Lately she had been down.  I mean really down.  Life had been rough on her lately.  Her mom, the only real family she had, had been real sick and she then had left her for a better place, a place where she was no longer in pain and could watch over her daughter forever.  Her boyfriend, one that she thought that she might spend the rest of her life with, had gone and left her too, for another girl.  She just couldn’t seem to find any joy in her life anymore.  Some days she wondered why she even continued to live, there seemed to be nothing left to live for.  She used to be able to find the joy in the simple things, the sun on a warm day, puppies, children laughing, and spending time with the ones that she loved.  But, they were all gone.  Just gone, not there any more.  And along with them went her ability to find the sun, the warmth in her life.

Her friends tried everything that they could.  They let her be for awhile thinking that she just needed time, so they gave it to her.  They tried to talk to her, but she couldn’t.  They made sure that she knew that they were always there for her, because they were.  They tried going out doing normal things with just the girls.  They even tried clubbing.  She used to love dancing and always had a great time whenever they went out, but not that time.  Sure she danced but the sparkle that used to be in her eyes just wasn’t there any more.  They just didn’t know what to do.  They wanted her back.  Their crazy spirited friend who could always make them laugh and loved to smile.  They hadn’t seen her real smile in such a long time.  Sure she smiled but it wasn’t that smile that she had before, the one that just lit up her whole face.  They wanted to see that one.

Sometimes he just wondered why he did what he did, and this was one of those times.  He just couldn’t seem to remember anymore why he was here.  In yet another city, another hotel room, another show with thousands of girls who didn’t know him, screaming that they loved him and that they wanted to have his children.  Why him?  What made him so special?  What was the friggin point?  He was nobody special, not really.  He could sing, big deal there were thousands of people who could sing just as well if not better than him.  He could dance, but only because they had the best choreographers that money could buy and he worked hard at it, plus it was easy, just copy the moves that others taught him. 

Lately he just felt like he was going through the motions.  Just doing what was expected of him, but not really feeling it at all.  Like he was just some puppet.  You know, the kind where you pull one string and the hand goes up?  Pull another and a leg goes up?  Yeah that was him.  When did he become this puppet?  Was it after the last girl left him?  Was it when he found out that she had been just using him for his name and his fame?  He had loved her, thought she was the one.  He had thought that she had loved him.  But it was all a lie, just a game to get what she wanted and when she did, she left, forever.  Leaving him alone in this cruel world where people pretended to like him just to get near his fame.  He was tired of that, tired of the whole game of pretending to like them back.  He was tired of pretending to be someone he wasn’t, some days he just wanted to scream out at the top of his lungs that he couldn’t take it any more, but he didn’t because he couldn’t.

Her friends didn’t know what to do with their friend, till one day the answer just fell into their laps, literally.  Somehow they received tickets to an up coming performance of her favorite group.  They were doing some sort of out door concert for a select number of people.  A quaint group of oh 5,000 people or so.  Just a reason to jam, and they had received tickets.  How they got these tickets was not important what was important was that they got them and that they finally might have the answer, the answer to their problem, maybe a way to help their friend.  Maybe this would be the way to get her back to being well, herself.  The way before her world came crashing down on her.  Maybe it would make her smile, that real smile of hers that they missed so much.

They wanted her to go to a concert?  They said that she would have a good time and that they would all go together, it would be fun.  She had to say yes, she saw the hope in their eyes that this was the answer, the solution.  If only it were that simple, one simple two-hour concert and she was cured.  Heck if she had known that before she would have gone sooner.  But this wasn’t any concert.  No it was special a once in a lifetime opportunity.  She knew she would have fun, or at least give off the illusion that she was having fun.  And who knew maybe it was just what she needed.  She certainly didn’t know, but something felt right about this.

Another concert?  He thought they were done, at least for now.  He thought he would finally be able to go home and wallow in his self-pity, be alone with himself and just think.  Or not think.  That was the beauty of a vacation he could do what every the heck he wanted to, well not really.  He couldn’t just go to the movies if he felt like it, heck some days he couldn’t even go to the store to buy toilet paper.  No he had to call one of those big black guys they employed to keep their small white butts safe from all the crazy thirteen-year-old girls out there who wanted them.  Wanted them for their fame, certainly not for who they were. Did he even know who he really was?   He wanted time to himself to really think about his life.  Was doing what he loved worth everything that he gave up for it?  He hated the schedule and all the engagements.  He felt like his whole life was scheduled for him.  Like he had no choice in what he could do, what he ate, what he wore, and certainly who he could and couldn’t see. 

So he was doing this other concert.  It would be ok.  Only like 5,000 people, that was small.  Umff, 5,000 people is small?  Well in the life he had chosen to live performing in front of 5,000 people was nothing, nothing at all.  Sure there was that high he got every time he took the stage at night.  When the lights were on, the band was playing and he was just singing and dancing.  That was great, but as soon as the lights went out and the band stopped he was back right where he started.  Back to the hurt and the pain, back to the sense of why?  Why him?  Why now?  What was it about this darn life that just made it almost unbearable?

She woke up that morning feeling different; mind you a good different, but still different.  Maybe it was that she was finally beginning to heal.  The thoughts that had been plaguing her at night had begun to subside.  The maddening visions of loneliness.  The eary dreams of standing alone in a vast space of nothingness, there is nothing there, no one, nothing just black emptiness.  Even though the previous nights dreams had been plagued by this blackness, it seemed different.  She just couldn’t put her finger on what it was that was different.  Maybe it was changing color and starting to represent the hope that she felt was starting to come through.  The sun was starting to get through the clouds.

Good morning sir.  This is your wake-up call.  The same thing every morning.  Some bright and bubbly voiced girl calling him at the butt crack of dawn to wake him up from his usual restless slumber.  The first tug of the day on his puppet strings, time to get up.  Get out of bed, head to the bathroom, shower, get dressed and head out to another day in the life of a pop star.  The day in the life of a puppet that is told what to do, where to go by a bunch of men in suits that he hardly ever sees.  He smiles, he scribbles his name on the tiniest pieces of paper ever, answers the same questions day after day.  The same thing over and over again everyday, just in another city, a different town everyday.  Most times he didn’t even know where it was that he was.  Was it Chicago, Austin, LA, Boston, New York?  It didn’t really matter because they were all about the same place to him. 

But today was different.  Today they were doing that special small concert.  The one with only 5,000 people in the audience.  5,000 lucky people who would get to spend the evening with them.  It was going to be fun, maybe.  He just felt different about this whole show, like something was going to happen that day.  This day was going to be something special, or was it just going to be the same old, same old.  The puppet being directed along by someone you couldn’t see holding the strings.  He was going to try today, try and be genuine about his smiles, and really poor himself into his singing tonight.  Then when they were done he was going on a real vacation just by himself, and think, think about what he wanted to do, to try and find what it was that he felt like he was missing.  For someone who seemed to have everything, he felt like he was missing something in his life and he wanted to find it.

The day had been better than many before it had.  There hadn’t been too many times when she had thought of all that it was that she had lost.  She had even started to feel like she wasn’t as alone as she thought she was.  Her friends had decided to make a whole day out of the concert.  Complete with a shopping trip to the local mall for a new outfit for that evenings outing.  She went along with them and found that she was having to force her smile less often and that she was actually having some fun.  Things were starting to feel like they had before her world had come crashing in around her.

The time for the concert had come, so she got into the new outfit and joined her friends in getting ready for the show and leaving to go.  They all left together in high spirits excited about that nights show, most hoping that tonight would be the beginning of the return of their old friend.  They thought that they might have seen the beginnings of that smile of hers that she had been missing for so long.

The girls had gotten great seats, in the second row center from the stage.  They were all excited for that night’s event because they all enjoyed the music of this group.  During the show they danced and sang along with the guys having a great time, even her.  At one point she looked at the guys dancing and singing on the stage, and really looked at them.  When she got to him she saw something there.  There was this aura about him that made her care for him, something just pulled at her heartstrings when she really saw him.  Something that said he had been through a lot, that there was something going on in that head of his other than just the singing.  She continued watching the concert but seemed to always be looking in his direction.

Part way through the concert the group was joined on stage by one of country music’s greatest male singers.  Together these six men sang a collection of old American classics.  Right away she recognized the songs and started to sing along. 

So darlin' darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me

He watched her and saw the different emotions that she seemed to be going through.  The songs seemed to be having some sort of affect on her and he just felt this need to make sure that she was going to be ok.  So he continued to watch her as much as he could, while singing with everything in him as if the more he put into his singing the better she might feel. 

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

Her sky had tumbled and fallen and they had been there to help her try and pick it up.  They had really wanted to help her get better.  Always trying to make her smile, always trying to help her with the healing process.  They had been there for her during it all. 

So darlin' darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me

He had friends standing there with him, standing by him while he dealt with everything that he had gone through.  He had stood by them and they had stood by him.  He hoped that she had good friends like he did to help her get through what ever it was that seemed to be plaguing her.

(Fire and Rain)

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to

Thinking of all this had an extreme affect on her and she started to really think about her friends and what they meant to her.  How much they truly were the best friends that she ever had.  She looked up at him and hoped that he had good friends like she did to get through whatever it was that made him look like he did.

He had seen it all, but like her he had done it all with his friends.  They had been there for him the entire time.  Never once doubting him, always there for him.  That’s what this was about, being there for your friends.  And four of the men sharing the stage with him at that moment were the best of friends, his brothers even.

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand

You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

(This is from both perspectives)

They both realized that they needed others to help them through whatever it was that was plaguing them.  That they needed help chasing away the rain clouds after the storm in order to let the sun shine through.  Both looked around them and realized that they had all the help that they might need right there next to them.

When the music for the last song in the melody started they all immediately knew what the song was.  An old favorite dedicated to friends.  Being that she had been already getting teary she started to cry.  Her friends quickly noticed and questioned the tears.  Her response was simply that she loved them all and didn’t know where she would be in her life without them.  They all immediately put their arms around each other and started to sway together as a group singing with all their hearts to the song.  All knowing that the lyrics were true.

(Lean on Me)

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

She had needed and would again need someone to lean on and there they were for her.  Offering her their strength and support helping her carry on after the storm.  She was so lucky to have friends like that.

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

That verse was the one that spoke to him the most.  They were his brothers that he could call on at any time he needed them.  They defiantly understood his problems because they had all gone through the same thing in some form or another.  They had all faced heartbreak and downsides of this pop star life.  But, in the end they were doing what they loved, singing.  He might get his heart broken again, but he could survive, because he had them and he had his music.  For that rush he got every night when on stage was more than just the lights and the music it was also the four men that he shared it with every night, night after night, that’s what made it all worth while.

We all need somebody to lean on

We all need somebody to lean on

The girls all sang with all of their hearts sealing their bond of true friendship while singing.  They all knew that if they ever needed someone to lean on that they would be there for each other.  They were a group of life long friends and where ever life would take them they would always be friends and they would always be there for each other.  She felt that coming through as the swayed and sang to the song along with the men on stage.

When the song was done, she turned to her friends the tears running down her face and simply said, “thank you”.  Because that’s all they needed to hear.  They knew what it was that she was trying to say with those simple to words.  They knew that their friend was coming back.  The storm was subsiding and the sun was beginning to shine through again.

She reached out for one of them and was immediately enveloped into a big hug with all of them.  Never in her life had see felt so much caring and comfort from a hug.  As they all embraced each other she knew everything was going to be ok.  She looked up from her friends and saw him there on the stage looking her way.  For a brief moment their eyes met and he smiled, she saw that smile and smiled back.  Not one of those fake smiles that she had been giving.  No this was her real smile, the one that reached up to her eyes, the one that made her sparkle.

Her friends saw the smile and all smiled too.  Knowing that things were going to be ok.  Their friend was back; sure she might not be like her normal self right away but that smile had shown them that she was on her way back.  Cause that’s all that she needed a glimpse of hope that tomorrow would be better.  The sun always shines after a rainstorm and it finally felt like the clouds were beginning to lift.  She just wondered if they would, well if he would, ever know what it was that they had done for her. 

A smile sometimes that’s all it takes to warm someone’s heart. It can bring the sun after a storm.

The End

Her friends saw the smile and all smiled too.  Knowing that things were going to be ok.  Their friend was back; sure she might not be like her normal self right away but that smile had shown them that she was on her way back.  Cause that’s all that she needed a glimpse of hope that tomorrow would be better.  The sun always shines after a rainstorm and it finally felt like the clouds were beginning to lift.  She just wondered if they would, well if he would, ever know what it was that they had done for her. 

A smile sometimes that’s all it takes to warm someone’s heart. It can bring the sun after a storm.

The End