ABC Story: Men of the Rain

Buffed and shined shoes tap nervously on the carpeted floor. Collared shirt scratches against a sensitive throat. Dry hands pat smooth black slacks. Eli is not nervous. Forget nervous. Galaxies away from nervous. He is terrified. It isn't as if this is his last chance, but this opportunity would mean so much to him. Just when he feels as if he can calm his runaway heart, he thinks about all of the possibilities and his head spins again with visions of the future. Knowing that this could maybe change everything made him shake with anticipation.

Let the chips fall where they may, he tries to convince himself. Maybe we’ll make it, maybe we wont; there’s always next season. Next to him, his plus one, his best friend, is holding his hand and looking just as nervous as he feels. Only a few more moments left yet. Pressing their hands together tighter, Eli silently thanks his friend for being there with him. Quiet suspense radiates from them both. Readying himself for this was a process, he told himself that he wouldn't panic, and yet….

Something is telling him that this is it. Time seems to slow as the presentation inches by. Until that final announcement, Eli will not be satisfied, can not breathe a full breathe of air. Various noises threaten to distract him from his obsessive thoughts, but he can only find himself musing wildly on all it has taken to get to this place: the months of preparation, the sweat and tears and blood and paint.

When he tries to remember a time that he felt this stressed, felt like a single moment could decide everything, he thinks nostalgically back to his eighth grade spelling bee, as he was spelling the final word. “Xeriscape; X-E-R-I-S-C-A-P-E; xeriscape. ” Years later, and he feels the same anxiety, but this time he know that there are real world consequences at stake here, not just the possibility of disappointing his mom. Zero or everything.

“And the Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Broadway Play goes to...," Eli hears as he holds his breath, "Elias Zhu in Men of the Rain!” and all his dreams come true.