Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 31st cycle. Now cycle 32!
Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!
"It's Britney, Dear"
Young Brittany & Sue
Sylvesters #27 (sequel to 'Cover Summer')
[stay tuned at the bottom for a quick Name Poll! ;)]
Brittany didn't mind so much that her mother had to work a lot, because she always had something to do. Sometimes it'd be going to play with friends, or with toys… Most of the time it was sitting on the ground in front of the television. She may have only been five years old, but she knew there were four buttons that mattered on the remote: two made it more or less loud, and the other two made the image change. Sometimes she'd have to press and press until she managed to get what she wanted, but then she would find it and put the remote down, pleased grin on her face.
She could get lost in it… so many worlds! Animal shows, food shows, drawn people shows – cartoons, her grandfather had told her they were called – but her favorite was the place with the music and the dancing. She would six, transfixed, no need for anything else. And then, one day, something moved her, woke her.
She sat up on her knees as she watched the screen. She had never seen this one, but it was already her favorite. For days, whenever she found herself in front of the television, she would wait patiently for the video with the girl to come along, and it would never disappoint. As soon as it would start, Brittany knew, and she was on her feet, still watching close, smiling.
It took a while before she knew her name. She couldn't read, and she usually tuned out the people who would talk in between the videos anyway. But then something happened… She heard her name, her own name. She heard it, clear as day. She looked around… Were they talking to her?
It was as days went by that she noticed they would say her name, always before or after the video with the girl… Were they showing it for her, because she liked it? Or did they have more in mind? Did they call her, so she would join in? Either way, the television was talking to her, so who was she to ignore it? Maybe it was like their secret or something…
The next day, when she sat there on the ground, after her mother turned on the television and handed her the remote – as she always did – Brittany gave a big smile and a thank you… The moment her mother was out of the room though, she looked to the buttons and clicked away until she found the right channel, then she put the remote down and sat there, waiting until they called her.
It didn't take long, and when she heard her name, Brittany SPierce got on her feet. She took a cautious look to the hall – she had to protect the secret. But her mother was nowhere to be seen, so she beamed, returning to stand in front of the television, pushing her long blonde hair behind her ears.
She'd seen the video enough times to know exactly how it went… That was easy enough. She had no reason to be scared, or nervous… Although the thought did occur to her that she might disappoint them, and then they wouldn't call her anymore… No, she could do this… Her feet, her hands, they would move along most of the time, even as she sat on the ground…
The video began, and she quickly snapped out of those thoughts and into the dance, following the movements of the girl on the screen. In her mind, she couldn't miss a beat, though it was up to any other observer to decide whether the five-year-old had it right.
As it was, she did have an observer.
Sue's home office was brand new, a project she'd recently completed in order to have a place to concentrate. But as with any new space, there would be things missing, yet to be placed. Now she'd realized she left the paper for the printer back by the door. As she walked down the hall, passing the living room, she looked in as she always did, to see if Brittany was alright. She fully expected to see her planted on the ground, big blue eyes fixed on the screen… Only she wasn't seated, not at all.
Her girl was dancing, looking at the screen as she went. Sue couldn't see the image, but she heard the music, recognized the song, and she looked back to her daughter. Maybe she wasn't anywhere near what that Britney Spears girl did, but looking at Brittany, just five years old, she saw… promise… ideas…
Brittany had been completely focused on the dance, but then she spun and… the momentum carried her through in the spin, but then her feet locked together and she tripped, barely managing to break her fall with her hands. She turned her head, unsure how to make herself stand up again.
"Help?" she asked. Sue smiled, moving to take up her daughter by the waist, raising her into her arms so she straightened up, then placed her back on her feet. Right away, she looked back to the screen… The girl was still there; her mother's appearance hadn't made them mad. She let out a sigh of relief, then turned her head back up to her mother. "Did you see me?"
"Yes, I did," Sue gave her a nod.
"Was I okay?" she asked, with so much hope that Sue had to kneel down to her eye level, brushing her hair back.
"I'll tell you what, you kicked her butt," she spoke low, leaning forward in confidence. Brittany grinned, stretching tall on her toes before turning back to the screen.
"Who's she?" she pointed her finger at the screen. Sue looked, seeing the video end. Brittany looked back, waiting.
"Well, her name is Britney…" Brittany's head snapped back.
"Like me?"
"Almost," Sue told her.
"I like it when she dances."
"Yes, I saw that. If you keep it up, you'll get better, and better… Maybe more than her…" she almost whispered in her daughter's ear. As she went on, the little blonde's eyes slowly got wider and wider, unaware that anything like that could be possible… and it intrigued her, charmed her.
"Yeah…" she whispered. Sue kissed the top of her head, getting up to get back to work. Brittany sat back down in front of the television, watching, waiting… waiting for the call of her name so she could rise again to dance with this other Britney…
THE END
PICK A NAME!
New character currently in development, and I'm being indecisive, so I'm putting it to all of you lovely people!
Please send via message if you can, the name you like best... [If you've already voted you can't vote again]
Brendan
Duncan
Ewan
Keegan
Neal
Rory
Sean
Thank you! :)
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!
