After spending the rest of the day listening to music and conversing with the three individuals, we were prepared to take to the stage! However, as we observed crowds of mortals gathering, our stomach had begun to feel distraught. This must be what is called… stage fright. Was this person truly a musician? As we stand on the edge of the stage holding our stomach, Tony steps behind us. “Nervous?” they ask us. “Yeah. I guess it’s been some time since I’ve stood in front of such a large group.” We aren’t sure if this is true or not, but it felt better to lie rather than say “I am death. This isn’t my body. I’ve never done this.”

“Don’t worry, man. Happens to all of us.” We turn to him in confusion. “Really?” Tony smiles a little. “You know, you’re definitely different than what we expected. You seem a little more human than the videos of you say.” We aren’t sure how to take this. Perhaps he’s saying we have relatable traits? Then we suppose the illusion is properly being displayed this time. “Look, when it’s time for your introduction, just take a deep breath, exhale, then walk on stage.”

Tony seems quite familiar with this calming technique. He must do this often. “Alright. Thank you.” We say sincerely to Tony. “No problem, bro.” he says as he heads to his starting position. One of the stage assistants steps onto the stage. “We go live in 5 minutes!” We step back away from the curtain and look towards the band. We see them take their instruments in hand. Tony inhales deeply, then exhales before taking his pose for his entrance.

The lights in the theatre dim down. Smoke begins to roll across the stage. Malcolm begins by strumming an opening note. He begins playing the start of the song. The rest of the band follows his lead and begins playing as well. The spectacular style of music. It’s slightly rougher than the studio recorded process, but the performance is still just as amazing as the recorded music. The curtain opens and reveals the band to the crowd shortly before the vocal lines come in. The stage lights shine, and attention is focused on Malcolm as he begins singing.

During this, we’re simply listening. This illustrious moment… the mind is telling us it wants to join. We silence our thoughts and stop analyzing everything. We allow the mind to take over as our part of the song steadily approaches. We begin moving to the beat, almost as if instinct is taking us over. We listen for the introduction. We inhale, hold our breath for a moment, then exhale. The feeling in our stomach becomes more tolerable. “Give it up for our guest singer! Jack Sin!” Malcolm shouts out to the crowd.

We shut off our thoughts, letting the mind take over. As if the original owner of this body has taken over, we charge onto the stage, holding the microphone to our mouth, singing in a way we aren’t used to speaking. The words are flowing so fluidly. For this moment, we feel elevated, as if being ascended to complete inner peace. Similar to the peaceful moment just before death, we are comfortable and happy. This… is a beautiful reason to live. As our verse comes to an end, we finish the song adding sounds or small words in the gaps between Malcolm’s vocals. Then, as suddenly as the song began, it went silent.

There is a short pause between the silence of the instruments and the crowd screaming and cheering. We’re sweating as if we had exerted energy performing. However, this is thrilling! We would gladly live this life! Malcolm steps up beside us, whispering in our ear “You good for another one?” We smile as we look back at him. “Absolutely!” we say proudly. We’re… I am excited to continue! We continue on for a few more songs before finishing the show. The curtains close and the lights go dim once more. The show was a resounding success!