Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt

Subject: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:12 pm

Not wanting to break with what the girls decided was their “look”, he had purchased his

own pair of black boot-cut jeans and sported a jet black T shirt with a gold chain he got

many years ago, when his parents died. He was amazed he still had it after being

hospitalized so many times. He was sure some staff member would have lifted it

somewhere along the way. Beth had gotten it out of the lock box he kept it in and

surprised him by having it cleaned by a professional jeweler the other day. They all

looked so professional, Michael thought. He wondered why he still didn’t feel that way.

Beth, Marguerite and Ted had a table close to the stage. Michael couldn’t see

Stephanie’s brother yet but remembered he said he had wanted to come. Three acts had

gone on already and they were next in line. Steph and Sara slipped in next to Michael,

who was keeping an eye on their instruments. Jon, still feeling a bit put out by the fight

he had with Sara, sat somewhat apart from the group, sipping a soda and watching the

crowd.

Michael stepped over to his friend and sat down. “You gonna be okay?” he asked. “We

gotta pull this together, or this will be the only concert we’ll ever have.”

Jon kept his eyes on the audience. “Yeah, man. We’re cool. I’m gonna do that solo the

way we normally practice it and if she don’t like it, I don’t know what else to do.”

“Cool,” Michael responded. Let’s do it like in New York. We got our best four songs up

there tonight and, hey, we got nothin’ to lose, right?”

Jon nodded.

Just then, the other group climbed off the stage and, like a scene out of a scary movie,

Michael watched and heard the announcer talking up his next group. It felt completely

surreal to hear the guy talk about this new, up-and-coming band. Even so, he took a

second to relax as much as possible and, when he heard the announcer say, “Black

Shadow”, he felt as if a lightning bolt had struck him. He was suddenly full of energy

and, along with Jon, he leapt to the stage, his guitar in hand, focusing on helping

Stephanie get her bass up the short steps and ignoring the now distant clapping of hands

in the coffeehouse.

After a couple of intense moments plugging everything in, he glanced at each band

member in turn before finally giving Stephanie the nod that said, “Let’s begin”.

They began the four-song set with an intense, heavy beating metal song. They went on to

the song Jon had been upset about. He played it better than he’d ever played it before.

Their third song featured solos from both Michael and Sara—one of the songs they had

most recently perfected. Before they left the stage, they finished out their set with a

lonesome rock ballad that Stephanie had written with Michael.

107

The extended applause caught them all off guard. The crowd just kept clapping. The

band just stood there for a moment, bowing every now and then until he heard someone

shout, “Encore”. At that, he turned to Stephanie so she could read his lips and said,

loudly enough for the others to hear, “Let’s give ‘em ‘Rain Down’.” It was one from the

original group of songs that Stephanie and Michael had co-written one afternoon. He

nodded to Stephanie and they began their encore.

Michael couldn’t see the tears in Beth’s eyes as they played their encore. He didn’t see

the excited hug she gave Marguerite during the lengthy applause that followed. As the

group finished their bows and prepared to leave the stage, Michael didn’t see Jason—a

big grin on his face—slip out the door of the coffeehouse and into the night.

As the group packed their belongings an hour later, Ted stood nearby as a small circle of

fans suddenly appeared with napkins in hand, asking the band members for their

autograph. It was only about ten people but Michael was overcome by the show of

support. While he signed one young man’s napkin, he was asked if they had a CD of

their music he could buy.

“Well…,” Michael began clumsily.

“Sure they do,” Ted interjected. “Look for it in local stores within the month. The group

is just finishing recording their first full-length CD. Here, take a demo tape.” He handed

copies of the band’s demo tape to about five of the fans. No one from the group knew he

had brought some and they knew he was stretching things by saying they had a fulllength

CD coming out. Still, it was exciting to hear out loud.

When they were ready to leave, the announcer stopped them at the door. “Hey,” he said

cheerfully. “I just spoke to the manager here. He wants to know if you guys have time to

play on regular nights. You know—not just the night for newcomers. How about it?”

Ted shook the announcer’s hand. “Great. I think we may have some dates left over for

you next month. Have the manager call me.” He handed the announcer his business

card.

While loading the Bronco, Ted was explaining to Beth some of the nuances of the

business. “We can’t be too eager, you know. And we probably need to think about

cutting some more songs. Do you think they have enough material for a full-length CD?

I can’t just keep handing out demos.”

Michael interrupted him, a bit irritated. “Ted, let me tell you something. We’ve got

enough music for a full-length CD with a few extra songs to spare.”

Ted turned to Michael. “You guys did great tonight and you handled the pressure like

pros. But you need to know that the pressure goes up from here. I just want you guys to

be prepared for it.”

Subject: Re: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:41 am

This sounds exciting, MJ! This is from a finished ms, right? Is it set to be published?

Subject: Re: Evolution of the Fallen Excerpt Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:02 pm

Finished MS...

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