She held her breath. Stepping up to the mic ripped her heart open. Her voice carried her emotions, playing out over the crowd in streaks of blues and reds. This is why they loved her so – she wore her songs like the finest of cloaks. She draped her music over their shoulders, pulling them into her, safe inside her heart.
She wasn’t ready.
She was never really ready.
Standing at the edge of the stage, at the edge of the world, the bright lights shining on the emptiness.
She held her breath.
The people in the audience, her people, held their breath.
Everything froze. Suddenly, she could feel the boundaries between them fade. The crowd blurred and she blurred, they opened, fuzing together.
She stepped onto the stage, eyes closed. She began to sing.