something fell over in front of me. At first, I didn't comprehend what it was that had fallen. But then I realized that I eas looking into a pair of cold, dead, unseeing eyes. For a moment, I couldn't see anything but them. They were green. My mouth fell open and I screamed. The only thing I could think after that was that I had to kill Danny's murderer. And I was going to enjoy it.
I couldn't stop screaming and crying. There was simply no end to my horror. I had just seen him. I had just felt his arms on my shoulders. He promised he'd come back. But . . . There was no coming baack from where he'd gone.
Who I thought was the Rat King grabbed me and pulled me into his lap. I growled and spit in his general direction, trying to escape. He started stroking my hair and trying to comfort me saying, "It's okay, it's okay." But it was a voice I recognized. I looked up through my tears to see Danny smiling down at me, a splatter of blood on his lips. He laughed and said, "I told you I'd come back!"
I pushed away from him and slapped him across the face. "You scared the crap out of me! What's wrong with you?!" He sighed, smiled, and pulled me back. I felt him press his lips to the top of my head. "It'll all be okay now, I promise," He whispered to me.
In that moment, I felt completely content and happy and . . . Terribly sleepy. I leaned against Danny and listened to his heart beating. My eyes fluttered closed and I relaxed, feeling weightless, as if I was floating. The only thing keeping my tethered to the earth were his arms encircling my waist and the sound of his heart. And then . . . Black . . .
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When I woke up, music blared around me. Someone was tapping me on the shoulder, telling me to wake up. But I was surprisingly cold . . . I remembered falling asleep in someone's arms . . . Danny . . . "Hel-lo, Clara, wake up." That was definitely not him. I opened my eyes to see Herr, with her hands on her hips.
There was a weight in my hand, something I remembered vaguely but couldn't place . . . I looked down. My nutcracker was sitting lifeless there, and I felt flooded with disappointment. So he'd been a dream all along. There was no Danny Krest in the waking world. "What is it, Herr," I sighed dejectedly.
"I brought him. That guy I wanted you to meet? Yeah, his name is Daniel and he's my cousin, so be nice, okay?" Not really paying attention, I nodded and looked up. Standing next to Herr was a very familiar, though desolate - looking, face. One who looked like he'd skipped the sixth grade. One who looked like he was on the baseball, basketball, boxing, fencing and football teams. "Danny," I gasped, "It's you!"
His head shot up and he looked at me in shock. He smiled deeply, and his eyes brightened. Then, looking to his cousin to make sure she wasn't paying too close attention, he mouthed 'I missed you.' "Heya Clara," he said, "I thought you were only Once Upon A Dream." Herr looked at us both stupidly and asked, "You guys know each other already?" I looked at Danny and shrugged. "A little bit," He laughed, "Not very well, I guess." I smiled and walked a few uncertain steps towards him. He cleared the rest of the way in about a second and wrapped his arms around me. "I thought I'd have to live without you forever," he murmured. "I love you, too," I said, and clung to his shirt. I didn't plan on ever letting go.
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After that fateful school dance, Danny and I went to high school four hundred miles apart. That is, until he graduated. Then he moved to an apartment five miles away from Ledyard High and visited me every spare minute we both had.
The day I turned eighteen we were married, and since then have had a beautiful daughter who we named Anna Lynn. She's ten years old now, and as I remember all of this, we're watching her play the lead role in her school play.
Now, get this - She's Clara in The Nutcracker. So far, she's only forgotten one of her lines, and even then she had interesting improvisation to fill the gap in the dialogue. Danny and I are holding hands under the table and laughing at all the sections we remember being in . . . But mostly, we're just laughing when we catch her stealing glances at the boy who's playing the Nutcracker Prince . . .
