I woke up to the sound and smell of frying bacon.  The sizzling wasn’t actually that loud,   but today was rather different.  Normally, I would have stayed in late, but one of my friends told me that when people are nervous, they do strange things, like waking up earlier than normal..  That’s how I felt.  Nervous.  My eyes were open, and I wasn’t really doing anything, just listening to the soft chirp of the sparrows outside my window.  There was a soft breeze that blew through the windows, making the curtains of my room sway a little bit.  Seeing all that breeze made me uncomfortable.  I only got up because it was getting really hot under the covers, and I couldn’t take it anymore.  Getting up to brush my teeth, I looked in the mirror and saw my unkempt, brown hair.  I sighed.  I was getting too tall.  The small mirror couldn’t reflect my whole body like it used to anymore.  I shuffled off to the bathroom to brush my teeth, the floorboards creaking as I put weight on them, and remembered why I was so nervous.
I remembered that today was the day of my first ever piano recital.

I somehow managed to get dressed and get downstairs, where I saw my mom in the kitchen, humming a tune while she made breakfast.  I think it was Elton John’s Crocodile Rock.  I don’t know.  Something old, I could tell.  When Mom noticed me, she turned around and smiled at me. 
“Good morning!”
“Good morning, Mom”
She took a plate from the counter and put it in front of me as I sat down at the table.  It had 2 strips of bacon on the edges of the plate and an egg in the center.  The bacon was still kind of sizzling and the eggs had a sort of crispy, golden brown edge.  Up until then I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.  My Mom handed me my favorite fork, a silver one with the initials T.W carved into it.  Those were mine.  Toby Whitner.  I looked at it for a while and without any sort of hesitation, I dug in.
“Whoa, slow down!”  She laughed.  I think that’s when she noticed something was wrong.  “Are you okay”  She looked concerned.
“I’m just…” I paused. “...kind of nervous”
She raised her eyebrows.  “Nervous?  Why in the world would you be nervous?  Is it about your recital today?”
“Please don’t remind me” I groaned.
She laughed.  “What do you have to be nervous about?  You’ve been practicing for over a month!  You’ll be great!”  She turned away to continue washing the dishes, starting with a ceramic yellow bowl.  “Besides, It’s not like it’s the end of the world if you make a mistake!  All that matters is that you tried very hard to get where you are now and that’s what really matters.  Actually, you know,” she began.  “I was there once, too”
“What?”
“Once, I was nervous for a recital too.  I was about 14”
“Whaaaaaaaaat?”
My mom laughed.  “I was once young too, you know!  Anyways, I was about to perform for over a hundred people, and I was going to be alone on the stage.  Just like you.  At first, I was scared.  At first I was nervous.  But you know what?  I got over it, and I played wonderfully.  Being your mom and all, I know that you will too.”
I finished my breakfast and sighed.
I scoffed quietly.  For my sake, I better be… 
The drive to the concert hall wasn’t that long.  We live near San Jose (which, by the way, is where the concert hall is located).
What if I mess up?  What if I embarrass myself? These thoughts just wouldn’t leave my mind as we drove across the highway. I suppose my parents could sense that I was worrying about the recital, because they smiled. 
“You’re worrying yourself too much, kiddo!” Dad laughed.
“Just stay calm and remember that you can do this” Mom said.
We got to our destination and parked at an area that was pretty close to the hall I was performing in.  It was a short distance walk, but I felt like my legs were going to give out.  The only thing that consoled me was the light aroma of lavenders growing along the walls of the concert hall.  There was a cluster of  tulips around a beautiful fountain.  I was tempted to just sit around the fountain and admire the landscape.  I resisted the urge and continued walking towards the entrance.  I went of the stairs to the doorway and paused before I opened the dark and humongous wooden doors.  I pushed as hard as I could and they opened slowly with a long and hollow creaking sound.
It’s showtime.
The hall was huge.  It took my breath away just to see it.  The hall was long and tall, with a beautiful chandelier hanging above the chairs.  The stained glass windows drew a colorful shadow across the room, which made the whole place seem like magic.  On the stage, there was a majestic grand piano, with keys as white and smooth as snow.  I walked across the long red carpet to the bench that the other performers were sitting on.  I took a seat and remembered that I was going to perform too.  I gulped.  My hands were shaking vigorously, as were my legs.  I’m next! I panicked.  By now, the present performer was halfway done with his piece, and I knew that I was up next.  Ooookay, Toby, I thought to myself.  You can do this.  You’re good at this.
Sadly, that just made me panic even more.
The performer was done with his piece.  He grinned and stood up.  In a moment, he was at the center of the stage, and was bowing to the crowd.  Everyone clapped politely, and the applause died down when the announcer came on stage.  “And now, performing Fur Elise, will be Mr. Toby Whitner!”
The crowd clapped politely and softly as I tried to get up on the stage.  All I could think about was me messing up and how large the stage was.  However, even I couldn’t deny that the stage was dazzling.  The floor was polished and smoothed.  The red curtains had a sort of calm aura coming out of them, which made me feel at home.  There was practically silence when the crowd stopped clapping, except for the occasional cough or shuffling of the shoes.  Gulping, I made my way up the stairs, stumbling halfway up.  I could hear some other performers snickering, which didn’t help morale. Come on Toby.... Show em’ what you got. Clearing my throat, I went up the flight of stairs.  In one swift and proud stride, I was at the piano.  Pulling the bench towards me, I sat down and put my fingers at the right positions on the keyboard.  I glanced at my parents, who were sitting in the front, smiling at me.  I inhaled and with a proud exhale, I began.
It felt amazing.  I completely forgot about the crowd and smiled.  I could feel the power going through my fingers and into the keys as I played proudly.  Everything that I had achieved in the last couple of months were all coming back to me, as I played beautifully and gracefully. There was sort of emotional ball coming up my throat as I played the final few notes with power and strength.  The audience was silent as the final note rang across the hall.  For some reason, this gave me shivers.  It was the good kind, though, the kind you get when you’re proud of yourself.  This thought never left my mind as the audience stood up and clapped.  I could see my parents in the front row, their faces shining with pride.  There was a huge grin on my face, because I realized that I was done.
After the everyone in the hall was finished with their performances, everyone left.  My parents and I rode home in silence as our car glided gracefully across the smooth highway.  I could tell, by the way that they were sort of fidgeting, that they wanted to congratulate me.  I guess they also knew that I wanted some time to think about the recital.  To be honest, I didn’t know quite what to do, so I just stared absently out to window, smiling as the world rushed by.  When we got home, my parents got out of the car to hug me.
“We’re so proud of you” Dad grinned.
“Thanks, Dad”
I went up a flight of stairs to get my notebook.  There was a pen just lying there on a desk nearby, so without thinking I took it and started writing my daily journal entry.
You’ve just finished reading it.