Under a Red Sky by Haya Leah Molnar

Author:Haya Leah Molnar
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published: 2011-12-20T05:00:00+00:00

ON SUNDAY MORNING Mama asks me to go and help clear out her things at the ballet school.

“How are you going to get in?” I ask.

“Easy,” Mama answers. “Esther, the principal, gave me this. See?” She dangles the key to the school in front of me. “Esther still trusts me, but she wants me to do it on a Sunday, when the place is empty, so that my presence won’t upset the students and the rest of the staff.”

At the school Mama cleans out her locker and her desk in less than ten minutes. We are on our way out when she stops in front of the auditorium door. “Do you remember my students’ ballet recitals, Eva?” she asks.

“Yes, Mama, the dancing was so beautiful,” I tell her, knowing this will make her feel better.

“Come on.” She grabs my hand and pulls me into the dark theater. Somehow Mama’s feet know exactly where to go, and we find ourselves backstage. She flips on a switch, and the stage is suddenly flooded with light. “Go on,” she says, giving me a push. I am standing on the empty stage with the orchestra pit below and a sea of empty seats staring back at me from the darkness. “Dance,” Mama whispers. “Get up on your toes and keep your head high. Lift your arms, that’s right,” she says. “Can you hear music, Eva? Hear the music in your head and keep dancing.” Her voice is only a whisper, yet it resonates in the empty theater. I can’t hear any music in my head, but I don’t want to disappoint Mama, so I fake it. I twirl and twirl until I get dizzy. I leap across the stage with my legs and arms spread wide open like an eagle or a plane, and to my surprise, I land safely. I squint, trying to make out Mama’s outline in the wings as I elevate myself onto my toes again and try to do a pirouette the way I had seen her advanced ballet students do it. When my own two feet stumble upon each other, I gasp for breath and run off into the wings, straight into Mama’s arms. She catches me. “That was great!” she says. “Isn’t it wonderful to dance, Eva? Even without music, it’s marvelous to dance.”

“But, Mama, I have no idea how to really dance. I’ve never had any lessons!” I tell her.

“I will teach you.”

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