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Show mother used a lot with her high school students to remind them that they didn't have to take a back seat to anyone just because they were from a small town. If they set their sights high enough they could reach the moon. But it was hard for Kim to get her eyes off the cold, stone floor, much less raise her sights to imagine visions. She stared long and hard at the floor, then at the bustling, confident seeming girls and then at her mother. Gradually, when she forced her mind out of the noisy hall, she could see herself touring with the San Francisco Ballet Company, going all over the world in big jet planes. Even flying over Gridley Falls. She pictured herself at night looking down at the tiny town outlined only by the lights on streets and in homes. She saw herself nestled in soft comfortable seat the jet, looking down and wondering who was living in those in those miniature houses. T.J. Whipple? Rodney Badger? Melissa Duncan? Was Miss Pingree still announcing that anyone calling out,"Me first!" would automatically go to the end of the line? In her mind's eye, she saw the jet leaving Gridley Falls behind, a small shapeless town. As the powerful plane flew on into the night, she had a feeling of unbounded freedom and relief. She was flying on to bigger things than she could ever imagine in Gridley Falls. Finally, she found herself saying to her mother, "Sights Up!" And she honestly meant it. 21 |