Jenny's place was the best - in the heart of the parterre; sitting down, she looked back: the hall was full of beautiful, well-dressed people ... her heart was beating in excitement, and she kept looking at the stage impatiently, waiting for the start of the concert.
Teenagers were well received, and so... the last number of the show was in the program of dance with Lika. The girls danced; Ashot Gurgenovich made them birds in waving fabrics, they circled the stage, making unthinkable choreographic tricks, and flew in different directions - white wings were throwing from side to side, birds were plowing, sitting down, flying again - one by one, then all together, and finally, scattered from wing to wing, sat down and seemed to be waiting impatiently...
...and then Leek showed up...
- she was sitting in a wheelchair, all in light, freely winged wings, splashing in an artificial wind... only the wings were not white but blue, in tone to her cornflower eyes... she raised her twisted hands and made some angular dance moves...
He's frozen.
Lika was spinning on stage, making circles and intricate loops... suddenly all around came to movement, the flock left the place and flew after it, first quickly, then more and more slowing down its flight... finally the birds came down to the ground, but Lika continued to fly still slowly and...
...suddenly a beautiful young man appeared on the stage in a tailcoat, tightened, strict, gallant, took her by the hand and... led her - confidently, precisely, with knowledge of the case, as can be led only by a truly passionate person who understands, no, not understanding, or better - a dancer who feels the soul of dance and, of course, a partner's soul... they were circling together, and Lika, sitting in a wheelchair, was in love with a strict young man... the artificial wind was blowing vigorously in their faces and scraping their hair, The stroller was throwing on stage, making an intricate dance ligature... The face smiled happily and tears stood in her eyes, and the hall, holding its breath, with compassion and pity, watched the scene with compassion and pity... this happy infirmity, this helplessness, painfully overcoming the disease, its innocent, incomprehensible for what the evident reproach, this irrepressible thirst for life, love - could not but touch even the most indifferent hearts...
And they were all spinning, spinning, not knowing how and not wanting to stop ... long, long ... and here the music rose crescendo, took off powerfully under the vaults of the hall, froze for a moment and finally gave the last sound chord, froze!
The hall exploded with applause... people did not know how to express themselves and the grateful rage lasted for several minutes. Lika was sitting in her chair, her strict young man stood next to her, and there was a bird garden around her, and all the dancers were smiling happily...
After a moment the scene was empty, the searchlights came on and almost immediately the dancers began to run out to the final bows. At first, kids poured out funny peas on the right and left and rolled around noisily under the deafening applause of the audience, then the middle group came out, then - the older teenagers, and in the finale from behind the scenes came out ... came out! Relying on special walkers, Lika ...
The hall exploded again!
Cries and applause rushed upwards, under the ceiling of the room and, repeatedly reinforced with acoustics, fell on the dancers frozen in delight!
The face struggled to overcome itself to the middle of the stage, and it was clear that the legs did not obey it at all, but she came and became in the midst of her new friends ... the audience rose from their seats ...
Zhenya, crying, went up with everybody... looked back and saw that many people were crying, too, not shy of their feelings at all, and even some men were awkwardly holding crumpled handkerchiefs...
She looked at the stage again: Lika stood, hardly holding one hand for the frame of the walking pins, and the other - not knowing how to straighten out her fingers twisted by the disease, awkwardly waving at the audience and her mother, standing directly against her. Zhenya looked at the stage with her eyes full of tears and, with her palm of her hand, only whispered:
"My little girl... my little girl..."