Carol of the Sarah

             With Christmas fast approaching, Micah and his friends sing Christmas carols with their class outside in a snowfall during music class, all bundled up and viewing the lyrics thoroughly.

“Excellent job, everyone! Keep up the good work!” said the teacher. Micah and his friends head back to their homeroom with the rest of the class and finish out their day, preparing for the next day. The following day comes and Micah and his friends practice their Christmas carols with their class during music in the gym.

“Another job well done! Keep practicing! We have a lot of work to do in so little time!” said the teacher. Micah and his friends head back to their homeroom with Sarah saying, “I can’t believe how fast Christmas is coming. I just hope I can play my parts well in our Christmas program.”

“You’ll do great. I know you will.” responded Micah.

“Just do your best and have fun with it.” said Wesley. Micah and his friends enter their homeroom class and proceed with their lessons until lunchtime, subsequently going to recess until their time was up and head back to class, where they finish out their day. After getting dismissed for the day, Micah and his friends head home with Sarah practicing her parts for the upcoming Christmas program while Micah and Wesley work on homework and practice their singing afterwards. While sleeping at night, Sarah has a nightmare about the Christmas program, where she messes up her lines and queues with the audience booing and throwing tomatoes at her, causing everyone (including her entire class, along with Micah and Wesley) to laugh at her to her embarrassment. Sarah wakes up in shock and begins crying until her mother knocks on her door and asks, “Sarah, is everything ok?”

“Everything’s fine.” answered Sarah weepingly.

“You don’t sound fine to me. Do you want to talk about it?” asked Sarah’s mother.

“No. I…just had a bad dream. That’s all.” answered Sarah.

“I’ll tell you what. We’ll talk about it in the morning. Will that make you feel better?” asked Sarah’s mother.

“Sure, mom. Goodnight.” answered Sarah. Sarah goes back to sleep while Sarah’s mother shrugs her shoulders and heads back to bed. The next morning, Sarah gets dressed and brushes her teeth while subsequently making her way to the kitchen for breakfast, unknowingly sitting next to her mom.

“So, what’s on your mind?” asked Sarah’s mother.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. Well, something. But, I don’t want to talk about it.” answered Sarah.

“Is this about the Christmas program?” asked Sarah’s mother. Intimidated, Sarah stays silent for a moment with her mother asking, “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

“Nervous? Me? Why would I be nervous? I’m not nervous.” responded Sarah.

“Sarah, it’s ok to be nervous. It’s a natural emotion.” said Sarah’s mother.

“Yeah, until you screw up! Ha ha ha!” laughed Sarah’s brother.

“Eric, please!” responded Sarah’s mother annoyingly. Sarah drops her head on the table and begins crying with Sarah’s mother saying, “Don’t listen to your brother. He’s just picking on you.”

“But what if he’s right? What if I do screw up at the Christmas program and get laughed at?” asked Sarah weepingly.

“That’ll never happen. You’d better run along now. The bus will be here any minute.” responded Sarah’s mother. Sarah grabs her backpack and waits for the school bus at the end of her driveway with her brother standing right next to her. Later at lunchtime, Sarah plays with her food while sitting with Micah and Wesley.

“You’ve been awfully quiet today, Sarah. Everything ok?” asked Micah.

“Can I ask you guys something?” asked Sarah.

“Sure, Sarah.” answered Micah.

“Before I ask, do you guys promise not to make fun of me after doing so?” asked Sarah.

“Of course, Sarah. We could never make fun of you. You’re our friend.” answered Wesley.

“Ok. Well, I’ve been thinking…maybe I shouldn’t go through with the Christmas program.” responded Sarah.

“Why’s that?” asked Wesley.

“I’m worried about screwing up and getting laughed at!” responds Sarah while dropping her head down on the table and crying. Micah and Wesley look at each other remorsefully while Micah subsequently lifts Sarah’s head up off the table and says, “Sarah, there’s nothing wrong with having stage fright. It’s quite common in society. I’m sure our fellow classmates feel the exact same way.”

“But there’s so many things that could go wrong! I don’t want you guys or the rest of Arcanum making fun of me!” responded Sarah weepingly.

“Now why would we do that?” asked Wesley.

“I don’t want anybody to think I’m stupid!” responded Sarah.

“Nonsense. If it makes you feel any better, Wesley and I are nervous about the Christmas program, too.” replied Micah.

“We’re just not as open about it. That’s all.” said Wesley.

“The most common reason why people make fun of one another…is because they’re either insecure or jealous.” said Micah.

“Making fun of one another is just their way of hiding all that.” said Wesley.

“Yeah. Wesley and I get made fun of all the time.” said Micah.

“And that’s because they’re jealous of our high intelligence or our heroism.” said Wesley.

“But you guys take it very well.” responded Sarah.

“Well, after some time, you get used to it and you learn to ignore it.” replied Micah.

“We all cope with certain issues differently.” said Wesley.

“Well, ok. I’ll give it a shot. Do you guys think you could watch me perform?” asked Sarah.

“Of course.” answered Micah.

“Thank you so much. That makes me feel so much better.” responded Sarah. After getting dismissed from school for the day, Wesley and Sarah arrive in Micah’s laboratory with Sarah practicing her parts while Micah and Wesley watch. Sarah sings some songs off-key and performs physical acts poorly, nearly damaging or destroying anything in her path with Micah and Wesley clapping afterwards.

“Why are you guys clapping? I did horrible! I was way off-key and almost destroyed some stuff!” asked Sarah.

“So? What’s wrong with that?” asked Micah.

“Nobody’s perfect, Sarah. What matters the most is the effort you put into it.” said Wesley.

“Can’t one of you invent something that will get rid of my stage fright?” asked Sarah.

“We could, but that would be cheating, which, of course, would get us in trouble.” answered Micah.

“I’m sorry Sarah, but this is something you’re going to have to overcome on your own.” said Wesley.

“Just keep practicing, ok? The more you do it, the better it’ll get.” said Micah.

“I’ll try.” responds Sarah while heading to Micah’s Warp Machine. Sarah warps home with Wesley doing the same thing while Micah practices the songs himself. After arriving home, Sarah goes into her bedroom and sets up some dolls and stuffed animals on her bed, practicing her parts for the Christmas program. Sarah once again sings off-key and performs her physical acts poorly to the point of damaging some of her belongings and knocking over the dolls and stuffed animals.

“Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll never be good enough in time for the Christmas program!” said Sarah. Sarah drops to the floor and begins crying while Micah and Wesley continue practicing for the Christmas program themselves. The next day in music class, Sarah approaches the teacher after the class gets dismissed for the day and asks, “Mrs. Hootman, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Sarah! What do you need help with?” asked Mrs. Hootman.

“I don’t want to do the part anymore. I’m too nervous. Can’t you just have somebody else do it?” asked Sarah.

“I can’t do that, I’m afraid. The program’s tomorrow. If you didn’t want the part all along, you should have told me sooner.” answered Mrs. Hootman.

“I thought I did in the beginning, but then…” responded Sarah.

“You had a nightmare about it, didn’t you? And in it, you were laughed at.” replied Mrs. Hootman.

“I know it was just a dream, but it felt so real.” says Sarah while subsequently crying. Mrs. Hootman hugs Sarah and responds, “You’re going to do just fine. I promise. You’re not the only one with stage fright. Trust me. A lot of people have it. But in the unlikely event anything bad does happen in the audience, my husband and I will handle it. No matter what happens, just do your best, ok? That’s all you can do. I’m really glad we had this talk. Run along back to class now, and remember what I told you.”

“I’ll try.” replies Sarah while exiting the music room. On the night of the Christmas program, Sarah waits nervously with Micah, Wesley, and the rest of the class in the hallway right outside the gym with Micah and Wesley comforting her.

“You got this, Sarah!” said Micah.

“You’ll do great! I know you will!” said Wesley.

“Ha ha ha! Look at the scaredy cat afraid of a little Christmas concert!” taunted a classmate.

“Get over it, you coward! You’re just embarrassing yourself, and the rest of us!” taunted another classmate.

“How do we know you two aren’t nervous yourselves?” asked Micah annoyingly.

“She’s not a coward! You are!” said Wesley. The two classmates suddenly become very nervous with Sarah sighing while Micah says, “Don’t listen to them, Sarah. They’re just being jerks.”

“Hey!” said one of the classmates annoyingly.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight to see our Christmas program. The kids have all worked very hard to put on a great show for you. So, let’s bring them on out now.” said Mrs. Hootman into the microphone in the gym. Micah, his friends, and the rest of their class begin making their way to a set of bleachers inside the gym with Sarah saying, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“It’s going to be ok. I promise.” responds Micah while patting Sarah on her shoulder. Mrs. Hootman makes her way to her music sheet stand and gestures for the kids to stand up, subsequently conducting her husband to play the piano and the kids to sing. A little while later, Sarah’s part comes in with Sarah nervously making her way onto the gym floor, performing her physical acts very well to the crowd’s amazement. Another short while later, Sarah’s solo comes in with Sarah hesitantly beginning to sing while looking at her family, Mrs. Hootman, Micah, and Wesley, who all smile at her and give her a nodding gesture. After taking a deep breath, Sarah begins to sing her heart out into the microphone, singing her solo very well with the crowd cheering for her at the end of the song. Sarah looks at the crowd with a smile on her face, looking at her mother, who waves to her.

“Wow! That young lady is a great singer!” said a woman sitting next to Sarah’s mother.

“That’s my daughter!” responds Sarah’s mother while pointing at Sarah.

“Really? You certainly have a talented daughter!” replied the woman. Sarah takes a bow and makes her way back to their respective seat. At the end of the program, Micah, his friends, and the rest of their class head to Mrs. Hootman’s classroom to wait for their parents to pick them up while everyone crowds around Sarah.

“Wow, Sarah! You did great!” said a female classmate.

“Thank you! And I couldn’t have done it without my two bestest friends, Micah and Wesley.” responds Sarah while gesturing her hand over to Micah and Wesley.

“And me!” said Mrs. Hootman.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Hootman. I didn’t forget about you.” responded Sarah.

“Don’t forget about me!” said an adult female voice at the door. Sarah draws her attention to the source and finds her mother, father, and brother standing at the doorway.

“Mommy!” says Sarah while running to her mother. Sarah hugs her mother with her father and brother joining in while Sarah’s mother says, “You did great! I’m so proud of you!”

“I got to admit, Sarah. You were amazing!” said Sarah’s brother.

“Thank you, Eric! I’m so glad you’re my brother!” responded Sarah. Sarah beckons Micah and Wesley over while saying, “I have these two to thank. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

“There’s just one more person you need to thank.” responds Micah while beckoning Mrs. Hootman over.

“You have an amazing daughter. Keep raising her well.” said Mrs. Hootman.

“We will. Thank you.” responded Sarah’s mother.

“Micah? Wesley? Keep up the good work!” says Mrs. Hootman while looking at Micah and Wesley.

“We won’t let you down, Mrs. Hootman!” responded Micah.

“What he said!” said Wesley. Micah, his friends, and the rest of their class go home with their families, happily returning to their lives and awaiting Christmas day.

 

The End