Trapped with a Capital T

It was 11:30am on a pleasant Saturday morning. The Funny Side with Toni Jordan and Liam Pieper had just concluded and my day was off to an inspiring start.
But before I get too invested, let me diverge to this morning for a moment.

Would you believe that I, a resident of Bendigo since the exact second I left my mothers womb, have never actually been inside The Capital Theater?? Never. I've never even had a single look inside the place. So my old friend anxiety thought it'd tag along to my first session on that Saturday morning, just to keep me company in case I got lost. Good ol' anxiety, always there for me.
As you could imagine, my inner dialogue as I ventured into the Capital, and attempted to find my session went a little like this:


Oh man. Oh **** god help me. I don't even know where I am. Jesus it's bright in here.
Are those little window things with people behind them for buying tickets or helping idiots like me find the illusive Engine Room? Better not ask, save yourself looking like a moron. 
Just casually walk around man, you're doing fine! No one else knows you have no idea where your going. 
Why is there no signs saying ENGINE ROOM -> ?? Surely other people don't know where they're going?? 
What's this room? Okay, this is not the Engine room. Oh! A book stall! No Alannah. Focus.
Okay. There are stairs to my right, and a door on my left. Not a hard decision, "don't put me down for cardio".
There's a lady in front of the door. Smile, be cool.
"Is this the engine room?" Nice. You didn't sound scared at all.
"Yes but you'll have to wait at least another five minutes for this session to end. There's seats in the book signing room and a book shop too if you'd like to browse while you wait."


And that was literally it. I waited in the book signing area, even saw a friend, then I went to my session. I was feeling great and ready to soak up some knowledge. It seemed like anxiety wasn't even necessary that morning.
Or so I thought.

SO.  As I was saying. Just finished my first session kicking off the writers festival on a high note. I'd managed to find the engine room and The Funny Side was excellent.
I was feeling really good and keen for the rest of my scheduled sessions.
And then I left the Engine room...

***Cue dramatic music***

THERE ARE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. I CANNOT MOVE. I FEEL LIKE I'M JACK IN THAT SCENE IN THE TITANIC WHEN HE'S HANDCUFFED TO A PIPE AND THE WATER IS RUSHING IN AND HE'S FRANTICALLY TRYING TO STAY ABOVE WATER BEFORE BLOODY ROSE COMES WITH A KEY OR WHATEVER HAPPENS. AM I GOING TO DIE?? SURELY THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OXYGEN IN THIS HALLWAY FOR ALL A MILLION AND ONE OF US. AND LIKE A DAMN BOAT WITHOUT A SAIL, I'M GETTING MOVED BY THE PUSH AND PULL OF HUMAN BODIES COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS FIGHTING FOR THE MICROSCOPIC SPACE BETWEEN HUMAN BODIES. TELL MY MUM I LOVE HER AND THAT I WAS THE ONE THAT BROKE HER FAVOURITE MUG. AND TELL MY BROTHER IM SORRY FOR PINNING IT ON HIM. GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD.

............................................................................................................................And then eventually everyone actually EXITED THE DAMN BUILDING and I somehow survived that very traumatic ordeal.


And that my friends, is the written version of how I was Trapped with a Capital T.