𝘖𝘬. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

I stood on top of the metal platform while a few people sat in the first row, legs crossed and eyes looking intently. It was already bad enough that they were staring but also had pens in hand ready to jot down their harsh words about what they thought of the performances.

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵…𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳.

Thank god it was only the judges who were in the room and nobody else. It’s not as bad when there’s few people, but still intimidating. As I closed my eyes and take a breath before I open my mouth to let the words flow….

“Well, are you ready yet?” One of them asked.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵…𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴?! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴!

𝙁𝙪𝙘𝙠.

My thoughts rummaged through my brain to try and save me from the nightmare that was already happening. It didn’t help that I had already opened my eyes to find the judges exchanging glances and moving their hands. My hands began to shake uncontrollably as my heart threatened to burst from my chest. Was it from the embarrassment or was it from the blinding lights? Was it always this quiet? Everything started to spin. And I was about to do the one thing whenever I got too stressed.

“Ma’am you can go ahead and get off the stage now.” Another judge said.

𝘜𝘩-𝘰𝘩. 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘵. 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘵! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦?! 𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯? 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵-

But it was too late. What could only be described as a volcanic eruption, chunks of bile and what could only be meat from Taco Bell spewed from my throat and onto the stage with the force of a pressurized hose, nearly going off the edge. While one of the judges watched wide-eyed with a mix of confusion and worry, the other two judges looked on unfazed as if this had happened multiple times.

Breathing heavily and now a little woozy, I bowed my head and mumbled an apology in one final attempt to salvage whatever dignity I had left.

“Sorry, stage fright.”