In fact, in the beginning, i was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so. i pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for size. i was a dainty ballerina girl standing by the curtain, waiting to hear the right music that would send me floating on my tiptoes. i was like the christ child lifted out of the straw manger, crying with holy indignity. i was cinderella stepping from her pumpkin carriage with sparkly cartoon music filling the air.

in all of my imaginings, i was filled with a sense that i would soon become perfect. my mother and father would adore me. i would be beyond reproach. i would never feel the need to sulk for anything.

at first, the narrator feels a(n) motivation to become a prodigy to earn her parent's

extrinsic . . approval
intrinsic . . affection
direct . . approval
indirect . . affection