Little Girl Blue

( Dan )

( Mark )

Needless to say, I won't be performing tonight.

OK, it's not that I don't appreciate a day of song -- although it made my job a little useless -- but I gotta say, there are a bunch of people I want to sign up for singing lessons.

She'd bought the DVDs but hadn't watched them yet. She figured she could at least do the first season on her own; she wasn't in it after all. But even before she slid the first disc in, she started singing.

There's no time for us. There's no place for us.
What is this thing that fills our dreams,
Yet slips away from us?

Who wants to live forever? Who wants to live forever?
There's no chance for us. It's all decided for us.
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us.

Who wants to live forever? Who dares to love forever?
When love must die.

But touch my tears with your lips,
Touch my world with your fingertips.
And we can have forever, and we can have forever.
Forever is our today.
Who wants to live forever? Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today. Who waits forever anyway?





Queen, "Who Wants to Live Forever"

It's been one hell of a week and it's only Wednesday.

( Aaron )

( Mark )

( Cam )

( Noah )

( Private )

It's a good thing I have the cane or I'd tip over from being unbalanced. Of course, it also appears that I'm supposed to use the cane as a billy stick if my costume is to be believed.

I take it Halloween has come early?

Not my usual style, but these lyrics have been speaking to me recently:

Sometimes when he wakes
he feels he's walked into a dream
but all it takes
to remind him things are what they seem
is the belief that the man behind
the mask can really dance...

( Private )

( Noah )

( Cam )

( Brian )

It wouldn't mean much to anyone else. In fact, she figured most people would overlook it. But Josie sat on her couch, flipping the guitar pick over and over in her fingers.

It looked just like any other guitar pick – rounded tear drop shape, tortoise shell color and pattern -- but Josie knew every swirl, every rough edge, what it would sound like if she ran it across of any of the guitars.

It had been a gift from her mentor when she was just a kid. She'd been taking lessons for about a month. She'd had a pick already and was confused when he presented her with this one until he'd explained its history. His mentor had given it to him and told him to only give it to a student he thought was truly deserving of it.

He had decided Josie was that student.

He knew that she didn't intend to teach, not for a long while, but he'd told her the same thing. Only give it to a student she thought was deserving. As Josie sat flipping the pick through her fingers, she wondered if she'd ever find that person.

She'd thought about it long and hard. The angel didn't seemed to mind her silence, or waiting.

It was stupid to feel loyalty to a genetic defect, but part of her did. After all, that defect was part of what got her to where she was today. And OK, yeah, it would be easier if she didn't need a cane or lifts, but she hadn't chosen to lead this life because she believed in taking the easy route.

It felt right, somehow, to have the limp and the cane. And besides, she hadn't chosen easy since that first surgery; she saw no need to start now.

"Thanks anyway," she told the angel with a smile. "But I think I'll stick with what I've got."

The bar was nearly empty -- it was still early yet and a lot of the regulars were nursing hangovers from weekend-long drinking binges.

Josie sat on the edge of the stage, playing softly. It was Spanish, classical, and her fingers flew across the strings. She didn't play classical much anymore, not for an audience, but she liked to keep her hand in. Kept her fingers nimble.

The last notes drifted off and someone clapped quietly. She looked up, startled, and smiled.

"Thanks. Didn't realize anyone was listening in."

"I always listen to you play," the young man said. "Can I join you?"

"Sure."

He stood. He was tall, well-built and he reminded her of someone. He sat on the stage next to her with an easy sort of grace and Josie pivoted to face him. There was something so familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place it.

"So I have a story to tell you, and it's going to sound strange, but trust me. It's completely true."

( Noah )

( Private )

She'd started to feel a little under the weather after her set Friday night. It was entirely possible that she shouldn't have eaten the leftovers she'd been offered. By Saturday morning, she was really regretting it. Saturday afternoon, she called the bar to let them know she wouldn't be coming in because she was so drained and weak.

She finally started to feel better Sunday afternoon. She was drinking a cup of tea when she realized she could recall everything she'd done, read, seen the whole weekend.

Funny what happened when she couldn't play.

( Private )

Well I don't remember entering any contest, but I appear to have won something. These two women showed up and said they were here to do the cooking and the baking. My house is now stocked with enough frozen casseroles and chocolate cookies that I might not leave for weeks.

Well, I suppose now that I have an apartment with furniture and everything, I should have an apartment warming.

So there it is. Come over on Sunday and I'll supply the food, drinks and music.

Josie waited until Cam's voicemail picked up then began to sing. She skipped the verse and went straight to the chorus:

It's ordinary plain and simple
Typical, this everyday love
Same 'ol, same 'ol keeping it new
Emotional, so familiar
Nothing about it too peculiar
Oh, but I can’t get enough
Of this everyday love

Wouldn’t change one single thing about it
No, it’s run-of-the-mill, still I can’t live with-out it ...


That was all she had time to leave before the beep cut her off.

( Jules )

( Noah, Mark )

Corsets, long skirts and canes don't exactly go together.