It was like someone was strangling my throat, the air was squeezed out of my lungs, and my vocal cords lost all power as they passed by. The sound leaked out hoarsely, and all that came out from the speakers was the pad sound from the accompaniment tape, and the commotion from the nearby audience who vaguely sensed something was wrong.
I was stunned for half a second, as if someone pressed pause on my brain.
Wrong. Come again.
Open your mouth, inhale, and exert force.
Still nothing. The chest was vibrating, the trachea was vibrating, but the vocal cords... The vocal cords seemed to have evaporated.
