A Million Reasons To Be Scared

It was like a scene from a J.K. Rowling masterpiece you might have heard of, Harry Someone. A video camera, a spotlight and a chair were alone on a stage; something didn't feel right. The crowd in front of the stage exchanged nervous glances as an eery silence gripped them to their seats. As the nerves grew, it was like everyone was waiting for one person to call out,"Hey, I know what's going on!" But the hollow mystery behind these objects on stage was deafening.

The crowd seemed to be asking themselves the same question in their head, "What terrible things will that camera be filming?" A few people looked towards the exits. The room was dimly lit but the anxiety on the faces of the crowd could be seen from all angles. A man in the front row leant across to his wife and whispered something that sounded a lot like not being able to do it. This through the surrounding people into silent fits as they imagined what the man could not do. Still, the video camera, the spotlight and the chair stood there alone taunting the crowd.

Sanchez was among the crowd and he alone sat there calmly. He gazed around the room, he was clearly the youngest there but still, his heartrate remained steady in his chest. A bead of sweat rolled down the face of the gentleman seated next to Sanchez and Sanchez caught a glimpse of his watch. The crowd had been sitting there alone for 15 minutes. And yet, Sanchez was a picture of calmness.

Suddenly, necks turned with such vigour that Sanchez heard at least a dozen creak. As the eyes of the crowd were squinting to the corner for a glimpse of a man who had seemingly materialised out of no where, Sanchez sat there lazy scribbling on his notepad. The man strode across the stage, he was bald, likely in his mid-50s but had an athletic build. He exuded confidence as he reached the middle and held out his hands. The crowd were on tenterhooks, the sweating man next to Sanchez looked likely to wet himself.

Sanchez could almost hear a woman behind him cringe in fear. One lady was overcome by her fear and made a dash for the exit. Her partner looked mortified, like his wife had offended the man on the stage and avoided eye contact with him as he suddenly became very interesting in his back pack. Sanchez grinned to himself. This was what he was here for, he knew when others would run, he would stand. When others would cower, he would walk forward. And when others would falter, he would succeed.

With a smile, the bald man on stage said, "Welcome to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire Auditions!"