Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Back Stage Before the Show

Back stage everything is quiet. The heavy velvet curtains hush the sounds of the crowds in the arena. But I know they are there. If I peek through the curtain, I can see them - row upon row of stadium seating, filled with eager, anxious fans waiting for me to begin. In these few minutes before the show begins they are talking to each other, calling out loudly to friends who are seated three or four rows away, laughing, joking, and waiting in eager anticipation.

But I'm not laughing. I'm not joking. My stomach is tied up in knots and I can think of nothing but the possibility of failure. What if I drop the ball? What if thousands of adoring fans watch me stumble and fall?

I can't think these kinds of thoughts. I'm an international superstar. I've never been a flop, never had a failed show in my entire life. And I'm not going to start now.

Suddenly the music flares into a dramatic fanfare. Trumpets blare loudly over the sound of the stringed insruments that provide the backbone of the prelude music. The audience hushes, and I hear the footsteps of the Master of Ceremonies, as he makes his way to center stage. With a grand flare for the dramatic, he introduces me, piling superlative adjectives one upon the other as he speaks of me to my adoring fans.

Then the footsteps recede again, and the trumpets blast once more. That's my cue.

I grab my props and push through the velvet curtains into the spotlights. Now the music has a driving beat, and my toes begin tapping in rhythm as the crowds begin to cheer. And in the midst of all the cheering, I hear the one thing I always love to hear. The voice of a single child crying out in delight:

"Look mommy! Look at that funny bird balancing a ball on his nose!"

It just doesn't get any better than this.

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