Dancing With a Helicopter

In February, in a town called Spara,

Nestled in the center of the magical airy country of Ara,

Is the famed Love Festival with the tradition for one chosen girl,

To perform the finale dance with a helicopter.

Gracie Lee won her place with her lovely essay on the Love Festival’s history.

She had to train for three months in the Winter cold that was dreary.

First she pulled her straight black hair into a bun on her head,

And took three long breaths, squaring her shoulders as she read,

The long list of thank you’s over a microphone,

Then, took her position standing tall in front of two orange traffic cones.

Gracie was shaking with fear and excitement, the morning of the fourteenth.

She could hardly eat any breakfast or drink any of her morning tea.

She dressed in the ceremonial reds, oranges and pinks,

And her linen garments flowed whenever the wind chose to speak.

Gracie was a tall and curvy teenager with thick glasses and a button nose.

Her hands were always ice cold, along with her toes.

She carefully tied the silk ribbons around her bun

And reminded herself that this would be fun.

She had ballerina slippers strapped to her large feet,

And she walked with a grace that most girls could not beat.

The crowd was there, now and this was the real thing.

She ready her thank yous and then a woman started to sing.

Gracie stood opposite of the large helicopter posed to take flight.

Her hearing protection was fixed, so she would have to count her steps and move with the helicopter by sight.

She took her first step, toes pointed, as she leaned back and gracefully started her spin.

The helicopter started up and she was overcome with the wind.

But she was strapped and prepared for her flight.

She stepped into the door and was feeling alright.

Up the helicopter went and outside she took a swan dive.

This was going so fast, and she felt so alive.

She proceeded to ribbon dance with cables, dancing on air,

And the woman’s opera crescendoed right there.

Everyone cheered as Gracie detatched at the ground,

And her heart was racing as she bowed and looked all around.

Her mother stood with a bouquet of radiant glowing star flowers as her father beamed with pride.

This was one of the best moments of Gracie’s life and she glowed from inside.