Everything Has Changed

Sleepless in Seattle

July 27th 2023
Santa Clara, California

There was only one month left to go!

The jet touched down in Santa Clara in the early hours of the morning. The sun was only just beginning to rise, painting a beautiful dawn painting across the Californian skyline. Taylor could not believe that it was coming up to the final month of the US leg of the Eras Tour. She would then take a well deserved two and a half months off to rest and recover. What she was going to do in that time was unclear; most likely working on re records, her newest album that would come out at some point in 2024 and planning the release of 1989: Taylors Version.

Tree was sat in seats in the front of the cabin, working on something press related and responding to emails. Taylor could not possibly fathom what it was that was so important that Tree had to respond to it this early in the morning. Taylor checked the time on her phone. It read 5:53am.

Jesus Christ !

But she ignored it, and carried on focussing on the beautiful sunrise that had gotten brighter as they taxied into the airport hangar. She disembarked from the plane, making her way towards the car that had been sent ahead for her and Tree to travel in to the hotel. Her dancers had already arrived the night before and the set had been flown down the day after the final Seattle show. Taylor had one full day of relaxation in Santa Clara before the day of the next concert but she had no major plans. Nothing to fill her time with other than her own thoughts. She would be in Los Angeles next week and that would be the time she would spend time with her friends who lived out there: the likes of Selena and Keleigh.

The ride to the hotel was quick and smooth with them arriving not long after 7am. It was an easy domestic flight from Seattle to Santa Clara. A quick 2 hour flight. They had left early in the morning because that was the time the air traffic control team had given them and it was also to avoid the stalkers. The people who thought it was ok to track her flights and her every move. As a celebrity, or just a person who chooses to put themselves in the public eye, you at least expect people to be interested in what you are doing in your private life. But this is something not even celebrities should have to sign up for. It isn't harmless fun, or adoration for an idol. It is stalking; a statutory crime. And yet, nobody gets punished. But Taylor gets ridiculed if she dares speak a word about it. It isn't worth it. Not the bad press or the time and energy a campaign like that would take. It was a damn sight easier to take awkward flight times and routes, no matter how much it fucked around with her sleep schedule. And she had the bed in the plane. She would hate to know what it did to Tree, who never seemed to sleep. She was like a ginger haired Edward Cullen; she was pale enough, Taylor thought to herself.

Once inside the hotel Taylor slumped down onto the huge soft bed beneath her, ready to take a quick Power Nap before facing the day fully. It didn't't take long for sleep to come to her. She thought she heard faint knocking in the background of her dream but it wasn't loud enough for her to distinguish where it was even coming from, if it was there at all. So Taylor ignored it and carried on with whatever she was dreaming about. It had been a delightful dream, if slightly off brand for her. Sure her dreams had been weird and eccentric over the years; it was what comes with a vivid and poetic imagination. However this time it felt eery.

She had been on a beach, it was summer time but she wasn't at her usual spots in Los Angeles or even her private beach area in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. No this was somewhere far more exotic. Taylor couldn't quite pin where it was exactly but it must have been somewhere in the Caribbean or the South Pacific. Wherever it was, it was spectacularly beautiful. Warm white sand beneath her feet, a beautiful turquoise blue sea blowing salty air through the natural waves of her hair. She could hear a faint noise of someone calling out to her. She turned to see a small little girl running towards her and to her surprise, Taylor also springs forward and runs towards the little girl, engulfing her in a hug. That was strange because she looked so familiar yet she was not anyone in her life. A man whose face she couldn't make out, it was all blurry, came towards her with a little boy in his arms. The man was tall, taller than average and extremely handsome. Not anyone who Taylor had dated before or even met. Even stranger. "Mama" The little girl in her arms said to her before nuzzling her blonde hair into Taylor's neck.