【明報專訊】Leo was a fan of street dance. He fell in love with this hobby at first sight one year ago. Having seen so many Korean stars performing on stage, he started dreaming of his own dance show.

But he could only bottle up his boredom at school.

It was dinner time and Leo was watching TV. He saw an advertisement about recruiting contestants for a dancing competition. He was amazed by it and said, "This is what I've been dreaming of!" He signed up for the competition on its website and started arranging his practising schedule. The competition was to start next month but he didn't get enough time to prepare. "I think I need to do it during lunch break at school," he murmured.

The following day he felt extremely nervous. How could he find a place to practise at school? Having scratched his head and wondered where to go, he finally couldn't stand it. His body was out of control and he climbed the stairs to the rooftop like a sleepwalker.

Leo hadn't come here before and felt guilty. After all, it was a forbidden area! But he didn't have time to think it over. He opened the door and got in.

Nobody was there but him. He psyched himself up and started practising the dance moves for hours. He didn't realise that someone called Chris had been following him. Chris couldn't conceal his excitement while filming Leo's moves. "Oh such a fool, I'll definitely put it on all video channels!"

After a few days, rumours began circulating about a boy nicknamed "Prince of Street Dance". "What! Prince? I nicknamed Leo 'Clown of Street Dance'! And he has just been punished by the school for going up on the rooftop!" Chris was shocked to find that the videos uploaded by him attracted more and more likes. It was too late for him to delete the videos. Watching the views and likes going up, he could do nothing but screech, "Oh god I've been busying myself with Leo's success!"

■Food for thought

"Fire is the test of gold (真金不怕洪爐火); adversity (逆境), of strong men," wrote Seneca, a Roman dramatist. If you're good at something, work hard on it rather than fear it.

■Glossary

bottle up (v phr) 掩飾

murmur (v) 喃喃自語

psych oneself up (v phr) 做好心理準備

screech (v) 尖叫

[Smarties' Power English 第243期]