The Talent Show Read Free Page B

the coach gives the stirring halftime pep talk and the team charges out of the locker room all pumped up.
    An old man took the microphone.
    â€œYou got good intentions, and I like that,” hesaid to Paul. “But you’re a kid. I’ve lived in this town for more than fifty years, and I’ve seen it all. It’s easy to say let’s rebuild. Let’s start over. That’s fine for
you
. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. But I don’t want to start over. I’m
tired
of starting over every few years. It’s not like I got some magic fairy dust I can sprinkle around and make my barn come back. These things cost money.”
    His confidence gone, Paul shrank down in his seat and tried to look small. His mother put an arm around him and whispered that it took a lot of courage to get up and say what he did in front of so many people. She was proud of him.
    Nobody else was in line at the microphone. There was an awkward silence.
    â€œMay I say a few words?”
    Everybody swiveled in their seats to see where the booming voice came from. Jon Anderson, the principal of Cape Bluff Elementary School, stood up. He didn’t need a microphone.
    Mr. Anderson didn’t look like a principal. Barely thirty years old, he had been a fifth-grade teacher for eight years in Pennsylvania, and then went to graduate school in Oklahoma to get amaster’s degree. When the Cape Bluff principal died suddenly a year earlier, Anderson applied for the job and was surprised to get it.
    â€œGo for it, Jon,” somebody shouted.
    â€œI’m new around here, as you know,” Principal Anderson said. “I haven’t lived through what you folks have experienced. I mean no disrespect, and I don’t have a solution to your problems. I don’t even know that there
is
a solution. But I just had a crazy idea.”
    â€œ
This
I gotta hear,” somebody muttered.
    â€œWhy don’t we put on a talent show?” Principal Anderson said.
    For the first time, smiles appeared on faces. There was some laughter, too, and heads shaking in disbelief. A buzz of muffled conversation filled the room.
    â€œWhat?!”
    â€œDid he just say we should put on
a talent show
?”
    â€œâ€¦ you kidding me?”
    â€œâ€¦ lost his marbles.”
    â€œI’m serious,” Principal Anderson said.
    One of the older residents, a farmer, stood up.
    â€œThis is no time to be putting on a show,”he said. “This town is flat on its back. Have some sense, boy.”
    A few heads nodded in agreement.
    â€œActually,” Principal Anderson said, turning to face the old man, “I think this is the
ideal
time to put on a show. Paul is right. This town will rebuild, because that’s what people do. But I propose that we do something
more
. I think we need something to take our minds off what happened to us. We need something to give this town a lift. Get us
excited
about something. Have a little
fun
. They had a yearly talent show at my old school, and it was always a huge success.”
    Principal Anderson sat back down. His wife patted him on the back. The auditorium was filled with muted discussions.
    â€œI think a talent show is a
great
idea,” said Julia Maguire, the fourth grader who had been stuck at her ballet school when the tornado hit.
    â€œIt could be like
American Idol
!” said Richard Ackoon, the young rapper.
    The energy level in the room kicked up a notch. People started shouting out ideas without bothering to line up at the microphone.
    â€œWe can give a prize to the winner… .”
    â€œWe can use it as a fund-raiser to help repair the school library.”
    â€œHow are ya gonna make money on a talent show?”
    â€œWe’ll sell tickets.”
    â€œâ€¦ shoot a video and sell it.”
    â€œâ€¦ put it on YouTube …”
    â€œâ€¦ sell refreshments.”
    â€œI’ll bake a cake.”
    â€œâ€¦ print a