Thread: Black Swan [Ophelia/Google]

Her bodys melody, In silent waves of wandering sound, Thrills to the sense of all around, Yet thrills alone for me! And O, intoxicatingly, When, at the magic moments close, She dies into the rapture of repose, Her eyes that gleam for me! -Arthur Symons Again and again she spun, her entire body balanced on her toe, again and again she twirled her body with the expertise that almost eighteen years of dedication had given to her. But, it wasn't enough. It never was enough. By pouring her heart and soul into her passion she had given up everything else. At twenty-one, Natalie Turner should have been having the time of her life, but she lived alone and she had no social life to speak of. She instead spent her days and often her nights practicing her craft, by long hours at the studio or reviewing a theory alone in her apartment. Natalie had given and given until she had nothing left to give, all in order to the best, and yet, had she ever been rewarded for any of it? For three years she had been in this company, abandoning her family and moving to the big New York City, and all the time she had not been given any lead roles. That would be alright, if she were mediocre, she simply would fade into the background and let another shine, and be grateful just to be on stage. However, Natalie was not mediocre - she was made to be a star, if only the director could see it. He never saw anything. When he looked at her, it was as though he was staring through her, like there was nobody there. Now she would make him see. Her mother had always told her, the best things in life are worth fighting for. Natalie could not step aside while he gave the lead role to another dancer, not when she knew she could do it so much better. But how could she convince him? She could think of one way ... Her concentration lost from that thought, Natalie's perfect balance was impaired, and she wobbled and fell painfully onto her left leg. She cursed under her breath and rubbed her burning knee, soothing the ache. Perhaps that was a sign of enough dancing for today. Slowly, she stood up and took a cooling drink from her water bottle. She examined herself in the wall-length mirror. She frowned with distaste, thinking that she looked like a mess. Gathering her gym bag, Natalie exited the empty studio and went into the bathroom to change. She let down her dark brown hair and brushed it, put on a little make-up, and changed her clothes. Again she looked at her appearance in the bathroom mirror. She somewhat hesitantly unbuttoned two more buttons of her sweater, showing off a bit more skin. It felt wildly uncomfortable and ridiculous, but surely the more she could display her fit, petite body, the more he would be attracted to her? Natalie felt herself blushing already. What was she doing? This was so crazy... but, she was desperate for a change... Ten minutes later, Natalie was outside the door of the director's office. By the time, she knew he would be leaving soon, and usually was in no mood to talk at this hour. Natalie took a deep breath. She knocked twice on the door and then opened it, only enough to look inside. Sir? I'm sorry to disturb you, but I... I wanted to talk about something, please.