The SongJack had never sang in front of anyone but her. As a toddler, barely able to string a few wordstogether, she would always manage to find a way to get him to sing for her. Even at such a youngage, she had an appreciation for his unique voice. Jack was by no means a great singer, but thetone of his voice held a certain warmth to her that would soothe her at bed time, or cheer her upwhen she was down.Claire knew only to ask him to sing when they were alone. She may have only been eight, butshe was clever enough to understand he only sang for her. For this, she adored him. Jack wasmore than just her brother. She knew nothing of a life without him. She may have never beenable to put it into words, but she knew Jack would always be there for her. He made her feel safe.What Claire didn't know, or rather, couldn't comprehend, was just how much Jack adored her back. She would never be able to understand just how important she was to his frame of mind,his conscious, his very existence. The one constant in his life over the last lifetime was Claire. Hisrelationship with his friends wasn't always high flying, with girlfriends it was very up and down,with the rest of his family... mostly down. Claire, on the other hand, never gave him cause for grief. She was a solid anchor that kept him steady in tough times and broadened every smilewhen things were good.She could never have understood this, but she was a huge portion of his life. Without her, Jackwould feel as though every good thing in his life was worthless, and every hardship wouldconsume him, rendering him lifeless.He strongly believed he lived for her... but for now, he must sing.-------Jack felt a smothering sensation as he stood up and stepped forward. He was all too aware of everyone's eyes firmly locked on him, weighing him down, closing in around him. Breathing hadbecome a task.For so many years, his stage was in the privacy of his home, in his bed, sitting at the kitchentable, by the swings in the garden, always in the presence of a single audience member. But nowhe had a new stage and a much bigger audience.Jack remembered a time when he sighed about Claire asking him to sing this particular song."You always ask for that one", he protested, "because it's my favourite", she replied. On thisoccasion, however, he would have no complaints. Everyone wanted to hear his song now, and inreturn, he actually wanted to share it with more than just Claire. Today was a special day. Aunique occasion.His mind once again turned to the stage he was approaching. The heavy burden of everyone'seyes examining him was now in the back of his mind. Replacing it at the forefront of his thoughtswas a growing sense of dread. A bolt of fear shot through his head and down his spine as hisnew stage came into sight.The realisation of where he was and why he was there would, in any other circumstance, madehim want to curl up into a ball a switch himself off, dead to the world. But not now. Driven by asense of duty, he stepped up onto his stage, stood behind the wooden structure draped in clothand glared forward.Scanning his surroundings, he leaned forward and spoke softly into the microphone. "This is mysong for Claire", is all he managed to say. The emotion in his voice was obvious. This was madeclear by the glaring eyes that never left him. Any pity they were hiding earlier came flooding out,
Leave a Comment