By Chris Dämn

Tonight is the first Sadie Hawkins dance at Town Hall. No one in the small town had even heard about such a thing until Gretchen moved to town. No one had seen another like her. She was a superb singer and dancer.

“Gretchen, please, explain in more detail about this... Sandy Hawkings?”

Gretchen laughs, “Oh, Mayor Tilly, you sweet little thing. It's called 'Sadie Hawkins dance.' Us women get to ask the men instead of, well, the usual.”

Tilly looked perplexed, “Will that not disrupt the order of things?”

“No, it's just something fun to do and get to know each other better.”

“And you promise, no ACTUAL hawks?” cooed Tilly.

“Oh, Tilly, there's nothing wrong with hawks. The answer is still no though.”

“Nothing wrong for a crow such as yourself! I'm a tiny cockatiel!”

Gretchen rolled her eyes. “Just go ask someone to the dance, ok?”

“Who are you asking?”

“No one. I posted flyers and I'll be there to sing and dance, but I have no plans on asking anyone to go.”

“This dance was your idea, Gretchen! You have to ask someone!”

Gretchen sighs and flies away to avoid the question. “Maybe Tilly is right though. Maybe I should stop being so shy.” She thinks to herself.

Three hours later Gretchen comes back to City Hall to attend the dance. She had asked no one, just as she told Mayor Tilly she would not. Inside she could hear music and slight chatter. She walks in and sees all the guys on one side of the room and the ladies on the other side. She sighs and walks in with her head down.

She walks to the center of the room, and begins to dance. One by one, from both sides, other birds joined her. Eventually, everyone is dancing their little hearts out. Until they hear a thud outside.

Mayor Tilly slowly walks over to a window and peaks out. “Gretchen! It's a hawk! You said no hawks!”

“Well I certainly couldn't write 'No Hawks Allowed' on the flyer could I?”

From outside a deep voice caws out, “Mayor Tilly, I wish to have a word.”

“What do I do?!” Tilly asks Gretchen with much worry.

“I'll go out there with you. We will handle this together, okay?”

Tilly takes a deep breath and says, “Okay, let's go.”

They both step outside and Tilly quietly cheeps, “Hello, I'm Mayor Tilly.”

The hawk looks down, “Oh, I know! I love what you have done here! What a glorious idea you've concocted!”

Gretchen nudges Tilly closer to the hawk, “Yes, Mayor Tilly worked very hard on this. Didn't you Tilly?”

“Y-yes.” She clears her throat. “Yes I did!” She looks up at the hawk, “and you are?”

“Oh, my dearest apologies, I am Frank. I've been dying to meet you, Mayor Tilly!”

Tilly's feather raise a little. “Please, just call me Tilly. Would you care to dance?”

“I would like that a lot!” proclaims Frank. They both walk into Town Hall together.

“Well that was certainly a twist.” says Gretchen as she walks back inside behind them both.

The End