all the toddlers gathered in the center of the room with their parents surrounding them and began the orchestrated dance they had been planning for weeks. each child did more or less the same steps but was moving to a rhythm that only they could hear.

as the parents smiled and cheered, away from everyone else in the corner was a lone child dancing on top of a table. not dancing steps learned in class but the jumping and stomping more often observed in tantrums.

that sole child was of course ethan.