The day after prom, Magdalena found herself sitting in Studio PBP for the Starlight Accolades. Nicolette had accompanied her. Courtney, the celebrity girl who had been at the prom, was there, too, with her sparkling golden pigtails and golden lapels on her starry white jacket.
It seemed that Magdalena’s first piano composition had been nominated for an award. How strange! To think that this piece she’d written to express something of the wonder and delight she felt in watching the waves around their island home might get recognized! She’d just written it for herself, then sent it off to get licensed on a whim.
Nicolette was somewhat familiar with the award ceremony, since she’d attended one back in college, when a professor had entered one of her paintings. Since then, a few of her Soccer Kid novels had been nominated, too, but with the way life gets busy, she’d never been able to make it to any of those ceremonies to claim the awards.
She was here now, though, with Magdalena, ready to see her daughter bask in the spotlight!
But something was not right with the proceedings.
Instead of the Accolades host, a stand-up comic was at the mic. Maybe this was a new thing, and he was the warm-up for the awards ceremony.
He was pretty funny.
Nicolette texted Asuka: Things are a little weird here.
Can you roll with it? Asuka texted back.
Trying to…
Magdalena had a mild freak-out, telling herself stories in Spinkoto, her invented language.
Nicki laughed at the comic, in spite of herself.
Then, when Magdalena raised her voice–and her arms–Nicki just closed her eyes and prayed. Let it be OK.
And it was OK! Magdalena calmed down. None of the other attendants seemed bothered by the loud story told with much emotion in a language they couldn’t understand.
And the comic really was funny. It was an awards ceremony like no other.
“And that, Ladies and Gentlemen,” said a cultured voice over the loud speakers, “concludes this season’s Starlight Accolades. Thank you for coming!”
And they all filed out the door in an orderly fashion, without a single award having been given.
“Hey, that was pretty fun!” said Magdalena.
“You’re OK about it?” asked Nicolette. “Even though nobody got any awards?”
“Oh, sure. No winners, no losers. And that guy was pretty funny.”
Cathy Tea's SimLit Anthology 