One Lonely Stage

Delphine is sat at her vanity behind the magnificent stage she is set to step out on in any moment. Her stylist is rushing about making last minute fixes to her already impeccable appearance because, in his words, ‘You can never look too immaculate.’ She steadies her hands on the changed lyrics and notes she is to hit tonight, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s the last of her worries. No, tonight is important because it’s her last night to get a new patron.

For all the glitter and gold that is projected in the opera house, it’s known among those still working at it, that the decline has been steady. Delphine is the last singer to remain because truly she doesn’t wish to see the Austerus Luscinia closed. It’s the only place she has found solace and the only place to where she feels her voice can be heard. After all, everyone is there to listen to the emotion of a performance and not so much the lyrics of a dead language.

“Now, now,” Julian, her stylist, interrupts her inner monologue. “Enough of that pout, you’ll put early wrinkles in your face. Are you ready for tonight?”

Delphine offers a slight smile, “As ready as I ever will be, Jules. This will be the first time I sang in the common tongue since I was a kinder.”

“You speak like an old lady, just get your dress on and get out there! But no messing up my work, I’ve made you flawless,” Julian waves her to the dressing screen where her dress is hung over the top.

She laughs brightly as she goes to change, slipping on the deep blue gown with its long lace sleeves and covered in delicate crystals, “I would never dream of wounding your pride by having people think I do not look the part.”

Delphine does a small spin for Julian and he claps excitedly as he ushers her to the curtains. She can hear the crowd falling silent and see the lights dimming from just beneath the slim edge of curtain that doesn’t touch the stage. Delphine breathes in deeply, straightens her posture, and prepares to do what she has been born to do- sing.

She does not see the crowd as the curtain rises nor does she bother to look at them. Delphine is accompanied by background dancers who will act out her song- something they’ve worked on extensively to add something new to the routine. Delphine has always thought the new gimmicks the opera manager comes up with are useless, but she thinks this might be the correct choice for once. She had a hand in the entirety of the choreography, the story, the minimal set pieces, and even the costumes. Delphine cannot allow all her hard work to crumble before her.

The orchestra begins the opening notes and she smiles lightly and leans ever so slightly to the microphone set out just for her:

‘Darling, in the night

I’ve searched for you, calling you

The moon never answers and

Neither does the sea

Are you trapped

In the air? Or down below?

Why, I’ve been grasping for

Signs of you everywhere I go

The birds repeat me,

And the whales lament

Singing the ache I feel

That I cannot heal

Darling, in the night

I’ve searched for you, calling you

The moon never answers and

Neither does the sea

Can you hear me

Where you are?

Can you feel me

In the dark?

The cicadas scream for me,

And the lions roar

Begging the way I cannot

Pleading you’re not caught

Darling, in the night

I’ve searched for you, calling you

The moon never answers and

Neither does the sea

Please leave me not behind

Come back and I promise

I’ll be kind

I’ll be kind’

The notes end as does the last violin left playing and silence resounds in the auditorium. Delphine swears she’d be able to hear a pin drop from the furthest row with the deafening silence. A small smile pulls at her lips as the orchestra immediately picks up another tune- one more foreboding and demanding than the last. Delphine sings out again:

‘Darling, you’ve left me

You have driven me mad

I will run you down

I will take you back

You ruin me as I

As I ruin you

I bear your scars,

Will you bear mine?

Will you bear this lonely life?

Can you condemn me indefinitely?

Why will you not face me?

When can we meet again?

Darling, you’ve left me

You have driven me mad

I will track you down

I will take you back

Our blood has mixed

Salvia exchanged

Yet deny me all you can

I know your heart beats for me

Bloody and raw, I’ll take you

Torn and chewed, I’ll cage you

Bound and strung, we will be together

Tied and entwined, you will be mine’

The whole act ends with two of the dancers strung together with stage pieces of metal hooks- that she knows is just hard plastic- pierced into their flesh colored body suits. Fake blood coats the two and the floor, a bloody beautiful piece of work, all behind wood painted gold that frames them in a cage.

Delphine takes a delicate bow as the curtains fall and the hushed crowd erupts in applause. This, this will for sure save Austerus Luscinia. This will save her.