Inspiration

The young girl's eyes were fixated on the dancers on the stage. She was completely mesmerised and utterly enthralled, not even noticing as her mouth slowly dropped open. At the end of the performance, the little girl stood, almost robotically, her eyes still glued to the dancers, now bowing as she clapped so hard her hands quickly turned red.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of the male dancer, surrounded by a crowd of people in the foyer outside the theatre. She tugged on her mother's arm. "Can I mum? Please?"
"I suppose Bailey," her mother said with a smile. She almost let go of her daughter's hand when she squeezed it and her daughter turned back to look at her. "But be a good girl Bailey, stand in line and wait your turn." Solemnly, Bailey nodded and her mother let go of her hand. Almost immediately, Bailey was gone, not giving her mother even a second to change her mind.

Bailey was still enchanted by the dancer as she watched him while waiting in line, and to her great suprise, the female dancer was there too, kneeling down so you could only see she was there from up close.
"H... Hi," she said, suddenly nervous when it was finally her turn.
"Hello,"sad the female dancer, offering her a friendly smile.
"Did you like the performance?" asked the male dancer, sinking to a kneeling position too.
"Yes," Bailey answered as she came forward, having found her words. "Very much so. You were beautiful," she said, returning the smile of the female dancer. "And so strong," she said, her smile unwavering as she looked at the male dancer.
"Thank you," said the dancers together.
"Would you like a picture?"
Bailey nodded, then frowned. "I.. I don't have a camera on me."
"That's ok," said the female dancer. "We have one. Come in between us." The dancers kindly motioned what Bailey presumed was a friend over, who took the picture. "We'll put it on our website," the friend told Bailey. "I'm sure you can find it from there."
"How can I be like you?" Bailey asked curiously, turning back to the male dancer.
"Determination, and lots of practice," he said. "It's not too late to start. My partner here started when she was three, but I didn't start until I was twelve," he said, and any nerves that had built up immediately dissipated.

Going away that day, Bailey took the dancer's words to heart. She really had meant what she'd said, and  begged her mother to let her start ballet lessons. She was enrolled the very next week, and with the picture of herself with the ballet dancers sitting beside her bed as motivation, Bailey practiced with every spare moment she got.

Years later, Bailey had the same role as the female dancer in the very first ballet she'd seen, and she swelled with pride as she performed. This was a dream come true, and she only hoped she could inspire other young children as the dancers she'd watched had inspired her, though she remembered clearly what had enchanted her the most. The love story behind the ballet was what initially had her on the edge of her seat, and she was kept there both by the story and the dancers themselves, particularly the two leads. She and Drew, who had been cast as her partner on the ballet, had quickly become an item, and it was on grand opening night that she was to meet his parents for the first time. She'd heard they were legends, and dancers themselves, lending Drew some of their natural talent.

Bailey was amazed to discover the same two dancers who had inspired her all those years ago standing at the dressing room door, smiling at her partner. "Mum, Dad this is Bailey," Drew said. When she failed to respond at all, Drew came around corncern on his face. "Bailey, are you ok? What's wrong?"
She shook her head, snapping out of her trance quickly and meeting his gaze. "Drew, your parents were the ones who inspired me in the first place. "