Sarah couldn’t let anyone see how much pain she was in as she wrapped the laces of her ballet slipper around her ankle, especially her understudy, who would jump at the chance to perform in her place. Tonight was the last and most important performance of the show; The Art of Ballet School representatives would be there to decide who would qualify and who would be left behind.
She had to make through this last performance. Mind over matter, she told herself.
The director ran across the dressing room with a flailing hand waving in the air yelling for everyone to finish getting ready, the curtain was going up in three minutes. Sarah took a deep breath and stood. The pain shot up her leg. She tried to stand on her tip toes, the pain was too great and she immediately put her foot down.
“Mind over matter,” Sarah said out loud to herself and took several deep breaths.
The announcer greeted the crowd to a roaring applause and the velvet curtains opened. Sarah glided onto the stage and into the arms of Robin Hood.
Sarah smiled through the entire performance, gritting her teeth and sucking in pockets of air. Her feet became numb with pain and she almost wished there was no intermission to allow her rest. If she kept moving the numbness would continue, rest would only increase the pain. It was the longest two hours of her life.
Leaving the stage she sat on the bench and slowly untied her laces, tears escaping her eyes. A soft hand touched her shoulder, but she couldn’t look up.
“Sarah, the people from the ballet school want to meet with you,” a woman’s soft voice whispered.
Sarah looked up and was met with a kind smile. She allowed the tears to stream down her face knowing that her mother would think that they were only tears of joy.
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