Emily

            I was four years old and in a dance recital, parading across the stage in a ballet costume along with other girls my age. We were putting on a show for our parents along with the older girls who went to the same studio. The lights were dimmed, spotlight lit, and away we went.

            After all the dances had been performed, all the dancers came out on the stage to applause from the audience. The dance instructors called up certain girls who were given a trophy, but my age group was not among those who were called. I longed to be able to clutch a trophy, since I’d never had one before.

            “Why don’t we get a trophy?” I asked one of the dance teachers who was standing by. I looked up at her, anxiously awaiting her answer.

            “You don’t get a trophy until you have been dancing here for three years,” she told me. I stood there, disappointment seeping inside me. Three years is an eternity to a four year old.

            I decided then that I was done with dance lessons.