Red — Melissa Yuan-Innes

Hans Christian Andersen wrote about a girl who would have danced herself to death in a pair of magical red shoes if an executioner had not chopped her feet off. Have you ever wondered what happened to the shoes (and the feet) thereafter?

When magical creatures need a cure, they journey to the Wizard's Hospital.

On a sweltering day in July, a pair of red shoes dance in the tower of the Wizard's Hospital. Leah Chang, the wizard's apprentice, brings the shoes to audition for the Royal Academy of Magical Ballet.

Chaos ensues.

Originally published in The Dragon and the Stars, the anthology that won the 2011 Aurora Award for Best Related Work in English.