Dancing with the Devil ✔️

11

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D A N C I N G
WITH     THE
D   E   V   I   L 
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The eve of the musical finally dawned and I had gone to bed early in order to get a good night's sleep. Our dress rehearsal, had been a roaring success with every single item being performed almost to perfection. Miss Sheldon was beside herself with excitement. She seemed to think that it looked to be the best show the school had ever performed. At least since she had been teaching there, and she had huge expectations of a stand out extravaganza.

The tickets had all sold out and the office staff were asked to quickly print extras as well as hire more chairs to squash into the already very crowded auditorium. This was necessary to accommodate the overwhelming number of people who were keen to be a part of the audience. It appeared that almost half the town were coming and it was just lucky that the hall was big enough to seat everyone.

I rolled over in bed and closed my eyes, determined to fall asleep quickly so that the morning would arrive and I could begin the exciting day ahead. Then, what seemed like only a few minutes later, I was awakened by a noise outside my bedroom door.

Sitting up, I realized that it was our dog, Roxy scratching at the door and trying to get in. As I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to focus, I became aware of daylight streaming into the room from behind my curtain. Glancing at the alarm clock that sat on the bedside table next to my bed, I rubbed my eyes once more. With a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, I grabbed hold of the clock and looked at the time again.

"Noooo!" I screamed loudly. "This can't be happening!" With my heart racing like the beat of a pounding drum, I frantically sprinted out of bed, opened the door and looked out into the hallway. Ignoring the eager tail wagging and expectant look from Roxy, I bounded along the hallway and turned the handle of the bathroom door. But it wouldn't budge.

"Oh no!" I grumbled loudly, then heard the familiar sound of my brother singing in the shower. "I need the shower!" I yelled desperately. "Hurry up!!!"

Of all mornings to have slept in! I just couldn't believe that my alarm hadn't gone off. I was sure that I had set it accurately the night before, thinking at the time that I certainly didn't want to risk oversleeping and missing my bus.

"The bus! Oh, my gosh!" I yelled, running back into my bedroom to double check the time. The early bus was due in five minutes and there was no way I could get a lift to school. Because my parents both had a seven o'clock start on a Friday morning, I knew that they would have already left for work. I thought about my promise to Miss Sheldon, agreeing I would arrive early to help with all the setting up which still had to be done. It was blatantly obvious that I needed to get to school as soon as possible.

Deciding to go without a morning shower as I'd had one the night before, I threw on my clothes and grabbed the bag that I had already packed ready with everything I would need to take. Bolting down the stairs, I literally flew out the front door.

I don't think I have ever sprinted as fast as I did that morning. But to my huge dismay, I arrived at the bus stop out of breath, only to see the bus pulling away from the curb. Yelling for the driver to stop, was a waste of time and I anxiously watched the bus head down the street.

Dropping my bag on the ground in disgust, I stood there in despair racking my brains for a solution. Waiting for the next bus was not an option; that would get me to school just before the bell and I needed to arrive much earlier than that, in order to get all the necessary jobs done. It was then I decided that I would have to walk. A fast walk along with running some of the way, would be the quickest alternative. And besides that, I was too worked up to stand there waiting 40 minutes for the next bus to arrive.