Gotham Writer’s Write In | Week 5

I love the evening write-ins at Gotham Writer’s Workshop. One of the things I love about the quarantine; I can participate in classes that I couldn’t participate in when they were offered in person only. The group today was lovely, especially a young woman named Jessica. I liked going back and forth with her. 🙂

I’m going to share the second story I wrote in the 15 minutes allotted. This is the one I read and my group loved.

Prompt: No stopping us now

I pick up the guitar, deep breath in, then out. I can hear the crowd shout, “next act! Next act! Where is the next act!?”

It’s my moment of reckoning, a high school talent show, 2010. I’ve been playing the guitar for two years now and I’ve never performed in front of a crowd. I’m sweating bullets. I walk on stage, the crowd goes quiet.

I feel the tight bun on top of my head as I put the guitar strap around my thin, 4’10 body. My hands are sweaty and as I plug the cord into the amp, the cord drops out of my hand. I quickly plug in for a second time.

Strumming the chords to Queen’s “Can’t Stop Us Now,” but nothing rings out of my guitar. I only have eight minutes of performance, so I scan the room for the sound tech.

“Hey, no stopping us now,” I sing out of the microphone while motioning to the tech – he restores power!

Queen’s soulful melodies and my steady voice rocks the audience and my anxiety disappears – there’s no stopping me now!