The music was everything. Standing under the lights for the hundredth, even thousandth time, the darkness of the club out beyond his sight, he knew that he needed to remember that the music was there for him. Music was always there for him, even when he felt alone in crowded rooms, or when the fear of going on stage would grip him, twisting in his belly as if someone were tying knots in his guts. He tried to breathe, tried to focus on the first lines of music that would come through him and his instrument as he put it to his lips, tried to find the solace that this thought usually brought.
On the edge of his awareness he could hear the MC announcing the act, and then he heard Buzz start the beat on the drums. He opened his eyes and looked up at Tom, watching for him to cue him in. The bassline started to build and Tom fixed him in his gaze and then nodded, a four count until he needed to be playing.
Everything slowed down, he raised the flute to his lips and slipped into the melody, and the world fell away.
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