I did feel better after you squeezed me.
MOM
Oh the visual!Nauseous emoji
DAD
Don’t hug any of the performers tonight.
I won’t.
But I do want a hug from Duncan.
Who is sitting in the front row. Front and center.
With a dozen of hisfriends flanking him.
Knowing Duncan, he didn’t give them the choice to come with him tonight.
It still means the world to have them all here.
Emmett has been taking photos and videos. Bryson and Jo have been chatting quietly between each set. Felix is next to Duncan and he seems to be the only one looking in my direction right now.
I nod and he returns it, almost imperceptibly.
The glare off Duncan’s glasses hides the brown of his eyes but I know them well enough by the crinkle at the corners to know he’s observing with wonder.
I’ve won awards. Gold records line my home studio walls. I’ve elevated country music on a global scale because I’m the cowboy in a kilt.
But this takes the cake.
Watching a student pour every ounce of their passion into a performance I helped them create is beyond any feeling I could have imagined.
Watching Duncan take it all in is the cherry on top.
"Bravo!" I yell from the wings of the stage as I clap loudly.
"Thank you Rhys." One of my students says as a tension relieving laugh leaves her lips. I try not to laugh with her but I remember the feeling of almost blacking out on stage but making it through.
"You killed it! The bridge?" I hold out my ink covered arm. "Goosebumps."
"Really?"
"Really. We have the Content Club recording everything but that’s your audition tape."
"Wow. Oh wow. Okay. I’m going to go find my mom." She launches herself into my arms and I hug her back before letting her go and celebrate.
The next student is in place on stage. This is like a talent show but on steroids. Each of the students I have worked with this semester have a well ofraw talent people would kill for. The poetry of the lyrics they write humbles me.
And inspires me.
I’m not feeling especially ready for it to be done.
Everything seems to be wrapping up right now and the impending change is a tough pill to swallow.
I peek out from behind the curtain before the lights go up. It’s the moment you can see the audience most clearly without a spotlight in your eyes.
The music begins and I turn my focus to the performance.
