Fear of the Unknown by Kellie P. (christmas read aloud TXT) 📕

I was frozen. Completely paralyzed, my fear being fed by the blaring music and excited crowd.

“You’re on in two,” the stage manager whispered harshly over the deafening music on stage.

I stood in the wings, unable to fathom the situation I had been stuck in. I reached up, noticing that my long, brown hair had been pinned up in a tightly braided bun. It tugged at my scalp. Nervously fiddling with the bun, I found that everything stayed as it was, no matter my continual attempts to make adjustments. My sparkling jewelry shook like leaves on a nervous tree, even more nervous than I! While I scratched my nose, glitter began to sprinkle from my face onto the floor. Makeup? It was ever so thick. And the gown - oh, it really was something.

And as I touched the soft cloth of my dress, I clenched my fists to keep my hands from trembling violently. I was supposed to dance. A dance that I didn't remember. To music I didn't even know! In front of thousands of people… 

The stage manager tapped my arm again and held up his index finger. One minute.

Sweat pooled on my upper lip. This was a nightmare come true. It was my nightmare. A recurring nightmare that had haunted my dreams from childhood. And now it was alive, living and breathing! Nothing could stop it. 

What would I do on stage? Hundreds of combinations raced through my mind, but I couldn’t remember anything helpful. I mean, I could make up a dance… In less than a minute? No. It would be impossible.

“Thirty seconds.”

I felt my heart pounding thunderously in my chest as the theater went dark, signaling my entrance. Someone nudged me out of the wings and onto the stage. I had to go out there now... alone. 

I knew the person manning the spotlight was positioning the giant death ray on center stage as I nervously tip-toed into place and struck a pose a split second before the blinding light hit my body. My body began to tremble.

I could hear the eerie silence echoing around me as the man in the sound booth slid a CD into the player. The hum of the speakers became deafening. I took a long, deep breath. 

Don’t be afraid. Just dance like no one’s watching.

I felt a thousand faceless eyes focus on me. But the music burst forth from the speakers, enveloping my body, uniting with my mind, and filling my very soul with inspiration.

And so, I danced.

Text: K.D.
Images: Google
Editing: K.D. & Avery
Publication Date: 08-06-2012

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