City Gurl

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I step into the little room and see Mr. Stevens sitting in a chair in front of a small platform. I gulp and smile and him nervously.

"Good afternoon, Evelyn," Mr. Stevens greets pleasantly. I nod in return and ruffle through my scripts absentmindedly. He gestures to the platform. "You may start." He looks at my list. "I see you would like to be Eponine."

"Yes," I say. Very much.

"Ok, then. Go." I step up onto the platform and take a deep breath. I'd warmed up earlier, but I need more time, probably. Ok, Evelyn, you can do this.

"And now I'm all alone again

Nowhere to turn, no one to go to

Without a home, without a friend

Without a face to say hello to

But now the night is near

Now I can make-believe he's here...

Sometimes I walk alone at night

When everybody else is sleeping

I think of him, and then I'm happy

With the company I'm keeping

The city goes to bed

And I can live inside my head...

On my own

Pretending he's beside me

All alone

I walk with him 'til morning

Without him

I feel his arms around me

And when I lose my way

I close my eyes

And he has found me

In the rain

The pavement shines like silver

All the lights

Are misty in the river

In the darkness

The trees are full of starlight

And all I is see

Is him and me

Forever and forever

And I know

It's only in my mind

That I'm talking to myself

And not to him

And although

I know that he is blind

Still I say

'There's a way for us!'

I love him

But when the night is over

He is gone

The river's just a river

Without him

The world around me changes

The trees are bare

And everywhere the streets

Are full of strangers

I love him

But everyday I'm learning

All my life

I've only been pretending

Without me

His world will go on turning