When my eyes locked with his, Michael quickly looked away, focusing once again on the mountains. "People say the eyes are the window to the soul." he began. "It's moments like these that make me think that they are right." Silence followed his decree; the good kind of silence. That kind of silence you could stay in forever. But eventually, it was broken. "I'm going to a hospital when we get to Vienna. A children's hospital for the terminally ill." Michael stated. Then, turning to me; "I want you to come with me." I didn't say anything at first, caught off guard by the invitation, which Michael took as hesitation. "There won't be any press, just a few members of my management team and a couple bodyguards, and nobody knows I'm going so there shouldn't be any tabloids showing up, and-"
"I'd love to go." I interrupted before he rambled out more reassurances.
"Really?" He smiled, seeming shocked by my answer.
"Honestly." I promised.
"I'll call you when I get in! You can meet me at my room then I'll take you to the car." he continued, laying out a plan in his head.
As promised, the call came the morning we arrived in Vienna. It was another city that only had one showing in store. He gave me the room number and a time to be there then hung up to get ready. Despite not having any press around, this was still a public appearance so we had to play the part. Teagan pulled out a classy, fitted black dress and helped me with my makeup and hair. "Don't get into any trouble." she warned, letting the last curls fall from the hot iron.
"It's Michael." I said. "Trouble is inevitable."
At that, Teagan sent me out the door and I made my way to Michael's room. He wore a black fitted shirt with buckles down the arm, a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes. "Ready to go?" he asked as I stepped inside, turning to greet me with a smile. I nodded, so together we walked, through the endless maze of hallways that dumped into the parking garage where a car waited with tinted windows to hide the inside. The driver opened the door and Michael gestured for me to enter, climbing in behind me. This car was all the security we had for this trip. The goal was to attract as little attention as possible.
A woman waited for us outside the main entrance, pacing back and forth nervously. We pulled up to the drive and got out of the car. "Mr. Jackson!" she greeted with a smile, holding out her hand. Michael shook it and the woman turned to me.
"This is Quinn, one of my lighting technicians." he introduced and the woman shook my hand, looking at the two of us as if trying to piece together some story that wasn't there. The door was opened and Michael walked in, pulling me with him. There was an excitement brewing inside him. The woman rushed to keep up, struggling behind us with a clipboard that listed the order we were to go in.
"The second door to your right, Mr. Jackson." she sputtered and Michael followed, turning into the room where a young boy resided. He sat up with the biggest smile, tubes connecting him to heavy machinery that stood like an anchor beside his bed. Michael sat at the child's feet, handing the boy a plush elephant.
"What's your name?" Michael asked as the child took the toy. A translator reciting the question in the boy's own tongue.
"Marco." he replied, inspecting the stuffed animal thoroughly.
"Have you ever seen an elephant before?" Michael wondered. Marco shook his head. "They're quite magnificent creatures. I read in a nature book once that said when they fall on their sides they become trapped by their own weight and can't get back up. Because of this, they never lie down, but I like to think there's another reason they refuse to fall." Michael told the boy, watching a spark of wonder light in the child's eyes.
"Elephants came long before humans did on this good earth, so when they first encountered our species, all the great lords of the plains got together to make a pact. They had to decide what message to send us humans. They could trample our fields and stampede through our villages to show their power; for they are far more powerful than us. But they could see we were already angry creatures, so they decided to send us a kinder message. One that showed a reverence for life. So they let us harness them like slaves and exile them from the plains, but the message held strong. It was in their movement. They knew that to live was to move so the herds marched on; one unstoppable force of life that never falls down.
"After all this time, they never would have expected that we would fell them by the masses for the little bit of ivory they have. They could just give up, lay down and make an end to it. But they remember this sacred pledge. Words tread out in the dust, 'Watch, Learn, Love.' And one day, ten thousand ghosts of the once great lords of the plains will march saying, 'We do not hate you, don't you see. We were willing to fall so you, dear small ones, will never fall again.'" By the end of the tale, Marco was holding the elephant tight to his heart, taking in every word, every lesson.
We bid the boy farewell and moved on to the next. Each child received a gift and a story or a song, and in turn, Michael got the greatest gift of all. A smile. Some of the children would dance with him, some just sat and listened, but all gave out a sense of unbounded joy. He leaned over to me as we walked towards a group of kids that played together in a secluded room. "Visiting these kids gives me so much hope and happiness. They're in these terrible situations; circumstances that we could never fathom growing up, yet they still find so much wonder and joy in their lives and it's contagious. When wonder fills our hearts, the whole world abounds with magic."
I looked into his eyes then, truly looked for the first time, and he didn't turn away. "I know." I said, my lips curling into a soft smile. He smiled back, seeing that I really did understand.
A sudden distraction tore him away, as a child tugged at his sleeve. Michael giggled and launched after the kid, playing a game of chase with the group that followed. Squeals of joy and laughter echoed through the hall and I sat in a nearby bench, watching in contempt. Everything about the scene before me was truly and utterly perfect.
YOU ARE READING
One (A Michael Jackson Fan Fiction)
Fanfiction"It's an adventure, it's a great adventure. There's nothing to be nervous about. They just want wonderful experiences. We want to take them places that they've never been before. We want to show them talent like they've never seen before. We're putt...
