“Alas poor Horatio my friend! What hath become of you?” I recited anxiously while waiting for my cue to go onstage. I was in costume at the backstage of the school hall on the last day of school. Our class was performing a play for our teachers and friends.
After a few minutes, I entered the stage to play my part. As I held a replica of a skull onstage, the spotlight fell on me. The massive audience gazed at me intently as I recited my lines. Worried that I would say my lines wrongly, my heart pounded like a drum as I spoke dramatically.
Unexpectedly, I forgot my lines and mumbled incoherently. My mind drew a blank as stage fright gripped me. I stammered nervously while my clammy hands fumbled with the skull, and my face turned beetroot red. I felt humiliated when the audience groaned and frowned at me.
At last, the director of the play whispered my lines from behind the curtains. I remembered my script and delivered my speech. Gradually, the lines flowed like honey. After the performance ended, I felt relieved yet embarrassed. From then on, I learnt to attend my rehearsals without fail.
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