I’m waiting for the judge to raise her arm and nod her head, signaling to me that it’s my turn. Her polyester royalblue suit with the crest makes her appear pathetically regal, like a homeless woman who used to be a traffic cop, still wearing her uniform with faded pride. Glory days. I whip my head around when the audience gasps. Hope Spivey has fallen from the balance beam. The unthinkable has happened. Opportunity. She was the only true challenger left, and now she’s on the ground, no longer perched high on the beam. .
