“Liska! Focus on your movements!”

Papa stood with his fists on his hips, a sure sign that he was nearing the end of his patience. 

Liska’s father never yelled when he got angry, but he would order Liska to pick up all the trash in the clan commons or to clean the dance studio bathrooms. Or both.

“Building character,” Papa called it. 

Liska did a lot of character building.

Liska concentrated on the movements in the dance for two beats until the instrument that sounded a bit like a guitar with a metallic twang came in above the melody.

What instrument is that?

“Liska!”

Right. Movements. 

For the past few weeks, it had gotten harder to concentrate in dance class. Papa noticed everything. 

Early-morning light began to filter through the windows of the dance studio, a large open room with warm-toned wood floors and orange curtains. Papa loved the color orange, and he loved teaching dance classes at 5AM. Orange is fine. When I get to school, maybe I can sleep in—like until 6:00 AM.

The big mirror always had fingerprints on it where the barre met the glass, no matter how recently the mirror had been cleaned. Orange and yellow cushions were piled in one corner to be used in yoga and meditation classes later in the day.

Through the huge picture window, the view was wide, and the sky was clear, as it usually was in summer in New Mexico.

Only two more hours until Liska went with her oldest sister Hunter to start seventh grade at Eclipse Supernatural School for the Arts, all the way across the country in Savannah, Georgia.

Everyone in Liska's family had attended Eclipse Arts--for dance. 

Liska had started talking to her parents about studying music at Eclipse Arts three years ago. It took two-and-a-half years of tears and pleading to convince them to allow her to study music instead of dance. 

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Again!” Papa restarted the music. 

Focus. Focus. Focus.

She heard the tinny guitar sound again. What is that? 

Liska turned the wrong way and put an elbow into her younger brother Daye’s chest. 

“Ow, Liska!” Daye shouted, louder than the music. Liska hadn’t even hit him that hard, but he dramatically clutched his chest like he was in a play. 

“Stop!” Papa pointed at the door. “Liska, go sit in my office. We will talk after class.”

Liska shuffled out of the room and threw herself onto the bench in her father’s office. 

She was in for a lecture now. 

When the class finally ended, students skipped out the door. Someone must have been carrying a turkey sandwich, because the smell drifted through the open office door as a group of students walked by. Minutes passed. Liska’s father finally came and sat down at his desk.

She waited for Papa to speak. His muscular frame and energetic movement contrasted with his very short, greying curly hair. There were lines on his face where he smiled and around his eyes. But he was not smiling now. He smelled like pine and sweat, like he always did.

“Liska Awanar Renard, I know you are excited to finally go to Eclipse, but I have to tell you, I have some hesitation about you going to study music. Dance is the lifeblood of our family. I do not understand why that is not more important to you.”

“Papa! I...”

His tone silenced her. “I am not finished. You are a talented dancer when your mind is on the movement. But where does your mind go when you cannot concentrate?”

“I just want to listen to the music,” Liska said quietly. 

“Dance is about the music! They are connected, like a family.”

“I know, but...” Liska didn’t know how to explain to her father what happened when she heard music. She had tried so many times before. He didn’t understand. 

Dancing wasn’t enough for her. She wanted to make music herself. No one in her family could understand why the music called her like it did. 

“Go.”

Liska held her breath, uncertain of what would come next.

“It is an emotional day, and I am still unhappy about your lack of focus today. But you cannot make your sister late, so you should go.” Papa’s eyebrows met in the middle like a line of caterpillars, but then his expression softened. “You need to focus on what is in front of you, not on what could be. Go on now and have a good year at Eclipse.”

Liska leaped up and ran around the desk. “Thank you, Papa! I love you!”

She started out the door and realized this might be the last time she would see Papa until winter break. She ran back around the desk and hugged him again, earning a laugh from him.

He squeezed her shoulder as he released her. “I will miss you, little fox,” he murmured. “Study hard at school.”