Ray of Sunshine

[Laurels]

Sophie looked at herself in the mirror. She turned her head from one side to the other, quickly checking at the amount of blush on her cheeks.

I normally don't like makeup, but this looks great. Mom picked the right stuff.

Sophie was sitting backstage at the Spectrum Dance Theater. This year, the theater decided to have its graduating students perform at a show near Christmas. They would each get the chance to perform an original dance number to whatever they liked.

Sophie had been pretty excited to do this show. She had no idea how often she would be tap dancing after graduating high school, and she wanted to really blow the audience away with this performance.

Sophie continued to look at herself in the mirror. Her long hair had been braided and pinned up into a bun, with her bangs brushed out of her face. She had applied some basic makeup to her face, mostly foundation, but she did at a bit of blush to her cheeks.

The dress Sophie was wearing was a flowing white dress that ended right above her knees. The dress had small straps on her shoulders and pleating below her waist. The dress had a lot of movement to it, something Sophie liked. She was wearing some shoes similar to her dress, white in color, and made for making noise when she moved.

Sophie felt pretty good about this performance. She had been working on it for weeks, obsessing over each move, the music, and the rhythm she would try to keep up. Plus, her family was there, and she knew that she could use their support. Kenneth and Joseph weren't able to attend, but Wallace showed up with a camera, and he said he would try to send it to them.

Sophie waited a while for her name to be called. She spent most of her time waiting off to the side watching the others students perform. They had done a fairly good job. The theater had a few kids perform in each of the fields taught there. Sophie saw some ballet dancers, jazz, even breakdancers. Finally, it was her turn.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome a tap dancer from Aurora High School, Miss Sophie McDowell!" the emcee announced.

Sophie walked out onto stage and stared at the crowd.

Wow. Great turnout.

Her eyes darted around the theater. She finally locked onto the row in the middle that contained her family. Her dad was sitting on the end, holding a bouquet of roses. Sophie figured he picked them from his gardening store. He always grew such pretty roses.

Next to him was Wallace, already holding the camera in hand. Her mother was sitting beside him, and Sophie's three sisters sat next to her. Sophie could see that Carrie was standing up and being asked to sit down by Lindsay.

Okay Soph. You can do this. Just wait for cue.

Backstage, a technician put a CD in the CD player and hit play. As the auditorium began to fill with music, Sophie closed her eyes.

Just move with the song. It will be all right.

At that moment, Sophie began to tap her right foot. Soon, she was moving her foot back and forth as she began to tap her left foot. Finally, she was moving.

Now fly!

Sophie was gliding across the stage. Her feet continued to make loud tapping sounds as she continued to change the position of her feet on the floor. Sophie's taps increased in frequency as the song picked up. She continued to move with the music, moving from one part of the stage to the next without any difficulty.

Finally, Sophie stopped in the dead center of the stage. The song was reaching its cressendo, and Sophie had to be ready for it.

Now or never.

Sophie raised her arms in the air and looked at the ceiling as she continued to tap in place, moving her legs back in forth while remaining in the same general spot. Finally the music hit its peak and began to slow down. Sophie quickly moved her arms down and lowered her head. She began to slow her taps as the last few notes of the song played out. Then, there was silence.

Sophie closed her eyes. The brief silence was destroyed by the applause of the audience. She opened her eyes and adjusted her position. She gave the audience a quick bow and hurried off stage.

Backstage, Sophie was congratulated by a few of the other dancers in attendance. She thanked them and hurried to a nearby chair, grabbing a bottle of water from a cooler. She took a big swing of the bottle and wiped the sweat off her brow.

I hope the video Wallace shot came out well. It would be sad if Kenneth and Joseph got a bad copy.

She closed her eyes and laughed to herself. Sophie relaxed and breathed in before exhaling. She needed to rest.