Piper carefully painted over the grey feathers of her wing with the garishly bright make-up, each feather a different vibrant colour. She did it deliberately, focusing on turning her dull gull grey into parrot-like brightness as backstage buzzed with the nervous energy of pre-show. Flexing her arm a bit, she stared at the wing, as if it were someone else’s rather than hers, then continued with her efforts.

Her feet tapped a staccato rhythm on the floor, toes bouncing a little as her upper body remained still and steady. She always had quick feet, moving easily through the rough streets near the port of Jersey City. Her father had a good job at the port, her mother a good job for the school district, and she had shown interest in ballerinas on the television, so one day she was allowed to try the local dance school. As soon as she began to learn, to make her body move in a way that looked elegant in the mirror…

They never got her to stop dancing after that, really. Jazz, ballet, hip hop, latin, ballroom; she stopped when she was tired, barely resting between movements. Somehow, she managed to get into Juilliard Dance and, because she was good enough to have a shot, somehow her parents found the money for tuition. She loved the opportunity to learn more, and from some of the best in the world, and managed to deal with the hours away from home, the competition, challenge, and infighting that was, in some ways, worse than the cruelties of the docks.

She had made it, eventually. Not as a star, like she had dreamed, but onto Broadway, though as a regular back-up dancer. She didn’t make much more than her old man did at the port, but enough to start paying back her parents for the sacrifice. More importantly, she loved it: putting on this layer of camouflage to hide under the bright lights and move in a wing with all the other dancers.

Her false plumage in place, she put on her costume, hiding the remainder of her white and grey under a layer of bright, loud colours and metals. From gull to peacock, complete with headdress, her first transformation of the night was complete. Others would follow of course: four more costume changes, more hasty and rushed in the time between numbers. Presently, most of the other girls chatted nervously but left he be, accustomed to her way of preparing.

“Ready to go, Piper?” Carly, the shepard assistant stage manager, asked.

Piper nodded, going over the dance again once more in her head as she moved to join the others. The flock formed. She joined them as they filed into position. The room hushed, and the curtains were pulled wide as the stars worked towards the opening number. She linked arms with her neighbours and the music rose and everyone began to move and she smiled under the bright lights-one-two-three!