Three Word Wednesday #1

Welcome to Three Word Wednesday.Each week, I will post three (or more) random words. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write something using all of those words. It can be a few lines, a story, a poem, anything. This is a writing exercise. It doesn't have to be perfect. The idea is to let your mind wander and write what it will. I'll also attempt to write something using the same three words.Be sure to leave a comment if you participate.This week's words are:


Drum
Secrecy
Ante











"The ante has been upped"

She thought. She had to be good. Better than good, she had to shine.

The drum sounded in her heart and anxiously her resolve dominated her urge to shrink to the comfortable silence she had been accustomed to in recent months.
In one awkward movement, fumbling over her gown and nearly ripping the delicate lace trim she had been admiring only a few moments earlier as she dressed for this gala event, she sighed heavily, yet carefully, half piteously for ther nerves and half for the sake of gaining air in her next big breath. Nicole took her place on the grand staircase, centering herself under the chandelier.

The orchestra began. Maestro cued and from the far reaches of her soul, the melody of her heart filled the immense hall leaving barely everyone speechless. To the delight of the crowd, this fresh face had actual talent, as opposed to the countless prima donnas that had afflicted their ears in the months that preceded the one last chance for this company, for the arts at large, and for Nicole.

Deep in her heart, her troubled past faded further and further into the background as if a bit of painted scenery, long forgotten and discarded by a careless propmaster. Her heart gladdened, and her tone grew richer, warmer with every crescendo. She allowed herself to be swept up in the music and to be carried away on the strength of the symphony all around her.

Standing unnoticed in the background was a stern man. He had appeared from nowhere and seemed to be a critic. But something about the way he looked at her made her shudder visibly during her aria. Could it be? No, she hadn't thought of him in years, and wouldn't dare mention him to anyone she now knew. She must maintain the secrecy of those days, those special moments. They were sacred to her. To him.

She sounded her final strain and the theatre erupted in applause. Shouts of "Brava! Bravissima!" could be heard for what seemed like an eternity. If only this feeling could last.