OctPoWriMo2021 Day 13: West Side Story
2 min readOct 14, 2021
Today’s prompt is theater.
Photo of the 2007 Portland Center Stage Production of West Side Story, “America.”
West Side Story somewhere in the wings
my son awaits his cue
his heartbeat audible to himself
out of sync with
the latin music
the band plays when he signed up for
the high school musical
he looked forward to acting
not knowing he'd be expected to dance his partner's full skirt rustles
as she wonders
will he lift me
will he drop me
or will fear so paralyze him
that I never leave the floor the moment comes
adrenalin kicks in
he twirls the girl
and raises her to new heights
amazing even himself after the show
his former middle school drama coaches
congratulate him on his performance
and he bursts into tears
©ARHuelsenbeck
About Andrea R Huelsenbeck
Andrea R Huelsenbeck is a wife, a mother of five and a former elementary general music teacher. A freelance writer in the 1990s, her nonfiction articles and book reviews appeared in Raising Arizona Kids, Christian Library Journal, and other publications. She is currently working on a young adult mystical fantasy novel and a mystery.
Originally published at http://arhtisticlicense.com on October 14, 2021.
