The faint sunlight streaming through my satin curtains woke me. I felt the bag under my pillow, and took it out. Automatically, I put on my pointe shoes. Then, it hit me what I was about to do. Slowly, I took the shoes off again

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I remembered the tears of yesterday, but now they were gone. It was sunlight that was on my expression. I looked around my room, but no splash of nostalgia overwhelmed me. It was hope, instead. I looked back into the mirror. My brown hair fell below my shoulders, and my chocolate brown eyes were twinkling with excitment. I had put on my loose blue dress, matching my silk bag. I was wearing sandals, with a feather strung with a single pearl attached.

The floorboard creaked as I stepped across the room to pack. I slowly opened it, remembering the times I had hidden my journal, full of angry scribbles about Christine, and little pensées. Of course, I never read any of them looking back. They were just my thoughts, and I saw no need to revisit them. Now I did. I was forgetting them. Happieness erases them.

I decided on taking my pillow, which barely fit into my bag. I also took the corner of a poster plastered to my wall, advertising one of Carlotta's countless shows. I wished I had some meaningful possession. People have necklaces that are heirlooms, jewels, old photos, I had nothing. Well, that was better. Nothing to restrain me, to hold me down.

Nobody had awoken yet, so the hallways were dead quiet. I cautiously stepped out of my door, past the dorms, and then I slid down the banister backstage. I stepped to the center of the stage. Then, I put down my bag and twirled. This was exactly the feeling I always wanted to capture. Just myself, my ability, and passion.

I danced across the stage, enjoying the endless space. This was like the Paris I wanted. This was the meadows, the fountains, the rivers, the beauty, the light. A light full of love. A heart full of song.

Oh, Marius! How nice was it that there was someone who loved me and knew my dreams. I saw him then I knew. His eyes are like diamonds in my soul. Love was new, strange, yet I savored every effect of it. Laughs, raptures, thoughts and fantasies. My heart flew.

I was breaking the night that used to hold me. Shadows catching fire, how wonderful! How could I stay here and abandon my dream? To the future, it was! No more tripping over laces, no more laces at all!

Songs and dances, full of emotion, yet feeling less to me. I've never captured this emotion before. I felt alive, real, like I was finding my course. I didn't care where my whims carried me, as long as I could spin further away with the wind.

I stopped dancing. I heard footsteps, and hid behind a curtain. The thin velvet brushed my hand, and I felt chills. Suddenly, the floods of emotion came to me. All those years behind the curtains preparing for yet another dance. And the notes that Carlotta trailed, each a dagger in me. The vivid colors of our Hannibal rehersal came, and along came her voice, in words that each spoke to me.

"Think of me!" Think of yourself, Evelyn. Your life has been a almost a façade up until this day. And are you living yet another lie?

"_Think of me fondly!" _You know how fondly everyone thinks of Christine. Will she outshine you forever no matter where you are?

"When we've said goodbye!" What if saying goodbye to the Opera House is saying goodbye to your dreams? What if you're leaving your real passion? Your mother Evannia Sader would think you a disappointment...

"Think of me, once in a while!" Once in a while, Time will turn against you. And then, you'll make up for all your mistakes!

"Please promise me you'll try!" It's all you're worth. Try. Has anyone ever trusted you? Why does Madame Giry always tell you to try harder? Can you really find where you belong?

"And when you find that once again you long, to take your heart back and be free!" One day, your heart will be either abandoned, or you'll find that you're living a lie. But you'll never be truly free.

"If you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me." Think about yourself, Evelyn. Don't be afraid to look and-

No! Lies. Lies. It was my dream that lay outside the walls. But they weren't lies. They would all come true. And it started with a spark. The penultimate line first came true. And with that, my fiery passions ended. But first, other things happened. And everything changed in my life when the time crashed down.

It was Madame Giry that came. I couldn't suppress a smile. Maybe she had seen my dance moves, and would stop me from going! No, apparently. She still knew I was there, though.

"Evelyn... I'm sorry." She walked up the stage, and brushed aside the curtain. I came out slowly and cautiously.

"The show... Christine was perfect. Tell her that." She deserved that much.

"Evelyn, I don't know where Christine is. But that doesn't matter right now. I'm sorry. The show, we needed somebody. I'm not going to hurt you by stating your mother's expectations again. Or stop you from leaving. Just know that wherever you go, and if you still want to return," She didn't finish the sentence.

"Why would you still want me back?" I looked at her, and there was compassion in her eyes.

"Because you're like Christine. I know you don't like her, but you are alike. You know your dreams, what you want, and you'll get it. Christine is still a child in my eyes, but you, being younger than her, are still so small, so small that I can pretend it was the times when Christine was still a child..."

"Christine... I think she really deserves her Happieness and all the attention of Paris.

"Oh, she does. She hasn't had it easy since her father died. She was heartbroken, but I could see that still standing hope behind her eyes. It was in dancing and singing that she brought it out." Madame Giry looked at me, and smiled bitterly.

"And me?" I couldn't resist the question.

"You, my dear, still have that hope inside of you. Which is why I think being outside of the Opera House will change you. It's beautiful, and you can realize your dreams."

The word dream had been brought up so many times. That was when I realized, I had to go. Or tears would well up in my eyes.

"Goodbye Madame Giry. Thank you."

"Farewell, Evelyn."