Benny's Dancing Shoes

Benny stared at the calendar on his wall. It had a big red circle on today's date. "Oh no," Benny whispered. "The Big Dance Show is tonight." Benny was nervous. His tummy felt like it was full of fluttery butterflies. But he needed to be brave. Benny reached under his bed and pulled out his brand-new dancing shoes. WHOOSH! They were bright red sneakers with sparkly white laces. He pulled on the left shoe. ZIP! He tied the right shoe. ZAP! Suddenly, his left foot jerked. Then his right foot wiggled. Benny didn't move them - they moved by themselves! Tap-tap-tap. Benny tried to walk to the kitchen for breakfast. But he didn't walk. He cha-cha-cha'd down the hallway! "Whoa!" yelled Benny. He sat at the kitchen table to eat his cereal. But his red sneakers had other ideas. THUMP-THUMP-WIGGLE-JIGGLE! His feet drummed on the floor. SPLASH! Milk flew everywhere! "MEOW!" the cat yowled. "Sorry!" Benny squeaked. "My feet won't listen!" After cleaning up the mess, it was time to walk his dog, Buster. "C'mon Buster, time for a walk," Benny said. Buster sniffed a tree. Benny tried to stand still. But his sneakers wanted to do the disco! Benny spun around. WHOOSH! He did a moonwalk sliding down the sidewalk. WOOF! WOOF! Buster got tangled in the leash! Benny spun faster and faster until he looked like a red tornado. He didn't walk the dog - he danced the dog dizzy! At school, it was time for PE class. "Today we're playing dodgeball!" announced Coach Murphy. Benny gulped. Dodgeball with dancing feet? This would be a disaster! The game started. TWEET! went the whistle. Red rubber balls flew through the air! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Benny tried to run. But his sneakers had other plans! They made him do a ballet leap! BOING! A ball whooshed right under him! "Whoa!" said Benny. Another ball came flying at his head! His shoes spun him in a perfect pirouette! TWIRL! The ball missed him by an inch! His classmates stared with their mouths open. A third ball zoomed toward Benny's stomach! His sneakers made him do the splits! SLIDE! The ball sailed right over him! "How are you doing that?!" shouted his friend Maya. "I'm not!" Benny yelled back. "It's my shoes!" By the end of the game, Benny had leaped, spun, and slid away from every single ball! He was the last one standing! "Benny wins!" cheered Coach Murphy. But Benny's face was bright red. Winning was nice, but dancing in front of everyone was so embarrassing! Finally, it was night time. The Big Dance Show. Benny stood behind the heavy velvet curtain. He could hear the crowd buzzing with voices. He was scared. He wanted to hide. His sneakers tap-tap-tapped nervously. "You're up, Benny!" whispered his teacher. Benny shuffled onto the stage. Shuffle-shuffle-tap-tap. The bright spotlight hit his face. He tried to freeze. He tried to remember his dance steps. But his shoes kept wiggling! Twitch! Twitch! The music started. It was a slow, pretty piano song. Benny tried to take a small step. But the red sneakers didn't want slow. They wanted FAST! BOING! Benny jumped high into the air! GASP! went the crowd. Suddenly, the piano music sped up! It got faster and FASTER! His feet tapped faster than a woodpecker. CLICKETY-CLACK-CLICKETY-CLACK! Benny tried to stop, but his legs kicked out in a wild can-can! He did a cartwheel! WHOOSH! He did a somersault! FLIP! He spun on his head like a spinning top! The audience's eyes went wide. They had never seen a dance like this! Benny realized something strange. He wasn't scared anymore. He was having FUN! He let his feet fly. He wiggled his arms. He made a funny face. The crowd started laughing - the good kind of laughing! For the big finish, the sneakers launched Benny across the stage in a giant leap. ZOOM! Ta-da! He landed in a perfect split. The music stopped. The room was silent for one second. Then... ROAR! The crowd jumped up! They clapped! They cheered! They whistled! Benny smiled so big his face hurt. His red sneakers finally stopped wiggling. They were tired. And so was Benny. He had learned something important - sometimes being silly and having fun is better than being perfect! His worries? He had danced them all away! The End