Devonne Brown

Being Prompt

“You’re early,”

“You were here first, and it doesn’t start for another hour,” said AJ.

“So, what are you doing here now? Everything’s been done. They’ve got people for everything,”

“I like to fine tune the space’s vibe. Play some music maybe, get the ambiance going in the right direction. Tune the energy to the right frequency,” said AJ.

I was thrown off my game. That was my job. My usual routine was interrupted by someone else’s usual routine. What if the whole vibe thing was like Goldilocks and the three bears? Everything was good but nothing fit and finally broke. I got a headache. If I had to fight for energy, something was wrong. 

“You’re turning gray,” said AJ.

“Nah, just thinking about energy drains me. There’s a lot of it here. 

Music is a lot like fire, once it starts, it feeds from the people and the setting around it. I would have felt better if I’d been here an hour earlier. I felt like I’d lost control over everything. 

“It’s popping and crackling in here, feel it?” said AJ.

I wanted it to slow down. I liked crescendos and decrescendos, they were more trustworthy. In theatre class, the director always said to leave somewhere for yourself to go, whether it’s up, down, or off the stage completely. Leave some space and use it wisely. Wisdom had never been my strong suit. 

A spark from the carpet stung my fingers and lit up my palm. My breath caught. 

“Did you see that? It’s a sign,” I whispered. A message from a spirit had been sent to me, I was sure of it. A message of light was always a good sign unless it was a four alarm fire. I didn’t hear any sirens.

“What kind of sign? Are you off your meds again?” I could tell by his eyes he was joking with me. He had indeed seen the light in palm and hadn’t heard any sirens either.

The spirit of the space stopped chafing, and a guy carried in a bass fiddle followed by two guitar players, a mandolin jockey, and a banjo rider. “Where do you want me to put this thing?” said the bass fiddle dude. The players had arrived, and with them came their sunshine. 

It would be a good day.