He could feel his heart pounding in his ears as he stepped up to the podium. His palms were so slick they nearly slipped off the microphone as he attempted to move it towards his dry, quivering mouth. The roaring applause died down and silence entered the gymnasium. The audience began to shift uncomfortably in their seats as they waited with cautious anticipation for the boy to speak. A cough, the hiss of whispering, and the dead silence from his front row seated parents seemed to erupt across the floor, up the stage, and into the boy's ears. He opened his mouth, but before he had the chance to form the first syllable his eyes shut and his body thumped to the ground, unconscious.

Journal entry # 125 page 187