Dreaming In Stereo

Part 1 -- It Started With Ethan

He stood on the stage, sweating. His voice felt scratchy and hoarse. In front of him was a sea of audience faces, all gazing up intently at his own. The boy breathed once to calm his nerves, but then the music started to play. He opened his mouth and sang the first words.

He was a young boy of merely thirteen, tall and slim, crouched on the second step of his front porch with his shoulders slightly slumped forward. A slight, trembling breeze tumbled over the lawn, splashing streaks of soft brown hair over a pair of deep, light brown eyes.The boy instinctively reached his hands up and pulled his light grey beanie down over his ears. The world was drowning, his senses blurring and narrowing, and all that he could comprehend was that distinctive pounding in his chest.

"Ethan!" A warm female voice sprinkled through the air.

Ethan turned around and saw his mum, an attractive woman in her early forties hurrying down the stairs. She was dressed in a white tank top and her brown hair was pulled back in a quick ponytail.

"Yeah, mum?" Ethan's voice was drowned in a heavy Australian accent which he had grown up in and around.

"Come in and have some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry..."

Mrs Karpathy sighed. It was unlike her thirteen year old son, who was a natural extrovert, always pumping with adrenaline and ready to go, to be so quiet, so nervous. But then again, this was probably one of the biggest days of his entire childhood. He was frightened, and so was she.

"Well, you've got to eat something," Ethan's mum tried yet again with her son. "And you should drink something, too. Maybe bring a bottle of water with you. You don't want your throat to get all dry on the big day."

The big day. That was what the Karpathy family had been calling it for weeks now. Ethan had always been a musical child who loved singing, and in a spur of the moment decision they'd sent in a video of him to be a part of the first ever Voice Kids Australia. There were thousands of other extremely talented children sending in their own videos from all over Australia, so Ethan knew his chances were slim. But just a couple of months ago, they'd been contacted by the Voice Kids. Ethan had gotten himself to the Blind Audition stage. The Karpathy family was going to Sydney, Australia for his first ever performance.

"Yeah, I know," Ethan replied. He stood up and walked back into their house. His younger sister Tahlia was at work with a knife, spreading a thick coat of creamy nutella over her crisp slice of toast. Ethan shuddered. He had tried the chocolate spread once, and thought it disgusting. How it was so popular in America, he hadn't the foggiest idea.

Ethan sat down and nibbled on the crust of his toast. He sipped some orange juice, and then placed the half empty glass back on the table.

"Ethan...?" His mum asked, reaching her hands out for his. "You're going to be great."

Ethan smiled at his family, and picked up the toast.

Now all four of the Karpathy family were bundled in an airplane, with their suitcases stored away in the overhead compartments. Ethan sat in the window seat next to his mum, while his sister Tahlia sat in the row behind him next to their step-dad.

The teenager had a pair of sleek earphones plugged into his ears. The white cord snaked down to his pocket, where there was an old iPod inside jammed with songs. This particular one was noisy and energetic and fast-paced. The music blared in his ears, and Ethan grinned. Energy came rushing through his fingers, which automatically tapped to the rhythm. He loved music so much it was an integral part of his life. Without it... there'd be no meaning.