Twin Ballerinas

When I was six there were two girls in my first grade class who were taking ballet lessons. Their parents had made it very clear to them that they were intending to make them into professional ballerinas. Everybody knew! Both girls were very tiny with straight light brown hair and they always wore buns and maroon leotards to school. They were under strict dietary restrictions and daily practice regimes and now that I think of it the two mothers were fiercely competing over their ballerina daughters. In ninth grade one of the ballerinas was in my art class. This ballerina decided she didn't like the life of never having chocolate or pizza or ice cream and having to practice all the time so she decided to quit. She painted a mural on paper of dancing feet using her old toe shoes as brushes. She told our art teacher this is about my joy! She was so excited to finally eat her first candy bar and have fun with friends.