Proud

         Parents, grandparents, and friends were busy bustling about, trying to find a perfect seat for the show.  Nick made his way through the crowd, looking for his spot.  It was pretty simple for him as he was the only one in his party.  He noticed a small area void of any other attendees and grabbed a seat, giving himself a buffer zone from either side.

         Nick sat down, pulled out his phone, and began going over his email and anything leftover on his To-Do List.  The performance didn’t start for another 10 minutes.  That was 10 minutes to get shit done.  As he began to skim through his phone a feeling of apprehension started to settle in.  Why does this performance have to happen tonight?  I still have so much to do before our meeting tomorrow.  He was still looking at his phone when the choir instructor walked up to the microphone and began thanking everyone for coming to the show.

         With the trance finally broken, Nick put his phone on silent and placed it back into his pocket.  He listened half-heartedly as Miss Reynolds continued her opening speech of how proud she was of the group of girls she was able to work with this year and how hard they had been working to get everything perfect.  Nick thought back about all of the late-night practices, the early-morning arrival times, and long weekends his daughter had endured.   All the times he had to take her to practice, all the times he had to pick her up, and all of the complaining about how tired she was from working so hard.  It’s only singing and dancing, how hard can it be?

         “And without further ado, I present, Discovery.”

        Miss Reynolds walked off the stage and the curtains opened.  The music started and the girls came gliding onto the stage, their voices in perfect harmony.  Their costumes were beautiful, the dancing hypnotic, and their singing was like a warm blanket on a cold, winter day.

        And then it hit him.

        Nick sat frozen in his seat, tears streaming down his face.  Everything came rushing to him all at once.  He had to bring his hand up to his face, trying to keep from bawling uncontrollably.  All of the practices, the early mornings, the long days.  All of the complaining.  His daughter LOVED everything about it.  He had interpreted everything wrong.  He could see how much she loved it, how hard she worked all this time…And…it was breathtaking.

        He watched in amazement as the girls twirled in unison, transitioning from one costume to another, so fluid, so beautiful.  It was like nothing he had ever seen.  All of his worries, all of his concerns, completely went away.  Nothing mattered anymore, except what he was seeing unfold before his eyes.  He didn’t want it to end, he didn’t want it to ever end.  His little girl had become a powerful woman right before his eyes, with so much talent and so much beauty.

        He had never been so proud.

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