Pointe, Princess Consuela, Pointe!

Pointe, Princess Consuela, Pointe!

"Attention, please!" Hallie announced, waving her special brush. "Tonight is the grand ballet. And a royal ballerina needs royal, sparkly-pink hooves!" Princess Consuela swished her tail. Hallie held up the polish bottle like a tiny treasure. "Hold still. I am the boss of this salon."

Hallie painted one hoof, swish, swish. Beautiful! Then she said, "Now point your hoof. Pointe!" But Pointe is a ballet word. Princess Consuela heard dancing. She leaped straight up and kicked the tutu rack, and ribbons whooshed everywhere like pink confetti.

Off she pranced! Trot, tap, trot, down the hallway. Every tap left a tiny pink star on the rug. "Come back! You're only one-quarter fancy!" Hallie called, running after her with the brush and the polish bottle.

Hallie put on her strictest teacher voice. "Stop. Stand. Do NOT dance. Now bow." Princess Consuela bowed. She bowed so very low that her horn bumped the polish bottle, and it tipped, and her other hooves went splish, pink, pink, pink!

Now she had four pink hooves, and four pink hooves wanted to twirl. Princess Consuela spun into the living room and onto the big cushion. Twirl, stamp, dot! Twirl, stamp, dot! Hallie skidded in behind her. "Oh no. Oh NO!"

Hallie stared. Her mouth made a big O. Then her giggle popped out like a hiccup. "It looks like a cake! A royal polka-dot cake!" She laughed so hard she flopped over, and Princess Consuela nickered right along.

So Hallie stopped being the boss. She dabbed pink on her own toes and stamped too. Stamp, stamp, twirl! "This is the Pink Polka Trot," she said. "I just invented it. Well, we did." Together they dotted a whole pink rhythm.

At last they curled up on the big cushion, puffing happily, and admired their pink toes. They took a royal bow. Then Hallie spotted one small pink star far down the hallway, all by itself. How did that get there?