Lily Castle stood in the wings of the stage. She liked that term – wings – and used it all the time. Gram had taught it to her the first time she took Lily to her school. Lily was waiting her turn to perform her solo act at the Marlowe Prep Talent Show. She had already sung with her kindergarten class; that had been so much fun. But when her music teacher, Ms. Lopez, heard Lily sing, she asked her mom and dad if she could do a solo. Lily had heard Mommy and Daddy talking about it after they got the e-mail. Marlowe Prep usually didn't let the younger kids do solos, but Ms. Lopez thought she had a lovely voice and she really wanted her to do it. Mommy was worried about Lily having stage fright, and Daddy said he understood. They had decided to ask Lily what she wanted.
When they asked Lily, she thought about it for a moment, and then she said she wanted to do it. Mommy and Daddy didn't know that sometimes when Lily went to Gram's school, she'd stand on stage and sing for the students. They loved to hear her sing while Gram played the piano, so Lily knew she could do it. Daddy smiled with his big happy smile when Lily said that, but Mommy still looked a little nervous for Lily. But she hugged her and told her she'd be in the audience.
So after lots of rehearsing at school (with Ms. Lopez) and at home (with Gram and Mommy), Lily was waiting for her turn. She was wearing a pretty new dress that Mommy helped her pick out. It was kind of swirly so that when she danced, it looked cool. Mommy also braided her hair so it wouldn't be in her way. She wasn't nervous, but boy, was she excited. She thought about all the people she knew in the audience: her little brothers, Jake and Reece; her big sister Alexis and her husband Mike (baby Katie was too little so she was with Mike's mommy and daddy); Uncle Kevin, Aunt Jenny, Sarah Grace and Nick; Uncle Javi and his new girlfriend; Aunt Lanie and Uncle Alan; Grandpa Jim and Gram; and of course, her Daddy and her Mommy. Everybody had smiled and kissed her when they saw her before the show. She did think that Gram had the biggest smile and Grandpa had a little tear in his eyes. (She heard him tell Gram that she looked just like Katie. She got confused for a minute and then she remembered that's what he called Mommy) Daddy looked really excited and he kept smiling at her. But Mommy hugged her the tightest and smiled even though Lily could see the tears in her eyes. She had to go backstage then (another term Gram taught her) and she hoped her family was enjoying the show.
Since Marlowe Prep did the solo acts from the oldest to the youngest, Lily was going last. And right now, the next youngest, a freshman girl named Madison was doing her act. Lily started to feel a little funny in her tummy. It felt like something was moving around in there. Gram called that feeling "butterflies" and for the first time, Lily knew why. But Gram also told her that almost all performers got them. She said that was how you knew you were ready to go out on stage and perform. She told Lily to make sure she took a good breath ("from the diaphragm darling" she had said during practice) and Lily did just that. Madison was taking her bows, so Lily just had to wait for Mr. White, the headmaster, to do her introduction, and it would be her turn.
The butterflies were moving faster now as she walked out to the stage. But she took another big breath. Then she looked over the audience, and she saw Mommy. Mommy had a big smile on her face, and Lily could tell she was holding Daddy's hand. She could see Jake and Reece bouncing in their seats, waiting for her to sing. It was almost like singing at home, singing for her family, and singing to make them smile. She opened her mouth and the first words of her favorite song, "High Hopes", came out. As she sang and danced, the butterflies stopped moving and she realized she was having fun. She felt like she could see everyone in the audience smiling, and that made her feel happy. The last words left her mouth, and soon everyone was clapping for her. Daddy did that funny whistle he did when they went to baseball games and the Mets did something good, and he stood up. Then the rest of her family stood up, and she could see Mommy wiping the tears from her cheeks. Now even more people stood and she took a bow, again just like her Gram.
When the show was all over, and all the kids were reunited with the parents and families, Lily couldn't believe how many hugs and kisses everyone gave her. Gram and Grandpa were smiling with their whole mouths and so was Daddy. Mommy just kept holding tight to Lily's hand, and every once in a while, leaning over and kissing the top of her head. Jake and Reece kept bouncing around her and Alexis gave her a big hug and rubbed her back. Lily didn't think she did anything special, but she did love how warm she felt right now. Her whole family was here, and she made them happy when she sang. There wasn't much better in the whole world than that. Except for strawberry ice cream and Daddy was telling everyone it was time for ice cream. Lily smiled as they all left to get some. Singing for an audience was fun. Maybe she'd do that again.
A/N: This was inspired by my niece's performance in her high school play, Seussical The Musical. In her final high school production (she's off to college in the fall), she starred as The Cat in The Hat and she was amazeballs! As was the whole cast but she and her sister (who was a Who) were the best.