Ian started thinking about the meeting on Wednesday, which
was only two days away. He wasn't looking forward to standing
up and doing public speaking. What would he say? How was he
supposed to act? Would he be so nervous that they would see him shake? Would they ask lots of questions? Would he be able to answer them?
That night he had nightmare. He saw himself walking up on a
stage in front of hundreds of elves who were all looking at him in an unfriendly way. He placed his written speech on the podium in front of him and opened it. The pages were bare! He just stood there, not knowing what to do.
He looked out at the crowd. They were silent but starting to get
impatient as they waited for him to begin. Finally he did begin.
He decided he'd have to make it up as best as he could.
"Uh, my fellow Elves," he said softly into the microphone.
"I've come here today to tell you about Santa Claus. As you know, he’s ... "
"Turn the mike on!" a voice yelled. "We can't hear a word
you're saying!"
Ian nervously fumbled with the microphone, but couldn't get it
turned on. "I'm sorry," he said to the crowd. "I can't get this thing to work. I'll speak louder," he said in a louder tone. "Okay," he continued, "As you know, Santa has been around for.."
"We still can't hear you!" the voice boomed. And then
everyone started to boo. Ian looked around for help, but nobody
came to his aid. He looked out in the crowd. He knew absolutely
nobody. He awoke with a start and realized he was having a
nightmare. He couldn't get back to sleep. Daybreak finally came
and he got up. He was so shook up he could hardly pour milk on
his cereal. "This is going to be a long day," he thought.
