The Beat of my Heart

Little Girl - Part 0

A small child with caramel skin laid just a couple of feet beyond the small television her family owned. Her small hands squishing her chubby face, her dark eyes wide in awe at what she was watching.

Dancers in pretty shoes stood way up on their tip-toes, spinning, and soaring through the sky and landing gracefully back on the stage. The costumes worn on stage by the beautiful dancers were a kaleidoscope of colors. All lined and embellished with what she thought were
pure gold and diamonds. Their faces were so slim and sculpted, like they were a work of art displayed in the middle of town for all to see.

"Asia!"

The little girl jumped at her dads rough and loud voice, her day dream shattering back into her dull reality.

"Yes daddy?"

Her toothy smiled would've, should've, made the tall, milky skinned man melt. Yet he couldn't see through the blood red color clouding his vision, he couldn't see his sweet little angel smiling up at him with her big innocent chocolate eyes.

"Where's dinner! Where is that woman?! I told her to have dinner ready and on the table by the time I got home!"

Asia tilted her head that was no doubt bigger than her torso, she wasn't frightened by her dad. This was the way he was, she had not known any other love from her dad.

"Mommy said she had to work overtime remember daddy? You said you'd pick dinner up on your way home,"

Asia's sweet melodic giggles filled the empty space between them, her daddy was so silly sometimes, so forgetful. She shook her head at his goofiness.

"Don't worry daddy! You sit down and I'll make us something good to eat, we can eat and watch the pretty ballerinas dance together!"

She squealed at the thought, just her and her daddy watching the dancers work their magic on stage, maybe then he'll see their beauty.

She stood up and wobbled over to the kitchen, her small feet wriggled feeling the cool white tiles lining the kitchen floor. Standing tall on a chair she carefully got three plates, face scrunched in focus. After completing her mission she swiftly got to work.

Cutting up fruits of all kinds in all different shapes and sizes, melting sugar in a small pot she glued eyes to, and mixing up some batter for waffles. She only knew how to make breakfast and even though the sky was starting to darken and the sun was laying down in the rolling hills and being lulled to sleep by the wind she knew this was her daddy's favorite meal.

She stirred the syrup of sugary delight and added actual syrup into the mix. Arranging all the cut up fruit pieces next to the waffles she smiled, this was her best attempt yet! She drizzled the syrup all over in a heart pattern on all of the plates.

She picked up the best looking plate and treads lightly into the living room, feeling the warmth of the carpet once again.

"Here you go daddy! Your favorite- daddy? Why'd you change the channel? We were going to watch the pretty ballerinas together..."

The little girls heart dropped, he was watching football, she wanted to show him that the ballerinas were amazing, that they were gorgeous and so talented!

"Oh ballerina this ballerina that, listen don't waste that brain of yours on being a dancer, we need more money fast and dancers don't make money when they're young."

He coughed and snatched the plate from her chubby fingers. Although her heart was crying Asia reminded her self, daddy and mommy are never wrong, so instead she smiled to the man in front of her. She wrapped her small arms around his neck being tickled by his long prickly beard.

"Okay daddy,"

He said nothing as he untangled her from himself and silently continued eating, the sweet little girl ran to get her plate and sat on the floor next to the brown rocking chair her father was in. She happily ate and watched football with him even though she had no clue as to what was going on.

Later that particularly warm night Asia's mom came home, beads of sweat rolling down her ebony skin.

"Mommy you're home! I made dinner, but be quiet daddy's sleeping,"

She whispered, one small finger over her plump lips. Her mother tried her best to smile at the bright beam of joy looking up at her, yet she was exhausted. She had just come back from and extra shift at Moxie Well diner and was over worked. She didn't care if that good for nothing dead beat of a father was sleeping, no one could change that.

"Okay sweetie go get ready for bed, you have school tomorrow,"

Asia nodded while her mother yawned, she loved school she got to learn all kinds of cool stuff! Most importantly her teacher was a dancer! Before running off down the hall to start changing into her red footie pajamas she turned to look back at her mom.

"Mommy... what's so wrong with wanting to be a ballerina?"

She knew she shouldn't have asked, they've had this conversation a thousand times over and she understood why she couldn't. Somewhere deep within her brain something wasn't clicking.

Her weary mother sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Look Asia we've talked about this. Dance lessons coast money, money we don't have and your smart, your such a smart little girl so why would you waste your insight on being a dancer of all things? Use the brain of yours to get a good paying job, a doctor or anything useful!"

"So dancing and dancers are useless...?"

It was a valid question, Asia had never thought of anything as useless before, it was strange to think about really. How could a person be useless? How could a talent be useless? Even if it gave people joy when nothing else did?

"Yes. Now go,"

Asia nodded once more before leaving her agitated mother to her thoughts.

Laying in her small white sheeted bed Asia couldn't help but dream of being a ballerina. She knew it was wrong but she yearned to be on a stage twirling and leaping, telling a story with movement and bringing joy to people that need it.

Dreaming of the lights being shone on her while she became one with the music and story, making graceful movements across the stage and finishing to see the smiling faces of her audience.

Dreaming to be one of those ballerinas in the television not so long ago.

Only dreaming...

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I hope you liked the first part of my new story! I know that this is a lot of backstory but this was the only chapter of backstory, next chapter we'll be skipping right in the Asia's adulthood with some backstory fragments here or there. Please correct me for spelling mistakes, I kinda rushed through it. Good night/morning/afternoon <3