Lila's heart was a thunderstorm as she walked toward the audition room. She had practiced her monologue a thousand times, yet her confidence seemed to evaporate like morning dew as soon as she saw the long line of other hopefuls. Each of them looked so polished, so prepared, while Lila felt like a rough stone among diamonds.
The waiting room was an icebox, both in temperature and atmosphere. Nobody spoke. The silence hung in the air like a heavy fog, and Lila could hear her own heartbeat drumming a nervous rhythm in her ears.
When they finally called her name, her legs turned to jelly. She somehow made it to center stage, where a single spotlight embraced her like a warm hug from the darkness. The faces of the judges were hidden in shadow, anonymous and expectant.
Then something unexpected happened. As Lila opened her mouth to speak, the words flowed out of her like water from a spring, natural and unstoppable. The character she had studied became her second skin. When she finished, the silence that followed was deafening.
Then, like the sun breaking through storm clouds, applause erupted from the judges' table.