Classic Rock Shorts

That Boy Is On Fire: Queen

Freddie's head lulls over onto John's shoulder the bus bumps up shaking them up but not waking them. They’ve been on the bus for what seems like hours now. Well they have been on the tour bus for a day now and they’ve been playing Scrabble non stop. Roger is face down on the board snoring loudly. John’s pretty sure Roger inhaled a scrabble tile by now. Brian is curled up on a booth seat, a coat tossed over him.

 He must be the only one awake now. What time is it anyways? 4? 5? 8? John looks around for a clock. John lifts up Roger’s wrist and turns it, reading his watch, 

“7:45AM.” John mutters, setting Roger’s arm down. He stretches and rubs at his knees. He must have dozed off sometime after Roger fell asleep. His eyes flicker over to some flyers scattered over the tables. Burning Man was this June, Roger probably wanted to go to it, either that or Woodstock which was peeking out underneath it.

John sips his drink and eases Freddie down as he gets up. He walks towards the back and gets some jerky. He munches on it as one of their assistants comes out from the back and offers to work on John so he’s ready once the bus parks. John reluctantly agrees and the assistant prepares him and gets him ready. The smell of  hairspray made him queasy as it was spilt all over him but he didn't want to change.

Finally they arrive at their next show. They all pile out Roger swatting at his face, digging Scrabble pieces out of his skin on his forehead the letters d, i,c,k were imprinted onto his forehead. The assistant helps the other three get ready and their hair done.  They hurry around grabbing equipment and stumbling over their feet. First rehearsal, then breakfast, then more rehearsals, then break off for a few hours until the big concert starts.

They start performing Liar. Freddie leans back to John so he can sing into the microphone too. Freddie’s long ebony hair tickles John’s face as he swings his head back. He had to suppress a giggle. The stage lights were so bright it made John sweat. After it grows dark hours later the real concert starts. The stadium fills up with millions of people. The crowd screams their names. The stage is buzzing, it rings John’s ears.

There’s the sparklers going off bright and festive right at the end. Fireworks go off and the crowd screams but the screams sound different. John couldn’t pick out what was wrong.

Brian shouts, “You’re on fire!”

“Thanks!” John shouts back, grinning at him.

Freddie’s eyes bug and he stops the music, “Deaky!”

John sniffs the air and looks down. He screams his bell bottoms were on fire. Ratty splashes him with a water bottle. The crowd is going wild as John tosses his bass at Freddie and he pats down his pants leg. They think it’s part of the show now.

The sparklers are put out and they take their bows before rushing off backstage. John’s pants are taken off before he can even get to the changing room. A medic is checking out John’s leg and rubbing some cream onto it. Thankfully John’s pants took the most damage and his leg only has a reddish pink mark on it.