We were found, floating in a small old trunk, on water. My sister, Kara, was sleeping beside me as we drifted for what seemed to be days. I was very tired. Ever since the massive ship, Titanic, sank deep down into the dark waters, all we could hear were screams and cries of helpless people trying to stay afloat in the frigid waters. It was quite hard to fall asleep with all the noise. But we were soon far enough away to hear no more sounds and Kara had managed to drift off into a slumber. It was just the two of us, a pair of ballet shoes, in an old trunk. It smelled of must and perfume. After awhile, I got sick of it. However the interior of the trunk was quite nice compared to the smell. It reminded me of a coffin because of its white satin lining. But, there wasn’t a body or anything inside. Kara was using an old doll as her pillow and I was sitting on a light pink leotard. The owner of this trunk, you see, was a 13 year old girl named Mary Lynn Taylor. She loved to dance and Mary was taking Kara and I with her to her ballet school in London, England. I guessed now we will never know what it is like to dance in a real dance studio.
Suddenly, the trunk shook tremendously and woke up Kara with a jolt. She whimpered. I realized we weren’t on water any more. I thought we had found land. I was beginning to tell Kara what was happening when something or someone lifted us up. Then I heard voices. Two female teenage voices to be exact. What were they saying? Where were they taking us? They seemed to be carrying us for several minutes. Then, finally the top of the chest was opened. A tremendously bright light blinded Kara and I.
As our eyes began to focus, we realized we were looking at two teenage girls, just as I had expected. They looked friendly and curious. One said to the other, “Look at those ballet shoes!” “They’re gorgeous!” The other girl said, “They are!” “I wonder who they belonged to.” The first girl, who apparently was called Julie, picked up Kara. She read aloud, “M.L.T.” “Who’s that?” she asked. “Mary Lynn Taylor” the second girl named Gigi read from a tag on the trunk. “This is so cool!” “Can I keep the shoes?” “I need a new pair and they look like my size.” Gigi asks. “Fine by me.” “I’m not going to the London School of fantastic dancing or whatever you want to call it.” Julie says with a smile.

It took a couple of minutes for this to settle in our minds. But finally Kara and I started to feel excited. We will finally get the chance to dance in a professional studio! Weeks went by and Kara and I were exhausted from all of the dancing, but it was totally worth it. I couldn’t wait until the recital. I was excited but still a bit sad. Mary Lynn never got to experience this. She had worked so hard too. I knew what I would do. On the day of the recital, I will keep her in my thoughts.

Finally the night came! I was feeling great! Gigi however was looking a little nervous. I could hear her whispering to herself saying that she can’t do this and that she would probably mess up. I told Kara that we can’t let Gigi down. She took us in and gave us our dream. “Don’t worry Gigi; I will carry you during this whole performance if you need me to.” I whispered. Before I knew it Kara and I were being placed onto Gigi’s feet. They were sweatier than usual. She was definitely nervous. She was shaking a lot too. Before I knew it, the lights were dimming and Gigi shook her way onto the stage.

Everyone’s eyes were on us. Finally, my turn to shine. “Let’s show them what we got.” I yell to Kara. The music starts. I move to the music just like I practiced. I jumped on queue. I twirled on queue. Everything was going smoothly. Gigi was doing great and didn’t really need us. In a way I was bummed, but I knew how much this meant to her. Suddenly, out of the blue, Gigi misses a step and begins to improvise, but she has lost the beat of the music. “Here we go!” I shout to Kara. We sneak in a triple spin and a leap. I throw in an allusion here and there. Before I knew it the song was coming to an end. Gigi looked confused but happy at the same time. “Where did this come from?” Gigi wondered. “Was it the shoes?”

Gigi slows to a stop and bows. A thunder of applause comes from the audience. Gigi couldn’t help but smile as big as ever. The awards ceremony came quicker than expected. When they announced the 1st place winner and recipient of the 10,000 dollar scholarship to the London School of Dance, our hearts thumped in unison. They announced, “Gigi Sherman!” “WOOHOO!!!” shouts came from the audience! “We did it Kara!” I shout. Years and years went by. Gigi used up the scholarship and became one of the best dancers in the world. Sadly, the day came when Gigi Sherman passed away. Kara and I were passed down from generation to generation. When Gigi’s great great great great granddaughter wore us to a dance at school, our ribbons became so weak that they fell off. “Cool, ballet flats!” Gigi’s granddaughter exclaims. Ever since then, ballet flats have been a major trend all because of one pair of magic dancing ballet shoes.