Run to Me

Chapter 4: 1963

Twelve year old Amanda Lancaster sat cross-legged in her living room, resting warmly in her pajamas on the couch under a nice, satin blanket. Her mother Julie was seated opposite of her in an armchair, facing their television set, which buzzed with anticipation. Outside their cozy Manchester home, a blizzard was pouring down. Snow was falling from every direction, building up almost two feet on the sidewalks. Nobody had been able to get in or out of their homes for the past several days, and school had been cancelled for at least a week. Yes, this sudden December snowstorm was one of the heaviest that England had seen in a long while. But as long as there was hot cocoa in the pantry and a nice fire in the fireplace to toast up the house, the whole epidemic wasn’t too terrible. On that particular night, it was a quarter to twelve, way past Mandi’s normal bedtime. But it was a very special occasion. The girl’s two best friends, Robin and Maurice Gibb, were going to make their very first debut on national television.

About a year earlier, the boys and their family had decided a change was needed and immigrated to Australia. It had been a very tearful goodbye, and it was even harder for Mandi to adjust to life without them. The three did everything together, and now that she had to walk to school alone and sit in class alone and play in the yard alone, it was almost unbearable. But time passed and healed, and the kids had kept in touch, calling each other every week. She was doing a lot better at the moment. Anyways, the Gibb boys had always been very talented. Their constant singing and harmonizing didn’t stop once they got to Australia, in fact, it just propelled through the roofs. Robin and Maurice, along with their older brother Barry, sang everywhere they could manage to find an open spot. Bathrooms, parks, local races, you name it. They soon were discovered by a local disc jockey, who passed them on to the producer of a local Australian talent show. Once he heard their angelic voices, he knew for sure that they were going to be big. He booked a spot for the Gibb brothers, now known as the Bee Gees, on his television program, which broadcasted worldwide. The twins had dialed Mandi back home in England as soon as they heard the news. She had promised since the day that they met that she would always be there to support them…and she intended to keep that promise no matter what. So here she sat, bundled up warmly from head to toe, getting ready to watch her two best friends make their big break. The boys had managed to get to a phone and called her right before they went on. Mandi held the receiver to her ear as she waited patiently for the show to begin.

“Aren’t you the least bit nervous? If I were in your shoes, I’d be sweating buckets.” She giggled into the speaker.

“Me? Nervous? Mandi, get real here. I was born for this.” Robin replied nonchalantly. He had never really been one for stage fright. If anything, Robin was a huge ham who loved to get the audience laughing. He was right…he had been born for this. He’d been born to entertain. This was the perfect opportunity to finally show the world just how great he could be. Mandi smiled to herself. She knew that he was going to be fine.

“Well, how about Maurice and Barry? Are they okay? Or are their egos as big as yours?” She joked, knowing very well that that would push his buttons. And there was nothing that the girl loved more than pushing Robin’s buttons, for he was just as feisty as she was.

“Excuse you!” He scoffed. “Well, Barry’s okay. He’s over in the corner, tuning his guitar and sulking because Mum is making us wear these ridiculous matching outfits. She claims that they make us look handsome, but I think that they’re just going to brand us as dorks in front of the whole world.” He laughed, before pausing briefly. “Maurice is kind of freaking out, though. He’s really sweaty and looks like he’s about to throw up.” Robin admitted. Mandi’s heart dropped. If there was one major difference between the twins, it was that. Robin could go out and win a crowd just as well as their older brother could. Maurice, on the other hand, didn’t have that ability. She often wondered how Barry and Robin had even managed to convince him to be a performer, but she knew that once he got comfortable enough, Maurice could be a star. He could easily get an audience to its feet if he put his heart to it. It just took some motivation.