But they looked as still as ever, just as they had every other night that week. Every evening she had lain in bed, willing the shoes to glow, hoping to hear music in the air, just like she had the first time they had taken her to Enchantia.

It would be just so amazing to go back, Delphie thought as she got into bed, after brushing her teeth and hair. I’d love to see Sugar the Sugar Plum Fairy again, and all the other people I met, like the Nutcracker and the waltzing flowers and the dancing snowflakes. She shivered as the image of a rat’s face with red eyes, long whiskers and sharp teeth popped into her brain. The one person she wouldn’t want to see again was the evil King Rat! He hated dancing and was always trying to stop it. Delphie had been to his castle and met him and his mouse guards and it had been very scary!

To try and stop thinking about it, Delphie focused on the audition the next day. She began to go through the steps of the dance in her mind, practising them over and over again, and before she knew it she was drifting off to sleep…

Delphie’s eyes blinked open. She felt sure that something had woken her. Sitting up, she glanced at her bedside clock. It was just past midnight.

Suddenly she heard a faint noise. Music! As she listened it grew louder. Delphie looked at her desk. Her red ballet shoes were glittering and shining like rubies. Throwing back her duvet, she jumped out of bed and ran over to them. Did this mean another adventure was about to begin?

Delphie picked them up, her fingers trembling in excitement. The first time she had gone to Enchantia the shoes had whisked her off to a theatre. Delphie tied the ribbons of the shoes in anticipation.

As she tied the bows, her feet started to tingle. She stood up and the feeling whooshed all the way from her toes up to her head. A second later, she was swirling around in a myriad of colours – pink, purple, blue, red, yellow, orange, green…

And then she landed with a bump to find herself sitting on a red seat, in the same darkened theatre that she had arrived at before, only this time the air was very cold. She shivered and rubbed the bare skin on her arms. The stage was shut away behind red velvet curtains. Music started playing and the red curtains began to open.

Delphie jumped up eagerly and then caught her breath. It was all so different. The first time she had been here there had been light and colour, the scenery had shown mountains, fields and a village, as well as King Rat’s castle and there had been lots of characters on the stage even though they had all been asleep. But now the background scenery was just painted white and the stage was empty. The floor was covered in a thick blanket of snow. There were bare trees on the stage, their branches covered in icicles.