[author note: this could use a lot of work.  but I'm posting it now anyway.]

In my ballet troupe, I was always cast as the black swan, as Odile.  I hated it.  I thought it was because of my skin, because I was different from the rest of them.  No matter how much I longed to be the beautifully pristine Odette, I was always doomed to be the one fated to steal away the Prince, to die alone.

And then, one day, she came.

Her dancing was so elegant, so pure, so very Odette… there was no question.  She had the part instantly.  We didn’t even finish tryouts.

When we danced together at rehearsals, I could hardly keep my eyes off her.  My heart was lost in a mix of jealousy and admiration.  She was the same as me, so how?  How could she dance with such innocence, such heavenly whiteness?  I didn’t understand.

My dancing grew more and more powerful with every step I shared with her.The pain seeped out from every leap, every pirouette, every pas de deux and every en pointe.  Why was it not I?

But I knew the answer.  She had a light about her.  Something I couldn’t touch.  Her ability, her gifts, they far exceeded my own.  Next to her, I would always be an Odile.

On the eve of our final show, my angel came up to me before the curtain call.

“Rose,” she spoke.  “I wanted to thank you.  You’ve been such an inspiration to me.  Your portrayal of Odile has always been so perfect.  You capture her pain with such skill!” She sighed aloud. “I confess!”

Ah, even her speech was perfect.  “The very reason I aimed to join this troupe was that I might be like you one day!  To present my character in such perfect beauty, such light.  To be able to even dance on the same stage as you had was joy; to in fact dance with you was ecstacy itself!” Tears brimmed beneath her eyes, and I wiped away my own that had begun long ago.  “Thank you, my Rose, for your dancing was more beautiful than ever when I stood next to you.  Thank you!”