Cathy placed her fingertips on the dance barre. It was so long since she'd danced, it would take hours of practise to move as gracefully as she had once. With no music, she counted the beats in her head.

She placed her left foot in front of her right, holding her head high. She tucked in her tummy and pulled her shoulders down. Remembering her fingers, she breathed deeply.

Her arm swept forwards and gracefully to her side. Her foot lifted from the floor, heel, toe. She brought her toe to the floor, sliding her feet into fifth position. Cathy raised her foot to her knee and stretched her leg in front of her with her toes pointed. She lifted as high as she could, holding it, controlling it. And gracefully she lowered her leg behind her, sweeping her foot in a circle.

Cathy changed when she danced. She became someone confident and strong. Capable and determined. From her first lesson, she knew she only ever wanted to dance. To follow her dreams. She wished for everyone to see her dance.

And as she wished, the sparkles of light within her dress shimmered. At first, it was a tiny twinkle. As she took her position in the centre of the room, the sparkles pulsated. Faster and faster, the light flickered. Suddenly her dress exploded in light. Music filled the air, and Cathy danced.

Her heart raced as she fought to catch her breath. When she'd danced the last step, the room filled with thunderous applause, and roses fell at her feet.

Gradually the shimmer from her dress dimmed, and the applause faded. All except for the clapping in the far corner behind her.

Cathy twirled around to find Hex leaning against the wall. She hadn't seen him enter the room. She didn't know he'd been watching her.

"How long have you been there?" she asked, gathering up the roses.

"Long enough. I see you've found my dress of stars," Hex said.

"This dress is yours?" Cathy said with a huge grin. "I had no idea."

"Behave!" Hex snapped. "You know very well it's not my dress, as in, I wear it. It's my dress, as in, I made it." Hex collected a dozen roses from the floor and handed them to Cathy.

"It's a beautiful dress."

"It's more than just beautiful... It's magic." Hex looked even more smug than usual.

"I wondered where the audience and the music came from." Not to mention the spotlights and roses.

"The dress was a gift for Florence. I made it from starlight. Do you know how many falling stars it takes to make an entire dress?" he asked, frowning.

"A lot?" She guessed.

"Yes. An awful lot."

"Out of curiosity, how do you catch falling stars?"

"With a net, of course," Hex said, as though it was obvious.

"Did she like it?" Flo must've loved it. How could she not?

"She never got to wear it. She left home before I could give it to her. So I hung it in the back of her wardrobe, and I haven't seen it since. Not until a moment ago."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I'll put it back."

"No. Don't. I gave the dresses to you... you should wear it. Besides, it suits you." Hex fidgeted from foot to foot. Something he seemed to do whenever he did anything thoughtful.

"Thank you, Hex," Cathy said, smiling at him.

"There you are... Easy isn't it?"

"What?"

"Being grateful."

"As easy as being kind."

"Exactly." Hex turned to leave, but before exiting the room, he called over his shoulder, "Clean this mess up, or you'll be sorry." With a grin, he left.

Cathy watched him leave and yelled, "Yes, Hex! Right away!" And with her arms full of roses, she went to find a vase.