Clever Critters, Bella's ballet dream (Scribbler) (M)

"Point your paws, arabesque, close in at third position then demi-plié. Very miaow Bella, very miaow." Miss Kit-Cat exclaimed, meowing at the dance solo in delight. Bella, one of her most prided kittens blushed bright pink. As soon as the paw-shaped clock showed eight in the morning, all the kitten ballet dancers put their collars back on, took off their ballet shoes and hurried out of the hall. Only Bella and another kitten called Posy stayed in the hall. They waved goodbye to Miss Kit-Cat and sat at the stage, waiting for the children to have their lesson.

The girls ran in, wearing their hair in neat buns and a long coat over their leotards. When they took off their coats, they all ran over to cuddle Bella and Posy. The girls put on their pointe shoes and tiptoed to the barre. Bella watched them dance daintily with their pointe shoes and sighed. How she longed for a pair of pointe shoes. Posy wasn't looking at all, she was eating the breakfast one of the girls called Nephele left for Bella. After the girls had gone, Bella took a wander around the community centre, looking for scraps to save for lunch. She and Posy were cats that didn't have owners, but they did have ballet dreams and Bella was determined to fulfil hers.

That afternoon, Bella, Posy and the other kittens hurried into the hall. Bella had butterflies in her tummy. Today, she was going to ask Miss Kit-Cat about pointe shoes. It was a big decision for she would get really embarrassed if Miss Kit-Cat said she was wrong.

After the lesson, she swished her tail about nervously and asked Miss Kit-Cat, " Miaow miaow. Meow know about ballet shoes, for kittens like us I mean. When......when are we going to get...meow know...pointe shoes?" .
"Pointes? No no no, that's for humans, not cats!" Miss Kit-Cat exclaimed, adjusting her pink collar. Then, she took off her ballet shoes and stalked away. The rest of the cats walked off, leaving Posy to comfort Bella. "What's the matter B? I thought you were over not having an owner." Posy asked, through a mouthful of tuna that she found in the corner of the fridge. Bella sighed, "It's not about owners and stuff, it's about pointes! Nephele and the others get pointe shoes but Miss Kit-Cat said not pointes for kittens!" Bella cried, wetting her fur that she had just cleaned before the lesson and she walked away.

The next day at eight am, Bella was already sat on the windowsill. She hadn't attended ballet that morning so she didn't know where Posy was. Nephele and the girls came running in to warm up. Nephele tiptoed to Bella and handed her a pair of pointe shoes but kitten-sized. "I saw these on my kitten dancer doll this morning. Here, you want them?" Nephele asked, pushing the shoes towards Bella. Bella meowed excitedly, and tried to put them on. Nephele tied the ribbons for her and smiled. Bella wondered about the breakfast she would usually give her and Posy to eat. Where was it? Nephele just tiptoed to the barre.

When the lesson finished, Nephele's mother, Mrs Elixa came to pick Nephele up. She whispered something to Nephele and Nephele nodded. Mrs Elixa walked over to Bella, who was trying an arabesque in her dream shoes, and stroked Bella. Bella closed in to third and did a demi-plié like Miss Kit-Cat taught her and then looked up with a pair of adoring blue eyes at Mrs Elixa. Mrs Elixa cooed and cuddled Bella before walking away to talk to Nephele's teacher. They had a little discussion and before Bella could do her dance routine again, Nephele had picked her up and was carrying her towards their car. 'No way!' thought Bella, 'Two dreams fulfilled in one! Kitty Kool!'.

She then lived her happy life with Nephele, falling over in her pointes quite often.