Look to the past for the future

I STRAIGHTENED up in my seat. In that dark, windowless room where more than a hundred strangers sat around me, I was desperate to catch a breeze on my face. I needed evaporation to speed up to remove traces of tears from my cheeks. Otherwise, when the lights come on, everyone will see those glistening streaks and know me as that cliche, the silent movie crier.

The swell of emotion had sneaked up on me unsuspectingly.