The Nocturnal Blackboard Eraser (Ballet Short-Short)

Ai has quite a few embarrassing memories related to ballet. When she was in elementary school, even though the teacher's instruction was to turn to the right, she was the only one who started a fouetté turning to the left, or at a recital, she exited to the wings first when she was supposed to be the very last one to leave. Even for children, the tension before a recital is immense, and Ai isn't the only one who makes mistakes, but Ai cannot forgive herself. Sometimes, because of past failures, she thinks she has no right to dance ballet.

When she confided these worries to her best friend Mai, it turned out that Mai felt the same way. As the two of them were lamenting, Iino butted in and said, 'The point is, you just need to erase the unpleasant memories, right? Like a blackboard eraser?'

My method is like this. Before you go to sleep, if an unpleasant memory comes up, just copy it onto a blackboard in your head. Then, erase it with a blackboard eraser. Do it all in your head. Just doing that will let you sleep without remembering it that night. It's simple, so give it a try.

Later, Ai and the others found out that this method falls under the category of cognitive behavioral therapy. And so, they have gained a little more respect for Iino and do it every night before going to sleep.