"Battle"

November, 2019

~ Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, The Battle

The guests have gone home and the family has gone to bed, but Clara can't possibly sleep. All she can think about is her Nutcracker, bandaged and set aside after her brother 'accidentally' broke it. With a candle, she sneaks into the room and is overjoyed to find him near the Christmas tree. She dances happily with him before her sleepiness gets the best of her. Yawning, she curls up on the floor beside him.

When she awakens at the stroke of midnight, everything has changed. She has shrunk down to the size of the mice that now scurry around her, and she is horrified to as their leader emerges behind them - the Mouse King.

At once, toy soldiers arrive to combat the mice and a battle breaks out beneath the Christmas tree, but the Mouse King has his sights set on Clara. Just when Clara feels her hope is lost, a figure leaps from the shadows behind her.

Her Nutcracker has arrived.

Tags: Gabriel & Sparrow