Isadora Moon Goes to the Ballet
Page 3
“You’re welcome,” said Tatiana Tutu. Then she lifted her hand and waved goodbye to us all.
The train journey home seemed very slow. Pink Rabbit was tired after his day of dancing, and he slept curled up in my lap for the whole journey. I wanted to open my present, but Mom wouldn’t let me. She hid it away in her bag.
“Save it until you get home,” she said. “It might seem a little unfair to the others.”
Zoe and I talked about the show and looked out the window at the darkening sky. Little flakes of snow had started to fall. They were like tiny twirling ballerinas.
“I hope I can be a ballerina one day,” I said dreamily.
“Me too,” said Zoe.
I gazed down at Pink Rabbit sleeping peacefully on my knee, and I stroked his ears.
“It was wonderful to see him on the stage today,” I said. “I wouldn’t change a thing about it. But…but…at the same time, I am a little disappointed I never got to see Tatiana Tutu dance. I would have loved to see her dancing.”
“I’m sure you will someday,” said Zoe reassuringly.
It was dark by the time we got to the station. We all walked back to the school together, and then my friends’ parents started arriving to pick them up.
“That’s the last one!” said Dad, ticking a name off his clipboard.
“Excellent,” said Miss Cherry. “Thank you so much for volunteering, Mr. and Mrs. Moon.”
“No problem at all,” said Dad cheerfully. “It was an experience. I have never been on a human school trip before.”
“Nor have I,” said Mom, taking off her safety vest and handing it back to Miss Cherry. “It was lovely to see the ballet. The dancers looked almost like fairies!”
Dad seemed reluctant to take off his safety vest.
“I didn’t realize I had to give it back,” he said disappointedly.
“I’m afraid so,” said Miss Cherry. “It’s school property.”
“I thought you hated it!” said Mom in surprise.
“Well, it’s grown on me,” admitted Dad. “It’s a very striking look, don’t you think? Maybe I will ask for one for my birthday.”
Mom, Dad, and I flew home through the snow, picking up Honeyblossom on the way.
“Can I open the present now?” I asked as soon as we got home.
“Of course,” said Mom, handing the gift to me.
I let Pink Rabbit tear off the wrapping paper, and then we peered into the box.
“Wow!” I cried.
Tatiana Tutu’s famous star diamond tiara winked up at me from a nest of pink tissue paper. I lifted it out carefully and put it on my head.
“Look!” I said to Mom and Dad. “Look!”
“Oh my goodness!” said Mom. “That is so beautiful.”
“How kind of Tatiana Tutu,” said Dad. “It fits you perfectly, Isadora.”
Pink Rabbit continued to rustle in the box. When he came up, he was wiggling his ears in delight and holding a set of tickets in his paws.
“Family tickets to Tatiana Tutu’s next ballet show!” said Mom. “You will get to see her dance after all!”
“Really?!” I said, a huge grin spreading over my face.
“Really,” said Dad.
I almost felt like crying because Tatiana Tutu had been so kind.
“I didn’t do very much!” I said. “All I did was knock on her door to see if she was all right, and then lend her Pink Rabbit for the show.”
“Well, it was still very nice of you,” said Mom. “Not everyone would have done that. It may have seemed like a small thing to you, but to Tatiana Tutu it was huge! You saved the show.”
“It is always important to be kind,” said Dad. “In big ways and small.”
I nodded, and Pink Rabbit nodded too.
“We will always try,” I said.
“Great,” said Dad. “How about you be kind right now and get me some red juice from the fridge, then? It’s almost breakfast time, and I’m starving!”
When the time came to start planning my birthday party, Mom and Dad seemed to be very organized.
“Leave it to us,” they said. “We don’t need any help.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked nervously.
“Oh yes!” said Dad. “We’ve got all the ideas written down: hot potato, magician, cake, balloons, presents, bouncy castle, costumes, party favors…”
“It’s going to be the best birthday party ever!” said Mom.
“We need to have invitations,” I told them. “Don’t forget the invitations.”
Dad frowned and scratched his head. Then he wrote “invitations” at the bottom of the list.
The next day at school, we were in a math lesson when suddenly there came a great flapping sound from outside.
“What on earth is that?” said Miss Cherry, darting toward the window.
A swarm of envelopes were flying through the air on little bat wings, and now they were tapping against the windows, trying to get in.
“Oh my goodness!” Miss Cherry exclaimed.
I felt my face go red with embarrassment.
“Let them in!” cried Oliver. “Let’s see what they are!”
“Don’t let them in!” wailed shy Samantha, ducking down behind her desk.
The envelopes kept beating their wings against the glass until one of them found an open window. It beckoned to the others. Then they all came flying in, fluttering and flapping, landing one by one on my friends’ desks.
“It’s an invitation!” cried Oliver once he had ripped his envelope open.
“A birthday party!” yelled Zoe. “At Isadora’s house!”
“It’s a costume party!” shouted someone else. “I love costumes!”
All the children were chatting excitedly, but Miss Cherry did not look too pleased. Now that she had got over her surprise, she seemed just a tiny bit annoyed.
“Isadora,” she said, “it’s not really appropriate to make such a scene in the middle of a lesson.”
I slunk down in my chair and felt like I wanted to disappear.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
Harriet Muncaster, that’s me! I’m the author and illustrator of Isadora Moon.
Yes, really! I love anything teeny-tiny, anything starry, and everything glittery.
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