You took my heart, could I please have it back?

Epilogue

Epilogue

“Bounce, Bounce, nothing’s gonna bring me down,

Bounce, Bounce, stand up, shout it out!

Bounce, Bounce, I play hard, I play to win,

Count me out, count me in –

I’ll be bouncing back again!

Bounce, Bounce...

Bounce, Bounce...

Bounce, Bounce...

Bounce, Bounce....

Bounce!!”

And with a final, crashing guitar slam we finished the song. Bounce, by Bon Jovi – an all time favourite of mine.

Screaming, cheers, people bouncing up and down – no pun intended – this is the life, I thought as I grinned and waved at the crowd. Kyle high-fived me with a grin of his own, his four-string-bass sparkling in the bright lights surrounding us. He had a Fender, much like Mikey Way’s, sparkly and everything.

“Thanks guys, thanks, we decided that was Liz’s anthem,” James grinned at me and I rolled my eyes, still smiling as I shook my head.

“So, who wants to hear another of our awesome compositions?” Tom asked with a wink and several girls screamed. “I’m going to take that as a yes. Oh but first...don’t you guys think it’s kind of hot in here?” Tom fanned himself for effect.

I knew exactly what he was doing; he’d done it in South Africa too. The boys did too, and they smirked, nodding their assent.

“Well as it’s so hot, I think some shirts need to come off,” James sighed, as if it was such a big deal.

More screaming, this time very loud, and I laughed at the obvious enthusiasm. Various males in the crowd were yelling at me to take my shirt off and I sighed, shaking my head, stealing James’ microphone.

“Sorry lads, you aren’t getting lucky today,” I winked with a smile and there were collective groans as well as laughter.

When the boys had their shirts off; James and Landon with their fabulous six-pacs and Kyle and Tom with their flat, if still sexy stomachs (god, if Alex could hear my thoughts!) – we began to play again. This time, it was a more melancholic song, the one I had composed with their help, about my father and his struggle to become sober, written kind of from his point of view.

It was a sad song but the lyrics got happier towards the end. It sounded great electric but it sounded way better acoustic; but we couldn’t do that live. When the song ended, James’ beautiful voice reverberating through the microphone, the crowd went mental. Absolutely mental.

It was such a thrill. The adrenalin, the amazement that so many people enjoyed our music. The hundreds and thousands of people crowded in this hall.

“We love you America!” Tom yelled into his microphone. “We’ll come back for you one day!”

I laughed at his theatrics and then everyone took their guitars off and stood in a line – me in the middle with James and Kyle to my right and left, then Tom to James’ right and Landon to Kyle’s left. Like every concert, we slung our arms over each others’ shoulders, bowed theatrically and grinned and waved at the crowd cheerfully.

“We are Phoenix, and we will return someday, out of the ashes, to play for you again!” Tom cried, and I laughed again, stealing the microphone off him.

“Thank you guys!” I shouted over their screaming. “We love you!”

I blew the crowd a kiss as we walked backwards offstage, waving as the golden, red and orange lights dimmed (the colours of a phoenix). I jumped on Landon’s back and made him give me a piggy back as we went backstage, still grinning and laughing from the exhilaration.