Southend U3A

Writing for Fun

December 2021

Swan Song - Lynn Gale

Arms entwined and heads bobbing in time, the four girls danced onto the stage. She smiled as she watched her sixteen-year-old self, face set in a look of absolute concentration, her first public performance.

'Come on mum, dad's making the burgers,' a high-pitched voice called out.

'Be right there sweetheart.'

She had been thrilled when Madame Louisa had haughtily informed her that she had been selected to dance the coveted part of one of the little swans.

When her mother picked her up that day outside the Roselle Ballet Academy, she waved goodbye to her colleagues, giggling and laughing, as they marched off to see the Christmas lights in town, followed by pizza.

No congratulations were forthcoming from her mother and a request to join the others was met with a stern rebuff.

'They should be concentrating on their future,' she remarked, 'only the very best survive. 'You must practice, practice, practice,'

On the long drive home, she glanced at her mother's stony expression, her thin-lined face staring out in grim determination. Her mother worked long hours to pay the fees for her training. Her own career was cut short by a vehicle accident.

'I could have been a prima ballerina,' she never tired of telling her daughter.

Her father, a travelling salesman, was good looking and charming. They married after a whirlwind romance. Their daughter arrived a year later.

She remembered the shouting matches between her parents.

Her mother said he was a waster and he would never change.

Her father argued she was a bitter woman and forced their daughter to live out her own dream. When she was eight years old, he gave her a hug and left.

'We don't need him,' her mother told her crying daughter.

'Come on love, our guests are waiting.'

She smiled up at the tall, handsome man. 'Just give me five more minutes.'

Now twenty-one, she entered from stage left, in her black feathery costume and winged mask.

She glided effortlessly around the stage. Her performance ended with enthusiastic applause.

Even her non-demonstrative mother raised her chin and nodded from her seat in the third row.

At the after-show party, she felt a tinge of sadness as proud fathers hugged their daughters.

A tall blonde woman came over, handing her a tall glass of Prosecco. 'I thought you could do with this.'

'Thank you,' she took a sip as her best friend headed back to the gathered group.

At twenty-five, she was chosen to play the part of Odette.

High on her toes, arms gracefully waving in mid-air. She looked beautiful in a white layered tutu and cream feathered mask. As she fluttered to the floor in her final act, the audience rose as one, applauding loudly. Shouts of Bravo echoed throughout the theatre as bunches of flowers were pressed into her arms.

As she curtseyed to them, she searched the audience for a sight of her mother.

Then she noticed him, the man standing near the fire exit, his face obscured by a video recorder. She recalled thinking he would have that confiscated if they caught him filming the performance.

When she fell pregnant, her mother was furious. 'You will throw everything away. After all the sacrifices I have made for you,' she ranted. 'No man is worth your career.'

Looking across from under the oak tree. A smile broke out across her face as she watched her mother laughing as she chased her grandsons around the garden.

She sighed sadly as she placed the video recorder back into the box. A solicitor had delivered it this morning, a legacy from her late father.

He had attended every one of her performances.