(Pov Kathelin)
I was behind the scenes with a certain nervousness, right now I would have to go on stage, a tingle ran through my whole body, from time to time I stuck my head out a bit to see the performance of my possible rivals.
They are good, too good, seeing the way they danced or sang made me more and more nervous, my legs looked like jelly, I started to get chills.
"And if I fail?", "I might make a fool of myself and they'll laugh at me", "And if I really don't have talent, I wouldn't want to disappoint her", "I still have time to retire"-were the pessimistic thoughts that ran through my head at the magnificent performances of the other girls. "I'm a failure, I'm sure I'll make a fool of myself and I'll surely disappoint her"-I whispered that phrase with my eyes that were beginning to moisten from the tears that wanted to come out and cover my cheeks.
"They may be good, but they lack the most important thing"-added a weak voice that brought me back to reality.
"Who are you?" I asked an old lady who was next to me watching the show and shook her head. "Where did you come from?" I asked curiously, because she was pretty sure that apart from me, no one who wasn't part of the technical team or a participant could enter the backstage.
"That's not important right now, you can consider me a friend who wants to offer you her help"-she answered supporting one of her hands on an old oak cane. "I've really been here for a long time, surely because of your nerves you haven't noticed my presence"-he added giving me a warm smile, with that sweet smile almost all the nerves that had flourished in my body vanished, I felt a sensation of familiarity with that lady
"What do you mean that they lack the most important thing?" I asked that mysterious old woman again, wanting to know what it was that made me more special than my rivals.
"My little Kathelin, they may dance well and be talented, but they dance only thinking about the fame and the money they will earn, but you dance with your heart, you do it out of passion, love and the enjoyment of dancing, it doesn't matter. As your performance turns out today, both Tori and that person will love you, they just want you to be happy and enjoy"-laying her tired eyes on mine, giving me a warm smile again.
"How do you know my mother...?"-She fell on me, placing one of her fingers on my lips, silencing me. "It is impolite to interrupt your elders, they never told you"
"Kathelin Melviena, you'll be out in 30 seconds"-announced one of the assistant directors.
"Thank you for her help, with this impromptu little talk all my fears have vanished" -I thanked that mysterious woman to realize that as she had come she had vanished.
"Are you ready, little niece?" My aunt Trina asked me, appearing behind me, resting one of her hands on my shoulder.
"Aunt, have you seen where that lady has gone?" I asked her looking for that mysterious grandmother with my eyes.
"Who, I've been at the exit almost all the time and I haven't seen anyone who wasn't from production or a contestant go in or out"-Trina commented to me, thinking if everything was fine, checking if she had a fever and is beginning to raving and seeing visions.
"I swear she was here a few seconds ago, a granny who was watching my rivals with me" -she explained in detail the last few minutes before she appeared.
But I couldn't continue, because they called me to perform, I don't know if it was real or just a hallucination but thanks to that mysterious woman I was able to do one of the best performances anyone has ever seen in an audition, starting with a little piece by Giselle to finish off with a Hip Hop routine for Make It Shine.
Among the murmurs of the public who commented excitedly and at the same time perplexed about my performance, a phrase in Latin that I had not heard for a long time:
Ita cor vestrum sum dilectus meus vespertilio
