Holly and the Silver Unicorn

“No, I wasn’t,” Holly protested.

“But you were!” Chloe went on. “You know we’re supposed to be dancing together, all doing the same thing. But you were dancing differently. Madame Za-Za’s going to be really mad.”

Holly felt a flash of anger as the buzzing happiness she had been feeling after the dance was abruptly extinguished. “I was only dancing as well as I could,” she said, aware that a certain amount of haughtiness had crept into her voice. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s not what you do when you’re dancing in the corps,” Chloe said. “You know it’s not.” Her voice softened. “We’re meant to act like a team.”

Holly felt angry and she marched away, grabbing her old red ballet shoes from where she had left them at the side of the stage. How could Chloe tell her off like that? They were supposed to be friends. How dare she say she was showing off!

But you were, weren’t you? a little voice in her head pointed out.

I was just dancing the best I could, Holly thought defensively. We’re supposed to do that.

No, she realised, her temper finally calming. In the corps we are supposed to dance together.

As the anger drained out of her, she started to feel bad. What was Madame Za-Za going to say? And it wasn’t just that. She’d snapped at Chloe. And the other girls, how must they be feeling?

Holly swallowed hard and stopped. She had reached the large scenery hall and the backstage entrance to the theatre. The stage-door keeper sat in a little cubicle letting the dancers and stage crew in and out.

“Are you OK, sweetheart?” he asked. “You look rather flushed.”

“I’m just hot,” lied Holly.

“You should be glad of the warmth. It’s snowing outside,” he commented.

“Snowing!” gasped Holly, her own problems momentarily forgotten. “Can I go and see?”

The stage-door keeper frowned. “You’re not really allowed outside the theatre when you’re here with the school.”

“But it’s the interval in a minute. I’m not needed on stage. I’ll only be a few seconds. Oh, I could really do with some fresh air. Please? I won’t do anything stupid,” Holly begged.

“Oh, all right,” he gave in. “But don’t go too far and if you’re not back inside in one minute, I’m coming to get you. Deal?”

“Deal!” said Holly, quickly hurrying outside.

The stage door opened into a quiet back street. The sky was dark and the only light came from a nearby golden street lamp. Snow was falling in big silent flakes, settling on the ground like a white carpet.

“Oh, wow!” Holly breathed, putting her hand out and feeling the flakes land icily on her fingers.

She watched them swirl down and suddenly was filled with the urge to dance in the snow. She couldn’t in her performance shoes – she would be in even more trouble if she got those wet and dirty. Pulling off her white shoes, she put on her old red ones, tied up the ribbons and jumped to her feet. She could hear the music faintly from inside the theatre as the first act finished and she began to twirl and dance.

Suddenly she became aware that it wasn’t just her hands and arms that were tingling where the snowflakes were landing, it was her feet too.

She glanced down and saw the shoes were shining as if they were covered with bright jewels.