As she continued to dance, the crowd increased. The girl spun, and turned, and swirled her way through the playful melody coming from the man's violin. With a tambourine in one hand, she played along with the beat and danced her heart out. She hadn't even realized how big the crowd was getting, nor did she even know how she started dancing. All she remembered was walking down the street and hearing the song and then she was sucked into it.
When the man's song had ended, the girl ended her dance with a cartwheel. The crowd applauded and cheered. Overwhelmed, and out of breath, she sat down on the coble street with a big grin on her face. She set the tambourine down so she could fix her long, black hair that was now in her face. After wiping the sweat off her forehead, she noticed that people were throwing coins into her tambourine. Her thick eyebrows furrowed at the sight of people actually giving her money for her dance.
When the crowd had disappeared, she stood up and carefully picked up the tambourine. She counted the money and gaped when she realized that she had collected 20 coins! She didn't understand why she had gotten so much, but it made her happy. It pleased her that people liked her dancing enough to pay her for it.
Smiling, she headed straight to her home, as it was getting very dark. As soon as she stepped inside her house, she was showered with questions from her parents.
"Young lady, where have you been? It's nearly 9 o'clock." Her mother said. The girl had only opened her mouth before she was cut off from her father. "What's that you've got there?" The girl tried to hide the money in her fist. "My tambourine."
"Yes, but what's in your other hand?" he continued. She panicked for a split second; they would never approve of what she had done. But she reminded herself that honesty was the best policy. "Money."
"I'm sorry?"
"Money, father. I have money." Trembling slightly, she held out her hand to show them the coins. Her parents gasped. "Where did you get this money? You haven't been stealing, have you?"
"No! No, of course not, mother! I earned this money." The girl said honestly.
"And what have you done to 'earn' this money?" They questioned her. She stared at them long and hard before opening her mouth. "Dancing." She muttered.
"Dancing? Dancing where, exactly?"
Her eyes grew round and her mind searched and searched for a logical reason to have earned such money. But when she hasn't found one excuse, she sighed. "In the street."
"The street!" Her mother cried. "You were dancing in the street for money?"
"No, mother! Well, yes…but not on purpose! I-I just heard the man playing and I started to dance! Then people started to watched and they put coins in the tambourine…" When her explanation came out of her mouth, she frowned at how ridiculous it sounded.
"You KNOW it is a gypsy thing to do; dancing for money!" Her father said.
"But, father! I was just dancing! I really wasn't trying to earn ANYTHING!" there was a short silence until she asked a question her parents didn't want to hear. "What's so bad about gypsies, anyway?"
Her mother and father shared a look and her Father said, "Gypsies are bad; evil. They steal and hurt. They are cunning and use witchcraft to get what they want."
The girl was shocked. She had often seen gypsies on the streets and they didn't seem evil; in fact, most of them seemed…friendly. Was that man that played the song for her a gypsy? He did look the 'gypsy' type. But if he was a gypsy, why was he so kind and cheery?
"But…I've seen gypsies…and even talked to some and they didn't seem they would harm anyone."
Her parents sighed. "Just promise you'll stay away from anything gypsy-like. No talking to them, no looking at them, no acting like them; that means no dancing in the street, alright?" her mother finished.
This was very unfair! The girl loved dancing almost as much as she loved her family! How could she possibly stop dancing in the street? It was the only place where she could dance freely! The dance class she sometimes attended had one too many rules. You always had to be perfect! While out on the street, she could dance as differently as she wanted!
She wanted to protest and speak her mind; that was the thing she would normally do, but thought better of it. "Yes, ma'am." Her parents smiled.
"Good. Now, off to bed, little Agnes!" She flinched. Oh, how she hated that name! She had always longed to be called something different; anything!
She kissed her parents goodnight and unwillingly went to bed.
