The Truth

The Truth
Word Count: 576


The stadium dimmed. Only a couple of lights were cast on my body, creating long shadows behind my slender figure. I bowed my head down and closed my eyes, but the hundreds of staring faces from the audience stayed imprinted on the inside of my eyelids. Nerves frayed, I gulped as I envisioned the judge in the center of the audience with his eyes boring into me.

One wrong move could send this mass of people into a frenzy of thunderous groans. What would I do then? I pushed the thought aside and pressed my bow to the strings on my electric violin with delicate care. My left hand secured it in firmly in place. In an instant the bass began to emanate a strong beat.

Thump.
Thump.
Thump.

My fingers pressed down and I slowly began moving the bow over the strings; the microphone magnifying the sound in my ears. After the first couple of notes the crowd began to stir and caused a wave of anxiety to wash through my body. As beads of sweat collected on my forehead, I forced my weighted arms to continue strumming in time.

Thud.
Thud.
Thud.

The climatic point of the song hit its peak as flames shot dozens of feet into the air on either side of me. I could hear the audience's inward gasp as I curled my lips up in a half smile. My fingers danced over the strings--my bow jerking back and forth--as I continued to let the beat engulf me.

Finally, the song ended with a thunderous last note as another set of flames shot into the air. I opened my eyes and saw hundreds of people leap to their feet clapping. I had done it, I had done it! It was the best performance I had ever done in my entire life. I picked up the microphone that was waiting for me on the ground and choked into the microphone.

"Thank you, thank you!"

Tears streamed down my face but I didn't realize I was even crying until they rolled off my chin and splashed my hand. Scanning over the crowd, my eyes fell to the only person unmoving in the audience. As my eyes locked with his, I caught my breath. Panic washed over me.

Within seconds my breathing stopped completely. My eyes bulged as I realized I was choking. Instantly my clammy hands met up with my neck as my throat tightened still.

Help, I'm choking! I screamed inside my head, HELP!

The world started spinning before me as the audience continued its standing ovation.

My heart was racing in my chest. The rapid thudding was deafening in my ears. I doubled over, crying, but for a completely different reason than before. I twirled around and ran to leave the stage but as my feet carried me to the exit it kept moving out of reach. Turning back to the center, my eyes grew wide as I saw the judge staring at me. His eyes were piercing into me, glaring. Out of everyone here he seemed to notice my agony.

The judge stood up continuing to glower at me. His true nature was revealed as horns sprouted from the sides of his head. The fleshy, soft white skin was only his disguise as it began peeling away from his crimson hide. Growling, his lips parted to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

The truth was, I was already dead. I just hadn't noticed.