HANDS and FEET [akii-chance]

[CHARLIE VON SCHWANSTEIN]

Balance. Focus. No distractions. Be strong. Ignore.... ignore muscle spasms.... ignore -- !!

Char collapsed onto the grass beside the lake, face flattening against the sand. She needed to practice more. After all, it was this lacking practice that had disabled her usually rather skilled hand-stands. Had it not been for her mother, she would have been practicing, but oh no, she wasn't allowed to do so unless she was outside any possible views, whether from the German paparazzi or some other country's. It was stupid, idiotic, and unfair. Why did her dad have to be the one to die? Why couldn't her mother have lost her life instead?

Not that she had homicidal intentions. Rather, she had thieving and lying intentions. Anything to embarrass the woman without hurting her own reputation. She sighed, getting up again and trying once more. This time, her arms held out a little longer, the rest of her body straight as a line as she took deep breaths and tried to concentrate on something other than the blood rushing to her head. It probably didn't compliment her pink hair well, but oh well. Fashion had never been her thing.

Hence the jeans and huge sweatshirt she had on as she sat back in the grass, grabbing her water bottle and taking a long gulp. A glance at the watch she had left with her stuff told her she had an hour at least before she was missed, so she decided to try once more. This time, a hand-stand wouldn't do, though. Charlie took a deep breath, then began in a motion that implied an impending summersault, but instead did a head-stand in the grass, placing her palms flat together, middle fingers even with her chin, her legs crossed yet in a straight line with her hips - as straight as she could manage.

Once again, she fell forward. This time, she lay in the grass, face flat against the earth, and huffed out an angry breath. She needed practice. How could she get practice though? She was too easily distracted, too busy despite – or perhaps because of – her procrastination problem. Either way, Charlotte von Schwanstein was beginning to get really annoyed.