OfficerMike

The curtains drew. Our eyes had long been adjusted to the overwhelming brightness of the stage lights by the end of the second piece, but I still could only make out three faces in the sea of black. The judges sat at their desks in the back row, illuminated by a small light in front of each of them. They were still busy playing back tapes in their headsets and scribbling on our review sheets. Only a few intermittent coughs broke the stale silence as we waited to play our final song. The sheet music faced me, black and white. My eyes had read over it a hundred times over the past two months, and I was ready; I was sure of it. As the wait grew

The curtains drew. Our eyes had long been adjusted to the overwhelming brightness of the stage lights by the end of the second piece, but I still could only make out three faces in the sea of black. The judges sat at their desks in the back row, illuminated by a small light in front of each of them. They were still busy playing back tapes in their headsets and scribbling on our review sheets. Only a few intermittent coughs broke the stale silence as we waited to play our final song. The sheet music faced me, black and white. My eyes had read over it a hundred times over the past two months, and I was ready; I was sure of it. As the wait grew