Children's / Two Left Feet
Two Left Feet
“Attention boys and girls, attention. I need you to be quiet so that I can give out the parts for this year’s fourth grade variety show,” Mrs. Ogglestein announced to the class.
Hannah had been dreading the fourth grade variety show for two years; ever since she watched her older sister Lacey gets oodles of applause for her ballet routine. Lacey was graceful and had rhythm. Hannah had two left feet. Everyone knew that, including Hannah’s teachers, who usually let her get away with doing a poetry reading or pulling the curtain rod during other school assemblies.
This year however, her teacher was Mrs. Ogglestein, whom everyone called Mrs. O for short. Mrs. O made everyone do some kind of performance whether it was singing, dancing, or doing cartwheels across the stage.
Every month, the PTA would meet and a different grade level would do some kind of presentation for the parents and teachers that attended the meeting. First Grade always put on the yearly Christmas pageant. All of the teachers and parents would ooooo and ahhhhh over the little children and say how cute they were all dressed up as angels or wise men or whatever their part happened to be. Hannah had looked forward to that pageant during her first grade year because she was an angel. All she had to do was walk in line with the other angels and pretend to sing “Silent Night” because nobody really knew if she was singing it or not. All of the other children were belting out the song at the top of their lungs trying to be heard above all of the others. People were so busy trying to get the children into their places that they didn’t notice that Hannah had tucked the back of her robe into her tights. That was, until the spotlight landed right on her to the surprise of Hannah, her teacher, and the audience.
The second grade usually did the program for Thanksgiving. Most of it consisted of different children wearing pilgrim costumes and memorizing speeches to present to the audience. For that particular program, Hannah recited a poem she had written called “The Meaning of Thanksgiving.” Everyone really liked the poem, but Hannah got so nervous that right after her poem was finished, she threw up on the stage bringing the program to a halt while the teachers cleaned up the mess.
Hannah had thought that she really lucked out in the third grade when her teacher made her in charge of props for the Valentine’s Day program. All she had to do was paint all of the red hearts that some of the children held out in front of them on the stage. Unfortunately, Hannah did not leave enough time for the paint to dry causing almost all of the children to have red hands for the next two or three days. Hannah couldn’t believe that she had managed to mess up such a simple job as painting some cardboard hearts.
Now it was her turn to be in the fourth grade review. Everyone always looked forward to it because Mrs. O always worked really hard to get all of the children involved and ready for the performance. Most of the teachers and parents said that it was the best show of the entire school year. And unlike most of the other grades, fourth grade put on a completely new show every year.
The students got very quiet to see what this year’s show would be about and what parts they would all have.
“I bet I’m going to get to sing a solo this year,” said Patty Dawson. “Mrs. O knows what a great singer I am,” Patty continued as the children standing nearby rolled their eyes. Yes, it was true. Patty Dawson was a very good singer; she was probably the best singer in fourth grade. It was just annoying to everyone else that she constantly had to remind them.
“I just hope I don’t have to memorize some dumb speech like in second grade,” said Joe Sanford. “The second grade program is always so boring.”
“Hey everyone,” Patty said. “I wonder how Hannah is going to ruin this year’s program.”
All of the children giggled. Mrs. O waited and stopped talking until they got quiet again.
“Like I said, before I was interrupted by all of the talking… This year, our fourth grade review is going to feature songs and performances inspired by America. Everything is going to be decorated in red, white, and blue. One group of students will be doing a gymnastics routine. I have heard there are several of you that take gymnastics and I will let you show off what you have learned. Another group of you will do a tap dancing routine to the song ‘Yankee Doodle.’ Some of you will be singing the song ‘America the Beautiful’ and there will be a soloist.”
Patty Dawson perked up and grinned at the rest of the class when she heard about that.
“There will also be a group that does a Hula Hoop routine. Everyone will have to participate. We already have volunteers from some of the fifth-graders to do the props and the curtain and everything so don’t even ask me.”
Hannah was trying to imagine what part Mrs. O would possibly give her. She could probably fake her way through a song, so that option would alright. Everyone knew she had two left feet, so there is no way that Mrs. O would put her through the embarrassment of trying to tap dance. The four girls in the class who took gymnastics were surely going to be picked for the gymnastics routine. And Hannah was so tall and lanky that trying to get a hula hoop to stay up would be just about impossible.
“Please let me be a singer,” Hannah thought to herself. She desperately wanted to break her streak of memorably bad PTA performances. People were still talking about the fiasco with her tights from the first grade program that happened three years ago!
Not surprisingly, Patty Dawson was given the singing solo. The gymnastics girls had been chosen just as Hannah had thought they would be for the gymnastics routine.
“Oh, I almost forgot” said Mrs. O. “We will also have a featured soloist for the tap routine as well. This year, our tap soloist will be Hannah Margolis.”
The children immediately started to laugh. Hannah wanted to run away and hide. Her, a soloist? Had Mrs. O never been to a PTA performance before? Everyone else knew about her history at the PTA assemblies. Surely, Mrs. O had to know to. After all, she was the secretary and went to all of the meetings.
“Quiet children,” Mrs. O commanded sharply. “I don’t know what you are all snickering about. I’m sure Hannah will do a fine job as our tap soloist. I’ve got faith in her and you should too.”
Hannah appreciated her teacher sticking up for her, but she did not have the same confidence in herself that Mrs. O seemed to have in her.
“I have two left feet, Mrs. O,” Hannah thought. “Don’t you know? Everybody knows.”
Practices for the program started the following Monday after school. Everyone was given whatever props they needed for the show. The children who were in the hula hoop number immediately starting timing how long they could make the hula hoop stay around their waists. The gymnastics girls were stretching and playing with the ribbons that Mrs. O had given them. Finally, Hannah and the four other girls in the tap dance number were given their tap shoes. Mrs. O waited to call Hannah last so that the other children wouldn’t overhear them.
“Hi, Hannah. So are you excited about having your own tap solo?” Mrs. O asked enthusiastically.
Hannah wasn’t sure what to say. She appreciated that her teacher was giving her such a chance, especially since two of the girls in the tap number were already taking tap dancing lessons. She decided that she needed to speak up and be honest.
“Well actually, I’m not really that excited,” Hannah answered.
“Oh?” Mrs. O said looking concerned. “And why is that dear?”
“Well, see the thing is that I have two left feet. There is a reason that none of the other teachers make me dance or move a lot in the assemblies. I can’t dance. I am uncoordinated. I guess I thought you knew that too. I’m all legs and knees and I have no rhythm.”
“Well dear, that is exactly why I wanted you for this part!” Mrs. O said.
“What? You wanted me because I am terrible dancer?” Hannah asked, looking even more puzzled.
“No, of course not. You are not a terrible dancer. But you do have two left feet, just like me, so I thought that you would be the perfect person for the part.”
Hannah was still confused. How could she have two left feet but not be a bad dancer? And Hannah had seen Mrs. O dance in the review before and she was a very good dancer. So she couldn’t have two left feet, could she?
“Let me explain,” Mrs. O said to Hannah.
“When I was younger, I had problems with some of my joints, especially around my feet and ankles. This made things like running and dancing very difficult. I eventually had some surgeries which helped and now it isn’t a problem. But for a while, I was very self-conscious about it. I wanted to dance so badly, but shoes never fit me correctly, and I didn’t seem to move quite the same way as the other kids. When I told my father about this, he did the sweetest thing. He went to one of those stores that sells dance shoes and bought me a pair of tap shoes, with two left shoes instead of one left and one right. I’m not sure how he knew that this would help me, but it did.
I joined a tap class. It took a lot of practice, but soon, I was the best dancer in the class! It was all because of these shoes. I chose you because you also have two left feet, and you are the only person who can wear these.”
Hannah still didn’t quite understand. There was nothing physically wrong with her feet. Two left feet was just an expression. She knew that. She was just awkward and clumsy and that was all there was to it. But Mrs. O looked so hopeful and Hannah knew how thoughtful she was for letting her borrow the shoes that she had loved so much as a child.
“Okay Mrs. O,” Hannah said. “I will do my best.”
“That’s all I ask. I know it won’t be easy, Hannah. But sometimes things that come too easily are not appreciated. Just hang in there and practice.”
Hannah smiled and sat down in a chair at the end of the row and put on her pair of two left shoes.
Practice that afternoon was about as dreadful as Hannah thought it would be. She couldn’t seem to get any of the steps right and the two left shoes were really starting to hurt her feet. The other children started to notice that there was something strange about the shoes.
“I don’t think you have your shoes on right, Hannah,” shouted Patty. “Shouldn’t you have learned how to put on shoes by now? It is fourth grade you know.”
Mrs. O quickly spoke up and said, “Patty, there is nothing wrong with those shoes. They are mine from when I was younger and I am simply letting Hannah borrow them.”
The children were envious of Hannah that the teacher let her borrow something that she personally owned, while all of their props belonged to the school. They too began to secretly wish that they had shoes just like Hannah’s.
Mrs. O had been right. It was very hard for Hannah to learn the routine, but she practiced at home with her two left shoes every single night. The night of the PTA fourth grade review came and Hannah was very nervous, but she knew that she had gotten much better. Her heart slumped down into her stomach as Mrs. O called out their names and introduced Hannah as the soloist. Even the audience seemed surprised to hear that Hannah was the featured soloist and watched anticipating that something would go wrong.
Instead, Hannah danced every step perfectly. She hit every mark and did every turn at just the right time. At the end of the tap dance number, the crowd stood up and cheered loudly. Even the other children in the program had to admit that Hannah had done a terrific job as the tap soloist. Mrs. O had been right. The two left shoes were perfect for two left feet, just like Hannah’s.
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I was not bored reading this story, it was a good story and it will help
childeren in the furture to have confidence in theirselves.
Hannah is a fine example to what we went through in the past and now in the
present.
hannah had problems with the way she look and had problems in her eyes that
she could not tap dance.
but her teacher gave her confidence and hannah begin to practice and she did
an outstanding job.
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First of all I think tht you got the tone and voice of the characters pretty well. Sometimes, in children’s stories, the voice of the child is really the voice of the writer and so comes across as too old. In this case I could believe that it was a child speaking in the right places.
I really liked the message/concept of the piece as well. You set it up nicely be highlighting the past failures which meant that, as a reader, I had a sense of foreboding.
The thing that I didn’t really like was the use of two left shoes to aid Hannah. It just doesn’t make any sense to me … unless she really did have two left feet but this was pointed out as not being correct during the story :o)
I think that it would have been better if, instead of the teacher using the ‘two left feet’ analogy she allowed Hannah to use her shows, claiming that they were ‘special’ before revealing that the reason that Hannah got good at dancing was perserverance and hard work.
That way you would have a really strong message for children rather than something that just doesn’t make sense.
Jay
I liked how you hyped up how big of a deal these plays were. And while explaining each play you told us Hannah parts to show us how much she was push away from the spotlight. I have two left also so I liked the story. Having the kids envious of her wearing the teacher shoes was also cool, because at that age being cool with the teacher is important so of course they would be jealous. Over all good story and it’ll teach kids that their flaws arent really well flaws.
Page One – Pretty good exposition, I already like Hannah.
Page Two – The little stories are very cute here, still no technical errors I see
Page Three – Very good job with moving the plot along nicely and giving us some insight into the characters.
Page Four – Formatting error here : ” Not surprisingly, Patty Dawson was given the singing solo. The gymnastics girls had been chosen just as Hannah had thought they would be for the gymnastics routine.” -Just too big a space
“I have two left feet, Mrs. O,” Hannah thought.“Don’t you know? Everybody knows.”- This is a little confusing, as she’s thinking but referencing someone else directly. Probably just make sure you use italics for this. I also think it sounds better as either “thought Hannah” or “Hannah thought to herself”.
Page 5- This is good
Page 6 – A very cute little twist.
Page 7+8- This ending left me a little sour. I think you should put more emphasis on how she practiced so hard, instead of making it seem like the two left shoes were magical.
Overall, I thought this was a magnificent Children’s story, and something I could read to my own child someday.
You made me tear up! This was an awesome story from beginning to end, including the title, the lack of obvious spelling and grammatical errors, and the smooth flow. A good story for any ugly duckling or girl with two left feet to read. It says a lot about problem solving as well as dealing with others when you’re the odd one out. Nice job!
ooh & ahh pg. 1
would alright/ would be all right pg. 4
hula hoop/ hula-hoop pg. 4
almost forgot”/forgot,” pg. 4
surgeries which helped/surgeries, which helped, pg 6
Great story, love the ending.
This is a really sweet story. I think that it has an important message not only for kids but for adults as well. Good job!
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