Showtime!

The gathered crowd cheered as I performed trick after trick for their entertainment.

The hall was full – possibly four hundred people standing, waiting, for the announcement. When the hall manager came out onto the stage and advised that the announcement had been postponed, and quite possibly cancelled, the crowd started to jeer. Too many people in such a confined space to leave things as they were. And with one door at the front of the hall, and one at the back, if it got ugly, there was no escape.

I knew that I needed to calm the room. Detract the attention from the negative feelings that were starting to bubble to the surface. Tempers were starting to fray, and I needed to act. Fast.

But how could I? I’ve never done anything like this in public.

I’m not a performer. I don’t have the confidence to stand up in front of a room with five people in, let alone hundreds. And, in the back of my mind, my nagging inner voice was repeating one word to me over and over: Fail.

I had no choice in the matter. I knew I had to do it, fail or not. Voices were starting to raise.

I jumped. High.

I summersaulted twice before landing again. Those nearby were taken aback. They stood back, and circled me.

I jumped again, this time grabbling hold to the wooden beam that went around the walls in the hall.  I back-flipped off the wall again, and landed perfectly on both feet, in the exact spot where I’d left a couple of seconds earlier.

The people around me started to ooh and ah and clap. The people further back were beginning to quieten down, starting to move in to see what was going on.

I leapt again, this time I flew over the heads of a lot of the crowd, onto the stage. I spun a few times in the air, to make it look as though I was performing acrobatics rather than simply flying.

When the people started to clap louder, I could feel that the negativity start to lift. I continued to jump and fly and summersault, even hi-fiving some of the people as I flew above them. I was enjoying myself as much as the crowd were, and their cheers were telling me how much they were enjoying my little show.

My final trick was the best. I flew around, above everyone’s head, for five minutes. No spins or backflips or anything – just flight. Around the room. The crowd couldn’t believe what I could do. I couldn’t believe that I was doing it!

Ill-feeling dissipated, the crowd started to leave the hall in an orderly fashion, and in really good spirits. I waited for them all to leave before I left.

The hall manager waved as I flew passed him, out of the front door and into the night.

I have odd dreams at times, but good ones. This one really helped me – and the crowd – to feel good! And I can’t complain about that!