“Are you ready?”

Her voice cut through my anxiety with a swiftness unlike any blade.

I answered honestly.

“No. I’m still feeling a bit of that old stage fright.”

“That’s okay,” she replied, calmly. “It’ll go just like our rehearsals.”

Our rehearsals…

Before my thought could complete, she silenced my mind with a snap of her fingers. The lights of the dressing room took on a dreamy hue. I smiled blissfully.

“It’s showtime, my beautiful doll.”

~

I stepped onto the stage.

The lights warmed my body like soft, warm rocks.

I took a deep breath and began to sing.

My body followed my tutor’s programming before I could think anything of it. If I could think anything of it.

My voice was, as she had told, beautiful. My body’s graceful movements were, as she had decreed, beautiful. And when my performance had ended, the audience gave a standing ovation befitting of a singer who was, as she had said, beautiful.

~

I came to slowly, gradually, awakened by the thick scent of flowers outside my dressing room.

I heard a knock and said, “Come in. It’s open.”

My tutor walked in with a hurried smile.

“How do you get in here with all those flowers in the way?” she asked with a chuckle.

“I guess all of those rehearsals paid off, huh?”

She smiled. “A lot of them did, for sure.”

“A lot…?”

Before that thought could compose itself, she snapped her fingers again, quieting my mind.

“Yes, an excellent debut.”

“An excellent debut…” I repeated softly.

“Now, I’ve arranged for all these flowers to be delivered to your apartment by tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’ve called a taxi. You may join me at my place to… celebrate.”

My body pleasantly shuddered at that last word.

“Yes…” I responded with a blank smile. “Celebrate.”