The Last Messenger

Chapter 3 - So Much Emotion

Eleta bit her lips as the crowd in the room began to decrease. Her legs bounced quickly, becoming stressed as each second ticked on the clock above her head. Glancing up a few times, she sighed in an attempt to shake off her feelings of anxiety. Closing her eyes, she allowed her perked up shoulders to fall down and relax. Rolling her head around her neck, she felt a bit better. Opening her eyes, she noticed she was the last one left in the room. I'm next, she thought gulping down the fear stuck in her throat. After what felt like an eternity, she finally heard her name being called.

"Eleta Alon."

Eleta's eyes glanced up at the male assistant dressed in blue and white with a name badge sitting on the right side of his chest. Standing up with confidence now, she followed behind the assistant running her lyrics through her mind and thinking about her mother. What would her mother say right now? God is with you, Eleta... Yes, those would be the words that would come out of her, she mused. Feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, she concentrated on how her first impression should be towards the director.

Upon reaching the empty studio, the director, a thirty-year-old man with his business suit, sat there with crossed legs, talking on his phone while furiously writing on a notepad. Eleta took a deep breath as she composed herself before walking to the front of the room where the floor was taped in black as a border for her to stand in.

Scanning the white walls and concrete flooring, she eyed the director. He had sat in the middle of the room with a table in front of him and paperwork scattered everywhere. His hair was disheveled and there was a blankness in his eyes as if he was lifeless. There was a name tag sitting there with the letters Director Maxwell bolded. Her eyes flashed over the name as she placed it in her memory. Maxwell finally ended his call and stared at the next contestant with lazy eyes before looking down at his papers with a sigh.

"So, you're...Eleta Alon?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you're singing a song?"

"Yes, sir. It's an original."

Maxwell nodded his head uninterested. He shuffled through some papers and scribbled some words down. "You can start now."

His annoyed eyes constantly scanned everything on his table and without taking a glimpse at Eleta. Noticing his impatience, Eleta looked down at the sheets in her clammy hands. They were all damp now from the sweat she built up while sitting in the waiting room for so long. Breathing in slowly and letting it out, she started with the first line of her lyrics. Words tumbled out of her mouth and matched with her melody. Instead of the cold director that was sitting there in front of her, she imagined her father and mother seated there.

Her father would have had tears flowing down his eyes watching his little girl all grown up and now singing for God's glory. Her mother's arms would have been linked around her father's sturdy elbows and leaning against his shoulders, watching the little frail girl she once knew eight years ago standing strong and courageous.

Her voice echoed out many emotions of love, longing, and hope, immersing through the studio and reaching the director's narrow ears. The director's eyes raised to the girl standing in front of him intrigued. She has so much emotion...such control too, and she knows where in the lyrics she should use them best...something you rarely see in the entertainment industry. She could probably help boost BHE's sales if we sign a contract with her, he thought.

Eleta continued to voice her lyrics not noticing the director amused by her performance. Her stomach and body felt lighter and not heavy with stress or nervousness anymore. She felt she could sing in front of anyone now and didn't have that fear of performing in front of people. As her voice continued to surround the director's ears, not one of them noticed a blonde-haired girl entering from the back of the room. Within seconds, her clear blue eyes went icy cold.