Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
I sat up, and then before she could argue, I crushed my mouth to hers. She sighed into my mouth, but I pulled away quickly, grabbing my laptop. I held my hand out for hers, and this time, Easton or not, I was going to hold her hand.
Bonnie didn’t resist.
We walked the corridor to the main stage. Some of the workers said hello. I nodded at them. But with every step, I got myself more and more in the game. When we arrived beside the podium, I could hear the crowd. I could hear the shouts and calls. Bonnie’s hand squeezed mine. Her eyes were wide. I kissed the back of her hand and leaned in close. “Sit to the side of the stage. I asked them to put a chair there for you.”
Her eyes melted at that. I had no idea why. I let go of her hand and threw my headphones around my neck. The stage manager waved me on. I took one last look at Bonnie then walked onto the podium. A wave of screams and shouts came crashing at me.
I put the laptop on the decks and opened it up. As always, I risked one glance at the crowd and drank in the moment. It was like slow motion. The crowd waiting for me to start. I scanned my eyes over the thousands of faces. All looking up at me as if I were a young god. Then I looked to the side. Bonnie was still offstage.
I pointed at the stool that was waiting for her. Bonnie swallowed, her eyes huge. She was so friggin’ cute as she took her first step up onto the podium. I reached down for her hand when she looked unsteady.
She sat down and looked around at the crowd. If her eyes were wide before, now they took up her entire face. I gave her a spare set of headphones, signaling for her to put them on. I wanted her to hear every beat I threw out. I wanted her to soak up the tempos, drink the rhythm, and live the bass.
When she looked back to me, breath held, I lined up the first track, let my hand hover in the air…then with a slam of a finger ripped the fucking roof off the place.
The crowd played right into my hands, all falling for the mix. I moved to the decks and the drum machine and let the colors lead me. It was minutes before I looked at Bonnie. She was watching me so closely, watching my hands create every beat, every track. I didn’t need to look at the laptop, the decks. Instead I met her eyes. When her attention was fully on me, I started mouthing the colors. Peach. Turquoise. Black. Gray. Amber. Scarlet. Tune after tune, I told her what I saw. And she was in it with me. She never moved her eyes away from me, a smile on her lips as I let her see my colors.
Let her see me.
Then, violet blue, I mouthed. Bonnie’s eyes widened. I glanced down at my laptop and lined up the track I wanted her to hear. The one I couldn’t get out of my head last night. The one that played so loudly in my mind I’d had to get it down.
The words of which she’d had no idea I’d recorded.
“Some are not meant for this life for too long.” I threaded the opening verse over the beats. The volume was quiet, a crescendo building the second verse. “A fleeting glimpse, a silent birdsong…” Drums built, violins soft in the background. Then, the drum beat in double time, her voice gaining volume, until I smashed it, bringing the song to its maximum beat, Bonnie’s soft voice pushed to the highest volume, her violet-blue words coating every inch of the room…
Some are not meant for this life for too long.
A fleeting glimpse, a silent birdsong.
Souls too pure, they burn out too bright,
Bodies so fragile, losing the fight.
Hearts lose their beats, rhythms too slow,
Angels they come, it’s time to go.
Lift from this place, to the heavens and skies,
Smothered in peace, where nobody dies.
Hope left behind in the ones they have loved,
No longer caged, now wings of a dove.
Wings, white as snow, sprout from my heart.
Wings, spreading wide, now to depart.
Tears in my eyes, I give one last glance.
I lived, and I loved, and danced life’s sweet dance…
I layered acoustic guitar chords I’d had stored for years but never used over the top. And Bonnie’s voice sang loud and clear. I mixed it three times, until the next track pushed through the background, replacing the violet blue with lime green.
When the next mix pumped from the speakers, I looked up at Bonnie. Her hand was over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. My stomach cramped. Until she looked into my eyes and her hands fell away. A smile so wide it seemed to hit the damn ceiling spread on her lips. She got off her stool and walked to me. I pushed her back out of sight of the crowd and let her smash her mouth to mine to a background of gold and magnolia and chocolate browns. I tasted the tears on her lips and the mint on her tongue.