And then I am facing the girl and dancing all over again! I spin around and around performing my dance over and over again! How wonderful!
And her eyes! They are so big, and they are so full of delight! I have made her happy with my dance! I am so happy now!
I dance on and on while tiny voices in the back ground "oooohhh and ahhhhh" at my performance. As the music slows down, I also slow down. "Whew!" I think to myself. I finally have a chance to catch my breath!
"Mommy! How does she do that? Is she real? Is she alive? Can I take her out of the box and play with her?"
"No, Angel, she is not alive. She is a music box, and you place your favorite things in her box to keep them safe. She only dances when you open her box and turn the key. There is no other music box in the world like this one. You must promise to be very careful with her, and take good care of her." said the red-haired woman quietly. She has very soft green eyes, and they are smiling at her child brightly.
"I promise, mommy! I promise!" The little girl exclaimed and she turned the key again so that she could see me dance for her once more.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Tiny Dancer by *NULL* Starwolf. Copyright © 2012 by Starwolf. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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