Joaquina zoomed onto the skating rink with her hockey stick raised. A painted sign read, “ART AND PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL!”
She skidded to a stop. POP! Confetti burst from a theater cannon. “I want to do everything!”
First came a skating trick and a hockey shot. Then she painted a picture and practiced a theater scene.
WHACK! The puck smacked a paint tray. Blue paint rolled across the floor, and Joaquina laughed, then paused.
Joaquina painted a bright rink on a stage backdrop. She taped paper hockey pucks around it.
She practiced her acting line while skating. A paper puck stuck to her shoe, and the words tumbled away.
At showtime, Joaquina skated onto the stage. She swept the paper puck into the painted goal.
“Welcome to my colorful rink!” she called. The lights flashed, and the audience clapped.
A real hockey puck rolled from the wings. It had a tiny painted smile.
Joaquina finished with a spin, a paintbrush wave, and a bow. The audience clapped again.
Afterward, Joaquina hung the colorful backdrop beside the skating rink. Its painted goal gleamed under the festival lights.
Then she returned to the art studio. The next show waited, with skating, hockey, painting, and acting.