THE WOMBAT AND THE BALLET GIRL
by
Sam G.Schouten
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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for Acacia
PUBLISHED BY:
Sam G.Schouten on Smashwords
The wombat and the ballet girl
Copyright © 2010 by Sam G.Schouten
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the permission of the writer.
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Preface
A wombat is a marsupial, indigenous to Australia only. He forages at night and sleeps in the day. He is an exceptionally strong but quiet animal that lives a solitary life. He is known however to share his burrow at times with rabbits and even foxes as long as they do not make a nuisance of themselves.
Endearing is his habit to warm up in the evening sun, after a good day’s sleep, on the same spot of his choice, day after day. There he takes in the surroundings through nose and ears, and then draws up his list of things-to-do for the coming night.
As yet they have not been seen dancing.
S.G.S. Yangoora 2010
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Chapter I
Rom meets a girl
The magpie sits in the top of the highest tree and sings his end-of-the-day song. He sounds satisfied and ready for a good night’s sleep. For Rom the day begins. He emerges from his burrow, ambles to his favorite spot, plonks down and has a good think. “A wombat does not hurry waking up”, his mother used to say and he certainly doesn’t.. It is this sunny spot that he favours for warming up after a cool sleep and for getting a grip on the day to come. Or shall we say ‘night to come’, as his day starts at dusk and ends at dawn.
He will first take a good sniff around. Then he will listen carefully for any for unusual sound. Finally, when he is well warmed up, he will decide what he is going to do that night. Eating mostly. He sniffs all the trusted smells; The flowering gums, the sword grass smelling perfect for a good feed. He smells his friend too, Brother Fox, who seems to have been around not long ago and...But then his ear catches a sniffing sound and his nose tells him it is human being. It sounds sad, certainly not dangerous.
He gets up to see what is happening. Soon he finds the source. It is a girl. She sits behind an old peppermint gum and she is crying.
* * * * *
Rom wants to help
‘Are you crying?’ tries Rom.
‘No!’ she says with wet cheeks and red rimmed eyes, ‘ I am not.’
‘Are you sad then?’ tries Rom again.
‘Maybe’ she answers.
Rom says nothing.
After a little while she blurts out; ‘They say I cannot go to ballet classes. And I just love to dance. Whenever I feel happy or when I hear music I just have to dance, to move...I just love it.’ Another sob. Rom does not know what to say. He smells the polish of her shoes but that does not really help.
‘That is funny,’ he says trying to cheer her up, ‘ I love moving too. Not when I wake up of course because, as my Mother used to say; “Wombats do not hurry waking up”. You see we have to warm up before going anywhere, but that is beside the point. Like you, when I am happy, or when I smell something very nice, I always get this urge to move, to dance.’
‘Is that true?’ she asks.
‘Sure,’ he says, ‘ when nobody looks I start moving with my arms and my legs and bum.’
‘You really do? ’ she asks.
‘Yes.’ he nods a bit embarrassed.
After some time he continues, ‘Who says you cannot go to ballet classes?’
‘Girls at school.’ she answers, ‘They said they do not want me to join their ballet class.’
‘One of them, Nasty Netty, even sent me a text, saying I am too ugly. It said: “Tubbies don’t wear tutus.” ’ and she sniffs.
* * * * *
Rom learns about mobiles
‘What is a text.’ asks Rom moving the subject away from the tears. Jenny -already forgetting she was crying- takes out her mobile and shows it to Rom.
‘This is my mobile. You can call someone with it, but you can also type a message in this little window. When finished you send it away. That way it becomes a text you see.’
‘Aah! ’ says Rom, suggesting he understands, ‘And what is ballet.’
She tells him.
And while she explains about ballet, Rom keeps thinking of ways he could help her. He gets an idea. When she is finished, he asks, ‘Shall I give that nasty girl a good whacking! It worked with my brother you know. He kept teasing and bullying me until I gave him a really good whack. I haven’t seen him since.’
Silence.
‘Hm, I see you do not like the idea.’ She looks back with helpless teary eyes.
‘I am Jenny.’ she says after a while, ‘What is your name?’
‘ My name is Romicka,’ says Rom, ‘ but you may call me Rom.’
He is still trying to think of a clever solution. But nothing further pops up in his mind. Then his stomach rumbles.
‘I need to eat,’ he says blushing a little, ‘but I promise to find a way to help you.’
‘Thank you Rom.’ she says, ‘I like your name.’
Rom is gone, heading straight for the paddock with his favourite sword grass.
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Chapter II
At Miss Tiptoe’s
The next day Rom makes his way to the Petrova School of Ballet. Brother Fox had told him about it. He goes there regularly for his “tea” as he calls it. Often the pupils leave their little backpacks outside, crammed with sandwiches and cakes. An easy catch for Brother Fox.
Rom looks at the school. Through the one window you can see the very bright classroom. The window is huge, from the ground to the ceiling. Sitting between the shrubs he watches the class at work.
He hears an unfamiliar sound. There is a certain rhythm to it and it has a pleasant ring to it as well. He likes it, and starts to move a little bit with the rhythm. Later he will learn that he was listening to music, piano music to be precise. He sees a class of six girls in a row, holding on to a long wooden bar in front of a huge mirror. The girls move to the sound of a big black thing, the grand piano. So that is what makes the music.
Behind that piano he sees the face of an elderly lady. She plays and directs the girls at the same time.
‘Lift those legs! Mark the rhythm! And slowly now...’ After a while she stops.
‘Well my dear young ladies,’ she says, ‘that’s it for tonight. You have worked hard and did well. Next time we will do this exercise in costume. We must be ready in time for the school’s spring presentation. Only six weeks left!’
The girls start giggling nervously at the idea.
‘Miss Tiptoe?’ asks one of the girls.
‘Yes Netty.’
‘Miss Tiptoe, do you think I could wear a golden dress at the presentation. It really agrees perfectly with my tan you know.’
‘As you know my dear,’ says Miss Tiptoe, ‘the colours of your dresses have been decided on three weeks ago. So thank you, and till next week.’
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Rom meets Miss Tiptoe
Rom did not quite understand what this was all about. But he read Miss Tiptoe’s face and tone and knew that she had but little patience with this petulant girl. ‘So this is Nasty Netty,’ he thinks, ‘She not only sends nasty texts but wants to have the best dress of the evening as well.’
When the girls are gone and the sound of their giggling dies out, Rom enters the classroom. Miss Tiptoe still sits behind the piano and plays a pensive tune. It sort of tickles Rom and he wants to move. Silently he goes to the bar, grabs it and raises himself on his hind legs, then lifts his arm and then his leg like he saw the girls do. Actually it was fun to try and make movements in step with the music.
‘Try to stretch your leg a little bit straighter! ’ Miss Tiptoe instructs from behind the piano.
‘You are doing well.’ she quickly adds. After a few more bars of music the tune comes to an end...
Miss Tiptoe remains seated.
‘And what brings you here, young man? ’
‘I am Romicka, but you may call me Rom.’ says Rom as he lets go of the bar and sits down. ‘When you make these sounds I feel like moving or waving and maybe jumping. That is why. But the reason I came is something completely different.’ he adds.
He then tells Miss Tiptoe about Jenny.
‘Ah, they are not kind, these girls.’ she thinks. When he has told his story and asked for help, Miss Tiptoe’s fingers start to tickle the keys again. She is thinking. Rom, still sitting, lifts his right hind leg and starts to scratch himself gently to the rhythm of the tune. ‘Oh, that feels so good!’
Then Miss Tiptoe says:
‘Young man, let me state to two things.’
‘Firstly, one does not scratch oneself in class. It is not considered very polite.’
‘Secondly, would you like me to teach you to dance? You have a certain talent. That I have clearly seen from the way you moved to the music.’
‘...not to mention your rhythmic scratching...’ she adds with a friendly smile.
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Rom loves it
‘I would love to,’ says Rom not really embarrassed, ‘but what about Jenny?’
‘She will be all right.’ says Miss Tiptoe, ‘You will come every evening after classes and we will work on your technique and build a lovely solo dance for you. We have only six weeks but that will do I am sure.’
‘Off you go now, and I will see you tomorrow!’
‘See ya !’ says Rom as he ambles happily out of the class. He is very hungry and goes straight for the paddock that he discovered the other night. Later with his mouth full of rich, fat grass he thinks about Miss Tiptoe and about Jenny.
‘She looks like a wise old lady. She will know what she is doing. I am really thrilled that she is going to teach me ballet. Though I do not know what my Mother would have said.’
The next evening he goes back to the school and waits till the pupils have gone. He enters the classroom.
‘Good,’ said Miss Tiptoe, ‘Good you have come. Let’s get to work....’ And work he did. After half an hour Rom drags himself exhausted to the nearest paddock for a good feed. Exhausted he is, but he loves it.
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Chapter III