"Clarissa was sitting there, not all that interested in the dance or drum, when Molly Graybull came out in her button dress. Her arms was all stretched out, and she was slipping around, preening on them spindles of legs that got skinnier with every year. She was well into her seventies, and I might as well admit, Molly had won herself a fair share of dance contests. So it wasn't no surprise how a girl could get so fixated on Molly. Clarissa watched her move around-around-around. Then all of the dancers after Molly. She sure took in a good eyefull. Fancy dance. Owl dance. Circle dance. Even a hoop dancer was visiting that night. Everything was moving all slow, then fast. Around-around until that child couldn't see nothing else. Seemed like she was struck silent in the night, too. Never had no dreams at all.Well, not the hollering kind anyways."(19-20)
... An example of a person demonstrating good qualities such as optimism can be found in the short story "Dancer", by Vickie Sears. I think that this story defines optimism because in the beginning of the story Clarissa the Assiniboin foster child was a very messed up person. She was poor, quiet and shy, diagnosed as a sociopath, and had horrific nightmares. But after she attended her first powwow (dance), she had discovered a new passion, and became a completely new person as a result. "Seemed like she was struck silent in the night, too. Never had no dreams at all. Well, not the hollering kind anyways.(20) As she starts to become more involved with dancing, she became a happier, more optimistic person as a result. She completely changed as a person after taking up dancing; which could have been a way to express herself, as she was very shy before the powwow. "The angry part of her slowed down so's she wasn't hitting the animals or chopping on herself with sticks like she was doing when she first come. She wasn't laughing much either, but she started playing with the other kids when they come home. Seemed like everybody was working hard to be better with each other."(20) The climax of how we see Clarissa grow as a person occurs when she embraces her native culture. "One night she speaks up at supper and says, right clear and loud, "I'm an Assiniboin. Clear as it can be, she says it again. Don't nobody have to say nothing to something that proud said."(21) We see Clarissa grow to be a more confident, happier person once she takes up dancing, where as Tyler, the main character in my Flash Fiction, already has those traits. Tyler already has courage, confidence and optimism, but he could've gained that when he started playing basketball, just like Clarissa did when she became a dancer. The correlation between the two stories is that when you find something that you really love to do, you can use it to improve yourself as a person, and maybe gain optimism along the way...
