James danced impatiently from one shoed foot to
another. "Calm, be calm...keep calm," he tried to tell
himself. It didn't work. He was as still excited as
ever.
"I can't believe it--my first real-live
performance," he thought happily. "Maybe they'll give
me a standing ovation--maybe they'll ask me to do an
encore--maybe someone will hand me a beautiful bouquet
of red roses!"
He blushed at the thought. "It’ll be just like in my
dreams! But for all these things to happen, I'll have
to do my best," he concluded. "I'm on in just a few
seconds."
He peered from backstage onto impatient
members of the audience who were watching Professor
Oak wrap up his speech. "And now," Oak said, "for the
first time performing in public, our favorite Team
Rocket terror: James!!" A polite round of applause
sounded.
James cautiously stepped out on stage into the beam of
a spotlight. He cleared his throat, and gripped the
microphone nervously. "Remember...Must keep calm," he
muttered under his breath. "I'm going to sing a song
that you've probably heard before--it's one of my
favorites--I hope you like it." he stumbled lamely to
the audience.
Nothing happened. "Psst! Meowth! That was your cue!"
he whispered towards the piano player. Meowth, who had
been examining his nails, started. "Huh, what? Oh,
sorry, James." He began playing.
James, sweat dripping down his neck, took a deep
breath, trying hard to keep his knees from shaking.
"The way you wear your hat," he sang with a full,
sweet voice. "The way you sip your tea," he continued.
The audience burst in a full-blown round of clapping,
and the relieved James smiled. He now sang open and
loud, with his soprano voice hanging in the air. The
song carried on, and in no time, there was only one
line left.
"No, no, no!" he paused for a dramatic
moment, creating just the right effect. "They can't
take that away from me!" A renewed sound of clapping
rang in his ears, and as he bowed, the sweet air of
victory filled his lungs.
He saw Cassidy, Butch, and other TR agents stand up,
still clapping and smiling. James waved at the boss a
little in happiness, and noticed out of the corner of
his eye, the piano player brushing away a tear. A
pretty red-haired girl, his own Jesse, in the front
row threw him a bouquet of crimson roses. James
blushed deeper than the color of the roses. A silly
looking red-haired boy yelled out "encore, encore!"
and an incredibly drunk Officer Jenny threw her cap in
the air and yelled out "Yeah! We want *hic* more!"
James grinned wickedly. "Well, here's another that I
really like: Sometimes the snow comes down in June;
Sometimes the sun goes ‘round the moon." He sang, on
and on, "just when I thought our chance had passed,
you go and save the best for last."
And as he did, he thought of how this was just like in his dreams.
