Page 122 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

So Drosselmeir did what any wizard-clockmaker, mechanical-genius would do. He brought out his bag of tricks.
Flash powder gave the crowd a satisfying shock and woke up Clara nicely. Now, to get her away from the Prince, Drosselmeir pulled out a couple of dancing dolls. As he expected, the crowd went gaga and surged forward, giving him just enough time to catch Clara’s eye.
And those eyes widened in shock, then disbelief, in what she was seeing, and then relief, and finally, excitement.
And at that moment, Clara threw all her plans out the window, in the pure joy that Godfather Drosselmeir was back. And if he was back, then Franz was nearby. Franz! Clara flushed and felt her stomach flip-flop – and why was she so suddenly hot? And where was Franz? Just as quickly as she had been happy, she grew a little irritated. It was about time they showed up! Then just as suddenly, she smiled – but they were here at last. Or at least, Godfather Drosselmeir was.
But, where was Franz?
All these emotions and thoughts took about a second (or fifteen), before Clara began to shyly slip around the circle, clamoring for a look at the dolls, and now, she was growing irritated at herself for being shy. This is Drosselmeir, she told herself, and Franz is – well, just Franz.
Then Clara caught sight of herself in the grand mirror over the fireplace and the sight stopped her cold. I might be Clara, she thought, but I’m not the same Clara who played with Franz in the attic. And try as she might to deny it, Clara knew she had grown older that night. It wasn’t the
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