Amateur

I am standing on a tight rope not facing either direction.  Just standing.  Waiting.  Balancing.  

Which way do I go?  Which way should I turn?  

I look both ways, neither seems so different.  Both appear the same.  Dark and foreign.  

All the lights are out.  I cannot see.  How do I get out?  Which way to turn?  Will I notice signs of it being the right or wrong way?  

Perhaps the best way is down.  That way I would at least know which direction I was going.  

Down.  

And when I had reached the end.  

Down.  

There must be a bottom somewhere.  Down cannot last forever.  But who knows how far it is.  

Darkness seems to be everywhere.  

How long is Down?  Will I die when it ends, broken by the hard cold end to the long journey?  

Perhaps I should choose another way besides Down.  

But wait!  A net.  What if there is a net there to catch me on my way?  Only professionals don't use a net.  Surely I am not a professional.  Am I?  

How can I know?  Only by choosing Down.

I lift a foot and take a step into the darkness.  I begin my journey Down.

Down, Down, Down.

I begin to wonder how long this journey Down will last.  Still I travel.

Down, Down, Down.

Surely I could not have been that high-up to still be going Down.  Yet, Down, Down, Down I continue.

Panic begins to race through me.  If there is no net, I must have been a professional.  The bottom, what happens when I reach the bottom?  After a fall so long, I cannot hope to survive.  Doomed I conclude.  Doomed to reach the end of this journey Down and die.

Suddenly, I realize I don't seem to be falling any longer.

I am thinking.

I must still be alive.

How is that possible, how did my journey Down end?

Where am I now?

Caught!

I have been caught by a net.  Not a professional then, i think.

Applause.  Cheering.  Crowd.

Sure they are not for me, I look around and realize Down was the only way.

Down, Down, Down.

And then I remember, it was all a part of the show.  My first step in becoming a professional.

Down.