Morning everyone. I had a strange dream that my neighbor was an orchid smuggler. No real reason. I was looking up something about orchid propagation yesterday but thee is no reason my neighbor would be involved. But in my dreams, he was a smuggler. I suspect he would find this amusing. But for now, we have a writing prompt to get to. Timers set and off we go.
Heartbreaking, but could be a good story start.
Tuesday, December 16th: You will be there tomorrow?
“You will be there tomorrow?” Nicole asked.
“Of course,” her mother assured her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Your father will be there too, it is on his schedule”
Nicole took a deep breath and nodded. Her mother’s phone rang and she wandered off. Nicole headed up to her room. Dance was not something she particularly wanted to do, but she didn’t think she was entirely unfortunate. She practiced hard, mostly because sacrificing the time to avoid looking like a train wreck on stage was a recurring nightmare. If she was going to participate in the dance class then she was going to do her best.
Without the embarrassment of a poorly rehearsed routine.
The dance classes were her parent’s idea. All of the girls her are whose mothers were friends with hers were taking them and so Nicole took them as well. The fact that the other girls all had dreams of becoming ballerina’s and Nicole dreamed of never having to take another dance class was irrelevant.
‘And at least they are coming.’
That was something. Neither of her parents ever made it to any of her events before. They tended to cancel last minute or somehow forget to put it on the calendar or not really believe it was that important. Nicole long ago realized that her parents tended to minimize the importance of anything that didn’t interest them.
Since they insisted on the classes, Nicole hoped it meant they would find the end of the year presentation interesting enough to attend. Nicole’s hard work and dedication managed to give her one of the lead roles. Other activities that she enjoyed more were put on hold as she dedicated more time to practice. Her instructor was thrilled with her progress.
As the time for the presentation grew nearer, she became more and more nervous. When the night of the performance arrived, she swallowed back the nerves and dressed carefully in her costume. Backstage she let off some of her excited feelings with the other girls, giggling, whispering. Unlike the others, she didn’t peek around the side of the curtain to look at the crowd. She knew seeing her parents in the audience would make her more nervous and cause her to mess up.
As the opening strains of the music started, Nicole felt her nerves fade as the practice took over. The routine played through her mind in time with the notes and there was nothing to think about except the choreography.
She made it through the performance without missing a step. So did everyone else and the performance was proclaimed a triumph. The audience stood and clapped. It was only when they took their final bows that Nicole allowed herself to look into the audience. She saw the two empty seats immediately.
As they returned backstage and began to remove their costumes, Nicole tried telling herself they just stepped out. They were taking calls in the lobby or had to use the restroom. They hadn’t missed the entire performance. As friends and family gathered around the others, Nicole was forced to let the illusion go. They hadn’t attended.
Ten til Midnight 