Write a story about a person experiencing pre-performance jitters.

Posted in High School on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 162 stories

“The Main Attraction” by Ben K

Submitted to Contest #50

Okay. Tonight's the night. I've done this a million times before. So what's different? The lions are locked away tight. They've even been fed recently for their upcoming act. So...it's not that. Could it be the chimpanzees? It wouldn't be the first time they escaped into the rafters or worse. No? Okay. What could it be? I can't put my finger on it but...Henry comes out from the first ring, his clown makeup half washed away from spritzer. He walks past snapping his fingers in my face. “Hey. You can't be standing around like that. You kn...

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“The moment I fell in love with black!” by Debomitra Das

Submitted to Contest #50

I’m standing just behind the red curtain. Sweat popped out on my face. My head is dizzy with confusion, I can’t think anymore! No!… No!.. No!.. This dark world haunts me everywhere I go, I can’t breathe! I want to see the colorful world again, wanna get back to those different shades of colors, that define life- a true life! Suddenly someone entered into the room, I am listening carefully to the footsteps. I asked, “Who is this?” The woman with a soft voice replied, “There are only ten minutes left to rise the curtain”...

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“Before the Show” by Steve McKenney

Submitted to Contest #50

The beginning of the semester was always long. Students thought that professors had it easy, just pull out the same lesson plan from the previous semester. They didn’t understand the time, preparation and effort that went into getting everything ready for the start of the term, not to mention the help that first-year students needed in finding rooms and getting adjusted to college life. Anthony certainly didn’t when he was in that position a few years ago. Even if he had known...

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“The Jitters” by R L Brewer

Submitted to Contest #50

She paced the floor hugging her folded arms to herself. She needed to keep calm, focus, but as usual, the jitters were betraying her. She felt breathless, and almost believed she was a stupid fool who knew nothing at all. She had already had to change, and reapply the makeup. Her short black hair had been messed up. She had dealt with all that. Her pulse was racing, her heart beating in her chest so fast and so hard, she almost believed she was in danger of a heart attack. She could feel her whole body trembling in her fresh red suit. It w...

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“The Nervous Banyan tree” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

Submitted to Contest #50

Thabir was nervous like a little mouse hiding behind the cupboard to escape at the first opportunity of the prying eyes. Thabir’s problem was that he was asked by his teacher to meet him in the staff room during tea break. “What did I do now? Only last week I was spanked for breaking three pencils of the skinny pencil thin fellow Phanish. Well ! it was not my fault. He called me names, teased me for stammering in the class and all others joined him. And now what! Is the revenge not over yet”, thought poor Thabir, an orphan taken care by his ...

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“uh oh” by No One

Submitted to Contest #50

This is it. My last chance. I can't miss this up. Messing up isn't an option. I've waited my whole life for this one moment. I worked too hard, I've spent too much, I've sacrificed everything for this. This is the only opportunity I have left. I can’t fuck this up. I need a future, I need a home. I need this. I'm not going to let this slip away from me. I can't. I can do it. I have to. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. I am strong and determined. Well, I have to be determined. I just need to stop thinking. I can't stop thinking, that's impossible. ...

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“A Speech to Remember” by Shruti Thorat

Submitted to Contest #50

'Please welcome on stage Manish Shinde, from 10th B.'A scrawny looking kid pushed past me with the confidence I could only muster up in my imagination.I could hear the crowd cheering for him, as he started speaking. It was 14th August, a day before Independence day. Every year my school hosts an event on this day for students to celebrate India's freedom from British rules. Now, as much as I love to celebrate 15th August, with my friends. At that moment, I felt like puking, no scratch that, I wanted to puke or faint so my teacher w...

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“The Commercial” by Ella Kinnett

Submitted to Contest #50

I have always wanted to... more like needed to be an actress. Whether it be in a play, movie or even just a small commercial. I had to. There was no doubt that acting was my thing, even though I had never done it before (unless you count being in the comfort of my own home and only in front of my family). I enjoyed working backstage while the older students at my school would put on brilliant performances like Mcbeth and Hamlet. As I would watch every musical that I could strain my eyes to see, I would ache to be on the stage acting along wi...

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“THE BIG DAY” by BATHABILE MTETWA

Submitted to Contest #50

‘Noma are you ready? Your set is up next. Remember, all eyes are on you. You cannot afford to mess this one up; they are all counting on you, let’s go chop! Chop!’ my manager said clapping her hands. ‘Wait!! I just need a minute. I'm not feeling good, I can’t breathe’ i replied clutching my chest. I need to... Before i could even get the words out, I vomited all over the floor, some of the vomit even spattered on my high heels. ‘No! No! No! This can’t be happening I thought to myself’ ‘I don’t feel so well’ i said now clutching...

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“Long Past Dawn” by Advik Godbole

Submitted to Contest #50

It was a cold night, I was frantically rehearsing my lines for my play. It was William Shakespeare's "Othello". I played the role of Iago. He was the main antagonist of the play. I had really tried to get into his character in the last few days. I researched everything that people did in Shakespeare's era. I even took an online course in Elizabethan English. I sat by the lit fireplace in my house, basking in its warmth. The play was the very next day and I was very nervous. I kept getting stuck in the fifth act of the play. I would be ...

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“The Nineteenth Day in May” by Tracey Carvill

Submitted to Contest #50

She stood behind the heavy wooden door, trembling. Even through the thickness of the wood she could hear the crowd outside, shouting, chanting, calling her name. Hundreds of people, it sounded like. All there to see her on the stage. She ran her shaking hands over her skirts again. She had chosen her dress carefully; it had to be just right. Bright crimson underskirts beneath a gently gleaming silver brocade, with soft fur trim to the wide neck and the long, draping sleeves. She had to look just right. She had to look like a queen. The l...

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“On Point” by Linda Rossi

Submitted to Contest #50

Exhausted after a full day of rehearsals, Myra was in her tiny studio apartment applying salve to her painful, blistered toes and feet. And she was worried. She had been in rehearsals for months now. This was going to be her debut performance as a lead dancer. Sure, she had performed in many smaller productions, but not on the big stage in an important ballet in front of such a huge audience as one of the lead dancers. She was terrified and her hands shook as she wrapped cool cloths around her aching feet. Maybe...

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“THE SURGEON'S LIFE” by Audrey Mary Nyambura

Submitted to Contest #50

You’d think that after twelve years of intense medical school and seven years of practice, I’d be an expert at this already. But no, I’m still sitting here in my office chair staring at my empty cup of coffee, tapping my foot on the floor so hard I’m scared I might break the tiles, counting down the minutes till the nurse walks in and tells me “Doctor Audrey, the patient is prepped and they are waiting for you in the theatre”. The Nation Daily Magazine did a feature on me two weeks ago. What was it they said about me? That I may...

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“First Read: A Cotillion” by J.A. Sampson

Submitted to Contest #50

It is after midnight and I sit back-to-back with my mentor and director on the cold, granite steps of the historic Old Post Office Pavilion, a massive Romanesque Revival-style structure with a Clock Tower that soars 300 feet into the bluish-black sky. It occupies an entire city block on the north side of the Federal Triangle along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, and is now the home of the National Endowment for the Arts, created in the sixties to embody hope, to nurture American creativity, and to elevate the nation’s culture. It fina...

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“The Rookie” by Veronica H.

Submitted to Contest #50

Today was the day Michelle would earn her Final Certification. The twenty-one year old college graduate was no longer a trainee. Today, she would handle her first real client on the job. After today, there would be no more run thoughts, roleplaying, shadowing others. Her training would be done if she managed to not bungle this first solo assignment. She would be official.The restaurant she sat in was busy. Dozens of late brunchers occupied the place, their mimosa-fueled conversations filling the spaces between tables and booths with the...

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Write a story about a person experiencing pre-performance jitters.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 162 stories

“The Main Attraction” by Ben K

“The moment I fell in love with black!” by Debomitra Das

“Before the Show” by Steve McKenney

“The Jitters” by R L Brewer

“The Nervous Banyan tree” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

“uh oh” by No One

“A Speech to Remember” by Shruti Thorat

“The Commercial” by Ella Kinnett

“THE BIG DAY” by BATHABILE MTETWA

“Long Past Dawn” by Advik Godbole

“The Nineteenth Day in May” by Tracey Carvill

“On Point” by Linda Rossi

“THE SURGEON'S LIFE” by Audrey Mary Nyambura

“First Read: A Cotillion” by J.A. Sampson

“The Rookie” by Veronica H.

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a proposal.

Write a story about an argument that seems to be about one thing, but is actually about another.

Write a story told entirely through one chase scene.

Write a story about a summer afternoon spent in a treehouse.

Contest #50

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

940

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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