Alternately hot flushes and cold sweats traverse my spine.

The hysterical sobbing of a petite brunette fills my ears.

Butterflies start flitting about my stomach,

I clutch my good luck teddies to my chest.

Shivering, trying to maintain a calm facade,

I look to my coach whose puffy breath fogs the plexiglass.

Nervously I lick my dry lips.

Anticipation and dread run through my blood,

I try to swallow past the cotton packed in my throat.

There's a commotion next to me

A girl in blue sequins receives hugs and congratulations.

My name is announced, a muffled echo in the rink

The cold steel glides across the milky white surface

A spray of ice accompanies my starting pose.

I'm strangely calm, a stranger in my own body.

My legs no longer feel leaden.

I wait now in anticipation

For the beginning strains of my music.