Once upon a time there lived a girl named Charlotte. She was an average girl who got good grades, looked common and always aspired to play an instrument.

“Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could play the guitar?” she wrote in her diary last Monday. So last week Tuesday she sat down with the guitar she’d been given for Christmas two years ago and made a commitment to herself that she would be able to play a good song or two by the summer. “That gives me three months,” she wrote, “I should be able to do it.”

Charlotte put in time and effort and was eventually able to play “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat.” Soon she could play the power chord in “Smoke on the Water.” After about two months of hard practicing Charlotte was able to play some songs by her favorite artists. She was confident of her abilities.

With the support of her friends and family Charlotte joined a band. They called themselves “Elucidate” and they rocked. By the summer, they were ready for their first gig.

A bundle of nerves, Charlotte had a hard time deciding what to wear. Eventually she decided on some black skinny jeans and a fitted black t-shirt with white writing. Totally rocker chic she would later write in her diary.

“Come on we gotta get outta here” yelled the drummer, Spike, over the loudness of his car. “Were gonna be late!” he exclaimed as Charlotte came flying out the door and hopped into the car.

Spike drove like a bat out of hell, and the ride which should have taken 20 minutes took only ten minutes. They were greeted back stage by the rest of their band upon entering the dressing room. Charlotte’s best friend and lead singer Mary embraced her and helped to calm her nerves, while Spike, Mike, the other guitarist, and Johnny, their bass player cracked bad jokes in an effort to lighten the mood.

As it came time for “Elucidate” to go on stage Charlotte’s nerves got worse and worse. She could not help but to imaging all the scenarios in which she would miss her cue or hit the wrong note, and in front of all these people. As the band before them left the stage, she was throwing up in a trash can just off stage.

It was go time. Having finished upchucking, Charlotte moved to her place on stage, grabbing hold of her guitar’s neck for comfort. As Mike played the first screaming notes, Charlotte felt an odd sort of comfort but not paying attention she missed her cue. Sensing her plight, Mary raised her eyebrows at Charlotte and Mike flowed into the intro for the second time.
This time Charlotte was able to concentrate, and as soon as they got going she never wanted to stop. The loudest cheer went up for her band and Charlotte knew that she had succeeded.
Charlotte is still an average girl who gets good grades but now she plays guitar and never gets nervous in front of crowds. Well, only if she’s playing guitar, speech class is another matter entirely.