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Here Is the final episode of THE DANCING SHOE thanks for reading from the first part and you can as well read the previous episodes if you missed any.
The night before the competition, Ella spent a lot of time idolizing grandma's magic shoe. She spoke on phone with her parents afterward, she was really unsure of what was ahead and needed encouragement.
"You can do this girl, go and make us proud" Mr. and Mrs. George blew Ella kisses and ended the call.
Grandma persuaded her to sleep so she can be strong enough for tomorrow's task. Ella switched off the light and soon slept off.
Ella found herself fulfilling everything she wished for in the contest, the medal for the first position was about to be given to her when she heard grandma's voice calling her.
She readjusted her position on the bed and the sun rays that penetrated through the window blind made a flash on her face.
Ella tried blocking the light with her hand when she slightly opened her eyes to see where the light was coming from and she was shocked to see that it was daybreak.
"Grandma! Grandma!!" She screamed.
Grandma rushed into her room and she was shocked to see Ella crying.
"What happened?" Grandma asked.
Ella replied, " They have started, I am late. Why didn't we wake up early?".
Tears were gently flowing from her eyes, Grandma smiled and went to her side.
" Ella, I wouldn't let you miss out on this. It is just 7 am, and the sun rose earlier today. We still have enough time, your dress and breakfast are ready so go freshen up".
She quickly grabbed her phone to check the time, "I am sorry and I should have checked the time before panicking"
Ella jumped out of bed and rushed to prepare for the big day.
They arrived at the event, she met other contestants of her age and even older ones. It didn't take long before everyone noticed her, and lots of dancers went to say "hi" to Ella.
The competition soon kicked off and Ella's heart raced when her name was mentioned to come face her opponent. She slowly walked onto the stage and everyone clapped for her.
It was the first time a white lady performed in the competition, she was told to tell a bit about herself and she made them realize she was a half-caste. And while she introduced herself to the audience, Ella couldn't take her mind off the fact that her opponent was too much for her to handle.
Her opponent was pacing around on the stage trying to exercise before the dance started, she suddenly fell and threw up. The medical team rushed to help her and she couldn't continue with the dance after it was confirmed that she took food poisoning, she needs days to recover and the competition can't wait.
Grandma was happy she wouldn't have to get knocked out in the first stage but Ella wasn't happy, she was worried about the well-being of her opponent. She qualified for the next round automatically, her story got the attention of the press and bloggers who thought of making money from Ella's story.
The hall was filled to the brim on the second day of the competition, people came to see the white girl dance the African cultural dance. It got to Ella's turn and at the end of day two, it was a tie with her opponent.
They called Ella and the opponent to give a final dance so one of the two can progress to the next round, her opponent gave an awesome performance.
Ella became scared and ran out of ideas, she got on stage and just did some dance freestyle, it was a mixture of the traditional dance and some western dance moves.
Everyone was amazed at how she was able to do that and she was voted by the judges as the winner of that round. She pulled her shoe after the dance and kissed it, her story got on the front page of all entertainment newspapers in the city.
Ella's videos from the competition were trending everywhere and her parents were happy when they stumbled on the video while browsing, they started calling grandma's number even before they left the event.
Ella called back when she got home, and it was a great evening for her. She hugged grandma before dinner and thanked her for her shoes.
" I am proud of you", grandma said with tears in her eyes.
She continued," let me show you some things quickly to avoid mistakes you made today".
They both went to grandma's room and came out after twenty minutes, they had dinner and Ella slept almost immediately after laying on her bed.
The third and fourth day was successful, introducing the western dance in the cultural dance step made her style unique. Everyone admired her creativity with dance, and her news traveled with the help of the internet.
Somehow, her mates at school saw her video on the global trending dancer chart and they didn't believe it.
They were wondering why she didn't share them on her Tiktok page.
Ella was just one stage away from the final, she insisted that grandma recorded her on the fifth day. She was sure about winning since she had the shoes on, and grandma did as she said.
She made it through to the final and she got over 100k followers on Tiktok 2hrs after sharing the competition video for the first time. Ella was excited about it and the views on the video kept growing.
The big day was tomorrow, she asked grandma if there is anything she need to know but grandma only said, "be yourself and enjoy the dance".
She woke up the next morning to see another 100k followers, she was excited and decided to make a short video to see people's reactions. The video didn't get the usual three views, she had over 100k likes within a few minutes.
She prepared for the hall and left with grandma, neighbors were praising her and wished her success as she left home. Ella held grandma's hand tightly as the vehicle took them to the event.
They arrived there and she was surprised to see the governor of the state at the event, Mrs. Afolabi came from the high table to hug Ella for the courage she had to participate and how she made the competition get global recognition.
The final started and the unexpected happened. Her shoe top got ripped off after doing a stunt in between the dance, she stopped and ran off the stage to the back of the hall.
The contest was stopped and they expected her to return with grandma who followed her when she left the stage.
"The shoes are gone grandma, I can't win anymore*" tears gathered in her eyes and a blink would make it pour.
Grandma smiled, she hugged Ella and said, "The shoes are old, I didn't even know they will last till the final. They aren't magic shoes, they are just ordinary shoes I kept for memory's sake, I believe it will help you build your confidence that was why I called it a magic shoe.
Everything you have achieved is a result of your hard work so you need to get back there and finish what you started".
"You mean they aren't magic shoes?" She asked because she wasn't sure of what she heard.
The conversation was interrupted by the continuously buzzing from Ella's phone.
Grandma brought it out to check why and they discovered that it was a trending hash tag on Ella's Tiktok saying #Ellapleasecomebackonstage.
She wiped her tears and returned with grandma after much another minute of discussion, the whole hall welcomed her back with a standing ovation.
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The dance went on and she danced barefooted.
It was time to announce the winner and Ella's heart began to race, she burst into tears when her opponent's name was mentioned as the winner.
The governor went to hug her immediately, Ella fixed her eyes on grandma in the crowd and grandma left the audience for the stage to comfort her.
The adults who remembered grandma's success in the history of the competition started clapping for grandma as she approached the stage.
Awards were presented and Ella was given the mic to say what she thought about the competition.
She narrated her challenges with dance and how grandma help her overcome it. In the end, she said, "I thought the magic shoe did the magic but there was no magic shoe. I realized that I am the magic because it's in me so I urge everyone to believe in themselves".
The winner of the contest also shared a few words with the crowd.
" I'm glad I won, this is my fourth award as the winner of the competition and I haven't met a challenger like Ella in the final. Because of that, I am handing over the title and award to her. Ella's name should be written as the winner of the contest."
Everyone screamed with joy while the award was given to Ella, she uploaded every video grandma recorded when she got home and her story became number one on all social platforms.
She returned abroad after a week and got massive fame for her participation in the competition. She started attending her dancing classes abroad and even her trainers learned the cultural dances from her.
Ella came during other holidays and won the award three times consecutively. She became one of the competition legends and started a dance school after graduation from the University.