The flow of Josephine’s body wasn’t what she saw in her reflection. Every Wednesday, when school let out at two in the afternoon, a group of students would be bussed to the Gace Kelly School of Dance. Josephine felt extra different on those days because as much as she wanted to be on that bus with all the other students, she knew she couldn’t.

At age five, Josephine would dress up in her pink dance outfit and go around the house, hoping she would have a chance to dance one day. Josephine knew her body wasn’t made for dancing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t dream. Josephine had a teacher in school, Mrs. Collins, who was a trained dancer, and at night, she would teach the high school kids.

Once a month, Mrs. Collins would take Josephine to the class she would teach. Josephine loved this because she looked up to Mrs Collins. She thought she was the perfect dancer and had dancer’s legs like a rocket.

Whenever Mrs. Collins brings Josephine to dance class, the students treat Josephine like the star of the show. They would dress her up in a dance outfit and make-up. Then, they would help her dance around the studio. Josephine felt like a princess. The girls made a special dance just for the students of the class to choreograph her.

The students choreograph a dance to “Girl is on Fire” by Alicia Keys. In the dance, Josephine would be dancing with her walker while the others danced around her in a circle.

At 13 years old and constantly feeling different, Josephine was so excited. She was all dressed in a dance costume and had a song that was all for her. The students brought Josephine to the dressing room, put makeup on, and dressed her up. They had a purple leotard with a navy blue cape and metallic slippers. The students put her curly hair up in a bun with sparkles in the hair.

They all knew that the dance would have showcased her and the walker. Mrs Collins went out and brought a walker so they could dress up the walker and not have to mess up Josephine’s. Everyone, including Josephine, dressed up the walker with yellow and red flames, a lot of sparkles, and party streamers.

After they got dressed, they went into the studio to rehearse the dance. They placed Josephine in the middle of the floor and had her sway back and forth. Then, the girls got her to twirl, which was too hard for Josephine. Sage raised her hand and said I have an idea; what if we took that fan over there and lined it up to the stage and have the fan blow Josephine’s dress and streamer around so it looks like she is twirling and to make dramatic? We can twirl around her, and everyone thought that was a great idea.

The next step was to have Josephine sing while the girls were dancing. Josephine had a sweet voice but knew she wasn’t the best singer. She had always loved Alicia Keys and knew “Girl on Fire” by heart because she thought it was her when she heard the song.

Josephine had challenges, but her personality and passion for life were always on fire. No matter what was in Josephine’s way, she had the fire to overcome the challenges. Not many people in her position had that kind of confidence and fire in her to fight off the challenges that life throws her.

As the afternoon went on, you could see the smile and excitement on Josephine’s face. It was clear that she belonged there. Mrs. Collin had an idea of using this for the yearly dance recital. Everyone cheered and thought it was a great idea. Josephine was so excited because she would be like all the other girls in a dance recital.

What will happen next…