学进去

Brie Fainblit in California does her homework by candle light whenever the power gets cut off. If there is no water supply, she fills empty bottles at school to wash her hair. She is used to not having what other people have. Mostly, the 19-year-old student doesn’t complain and just accepts it.

But she won’t do that for prom. She wants to be Highland High School’s prom queen and turn heads. After all, every ordinary girl wishes the important moments in their lives to be well remembered.

Brie lives with her mother, who is left disabled by an accident, and her aunt, who works two part-time jobs to support them.

There is never enough money for new clothes. Usually, Brie finds what she can wear at the local Goodwill, a charity organization that provides donations for people in need. But the prom dresses there are too big and too old.

So, back in September, with the big day waiting at a distance on the calendar, she decided to make a dress for herself. She got a plan when she saw a can tab lying on the ground, shining in the sunlight—she would make her dress out of can tabs, for free.

For months, Brie’s aunt, Sylvia Davalos, has asked everyone at her jobs to help. Together with Brie and her friends, they have turned the dining room table into an assembly line.

But who knew that tabs came in so many colors, shapes and sizes, or that some have holes and some don’t? Who knew that many would have sharp edges that would need to be smoothed out, or that it would take many months to get enough perfectly shaped silver tabs for one prom dress?

Brie’s mother and aunt haven’t been able to buy her much. But they have tried to make up for it by stressing the importance of creativity. For her dress, using thick black thread, Brie joins tabs together in row after perfect row.

The free dress is not finished, but there’s another price to pay: Brie and her mother both have Band-Aids on their fingers.

Other girls in Brie’s class will have gone to the mall to pick out their dresses. Some will ride in cars from their homes to the school, where a bus will take them all to the prom.

Brie will have no nice car to ride in nor pocket money to burn.

But she’ll be a proud Cinderella in can tabs, with magic that won’t disappear forever.