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 Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:54 pm
It was the first day of toddler dance, and Missy had plopped poor Carmel right in the middle of the room in her tiny little leotard and leg warmers. She now had several sets of those clothes, in every color of the rainbow, thanks to her mother. But she didn't know that yet.
She looked around, watching as the other little ones were brought in, and brought her ribbon tail to her mouth, chewing on it thoughtfully. The room was large and bare, with wood plank flooring and mirrors on all the walls. There was a cloth covered object in the corner that caught her attention briefly, but she forgot about it after a second.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:14 pm
The very moment the receptionist had seen that Edwin was indeed, female, there had been a huge stamp above the rose's head for this class. It was the one thing she couldn't avoid - luckily, or perhaps not quite as luckily, Edwin had been on her feet extremely quickly. Like most cabbage patch children, she'd aged dramatically in mere minutes.
So, here they were: the four foot journalist, and the rose toddler. Unlike most of the class, Edwin's clothing was rather out of place: she had on a huge yellow t-shirt, which dragged down to her knees, held up neatly in the middle with a rainbow coloured sash of cloth.
"Down you go Edwin," Emi whispered to the little girl, letting Edwin down from her shoulders. To say that Emi's body language seemed out of place would be an understatement, the older woman's tail pinning right back against her ankles.
The little girl wobbled next to her Mother, huge eyes taking in everything. This was the largest room she'd ever been in, and it had so many children! One chubby hand clutched onto her Mother's, the rose was certainly intrigued. Why were there mirrors on the wall? Why was the floor so slippery?
And WHY was the little girl in the middle of the room CHEWING her tail? Why, the thought seemed preposterous - neither Emi, nor Toby chewed their tails. That was it, Edwin would find out.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:24 pm
Boredom was setting in and Carmel was thinking it was the perfect time for a nap when she noticed another girl looking at her. She let go of her ribbon tail and it wrapped around her waist, bowing right over her behind a bit sloppily.
Anything was more interesting than just sitting there, she decided as she pushed herself to her feet.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:40 pm
Edwin's fingers slowly unclasped from Emi's, toddling towards the other girl: each step filling the area around her with a sweet flowery perfume. She was going to tell her that chewing her tail was not a good thing - it was silly, it would only make one's tail soaking wet.
Stretching her hand out, Edwin pointed a finger directly at Carmel. Not only had this girl chewed her tail, she was now wrapping it around her waist! Did she not know that tail's were meant for closing doors and cabinets? They were there for wagging, surely, that must hurt to wrap it around one's waist!
Having a tail was a large privilege, one which Edwin Pallone herself did not have, so she was determined to tell this girl the proper use of her ribbon!
"'Ail," She whispered quietly.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:46 pm
"Ail?" Carmel repeated, cocking her head in confusion. "I Carmel," she said. "Hewwo."
Sandra looked over the class, her notepad in hand. Toddlers were both hard and easy to teach. They didn't have to get everything right, after all, since they were so cute, but they did need to learn the basics. With the basics they could grow to be good dancers when they were older. She glanced up, waiting for the rest of them to enter before addressing the class.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:04 pm
"'Ail!" Edwin repeated, moving her finger down to point directly at Carmel's red ribbon. Yes, that was the culprit. Now, just to get it accross. Edwin nibbled on her lip in concentration.
"Not owies?" If only she had a tail! Then she could show the girl exactly what she meant: foiled by the language for now, the question pertaining the tail would have to be solved bit by bit.
The rose child smiled, most people understood her when she smiled: such as when she wanted a biscuit, hopefully it would work on Carmel as well.
"Carmel," She echoed for good measure, before introducing herself in return. "I Ed!" Whilst she hadn't quite grasped her full title, 'Ed' worked nicely.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 5:33 pm
Ooooh, Carmel thought. "No owies," she said. "No bite hard!" She had learned that lesson quickly. It was like a safety blanket, actually, her tail. It was always with her and it was smooth and silky to the touch.
Sandra stood in front of the classroom, clapping her hands twice to get both children and parent's attentions. "Hello, everyone, my name is Sandra, I run the dance studio next door as well as teach this class. We'll be teaching your children the basics of ballet and jazz in this class, as well as simple gymnastics, flips, etc. Does anyone have any questions?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:02 pm
Why would anybody wish to bite on their tail in the first place? Edwin tilted her head to one side, despite this girl doing very strange things with her tail, she was interesting. Bending up onto her tip toes, Edwin peered around at the ribbon tail: why was it not furry like her Mothers?
She had been about to ask, when the lady at the front of the class had clapped. The rose hadn't noticed the room filling up quite so quickly, obviously 'tail' matters were far more important!
"Flips?" She whispered as quietly as she could to her new found 'friend'.
The journalist, who had been keeping a close eye on the pair, weaved her arms over her chest. It was all rather deju-vu, her parent's had enlisted both her and her sister in a similar class when they were little. Whilst neither had shown little promise for the stage, Klia had been so determined that "dancing was an integral part of a little girl's life", that they were here to re-live it all over again.
She could only hope Edwin had more rhythm in her feet.
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Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:55 pm
Carmel shrugged. She had no idea what flips were, or any of the other things the lady had mentioned, for that matter. But she figured they'd find out soon enough.
"We're going to start with the basic stances of ballet first," Sandra said, in her teacher voice. "The first position is where you put your heels together with your toes pointed out like this," she said, demonstrating. Then curve your arms like this, your finger touching in front of you. Now you try!"
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:28 am
Whilst the rest of the class moved into position, Edwin's green eyes studied each and every movement. How to clack her ankles together, but yet push her toes out - how to curve that delicate arm so it looked graceful. The motion was almost analytic in nature.
She was the last to move, copying Carmel beside her to the letter: the girl in the tail must have it most right! Pulling her dainty toes together, Edwin slowly curved out one arm, fingers out stretched in front of her.
The rose child tilted her head slightly to one side. Still, the question begged to ask, why were there so many mirrors on the wall? And most importantly, what did this movement achieve? Bah, she had so many questions to ask, but now she was being asked to move!
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:39 am
Carmel had it dead on. It was easy! Her hand curved, touching at the finger tips, her toes pointed out. And she waited in boredom as the teacher went around the room, correcting all the various stances. "You is dancer?" she asked Edwin, since nothing seemed to be happening any time soon. "Mommy dance, too!"
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:52 am
The little girl shook her head, her Mother never did anything like this. She did the odd spin around the room, but nothing like this, this she felt was disciplined, her Mother's was well - more a case of leaping around the room to the radio. Oh, yes, that musical box that was in the living room that Edwin was dying to figure out how it worked.
"You is good!" She complimented Carmel, wobbling slightly on the spot. This was harder than it looked!
"Mummy 'rites" Edwin started, taking her hand briefly away from the position to not only gain her balance, but also mime typing on a keyboard. Naturally, she assumed everybody knew what a keyboard was.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:20 am
Carmel had no clue, but now she would always see the hand movement and think writing. No matter how old she got. She nodded, though, as if that made complete sense to her. "Mommy dance," she repeated, even though it was nothing like what this lady was making them do.
"Second position is where you spread your feet apart, keeping them in the same position," Sandra said, now that everyone was somewhat in first. "And spread your arms out at your sides," she added, demonstrating.
"Hug position!" Carmel said, cheering up at the sight and mimicking it happily.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 10:26 am
She was getting the hang of this: watching Carmel, and then another in front of her, Edwin stretched her feet out to either side. Her face tightened up in concentration as she moved her arms out by her sides, fingers staying poised out like a star fish.
This 'hug position', or so it was called by the tail-girl, was a little easier to hold. She didn't move as naturally as Carmel, but Edwin was slowly grasping what to do.
"Hugs good!" She exclaimed happily: yes, one of her favourite things to do at present was cuddle against her mother. It was only rivaled by one other thing in this little girls mind: warm milk and biscuits. Namely, Jaffa biscuits.
Did this girl harbor the same affections for biscuits?
"Like bis-cuits?" She questioned, slowly rolling the syllables over her tongue like toffee.
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:06 pm
"Choc'late!" Carmel said, grinning widely as she thought of her most favorite thing. "Choc'late best in woooorrrrllld!"
"Now third position brings your left foot back so it's behind your right," Sandra said. "And brings one arm in front of you." She went about checking stances after showing them what she meant, and Carmel mimicked the stance without a thought.
"Like fudge!"
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