Better Together

Chapter 3

Chapter Three:  It all breaks loose

The show was fabulous!  Music was great and the boys sounded outstanding.  Having been to a few concerts in my past, I knew they were really putting it all out there.  Lights, cameras and the big screens really brought it all to life and made everything close and interactive.

We had been sitting next to another mother daughter pair.  The daughter was younger than Lian.  She looked closer to 12.  The mom did not look like she had gone to 1D training camp like I had and seemed to not be enjoying the show.  I felt bad for her, I knew that I could have been that mom.  But I felt proud of her for doing this for her daughter because she was so happy to be there.

Towards the end of “Strong” I saw them arguing.  I heard restroom and no way being tossed out.  The mom looked well and truly pissed.

“I’m sorry” I yelled in her direction.  “Can I help with something?”  I understood all too well the need to go and a whiney kid giving you grief for it.

“I need to go to the restroom and she won’t leave.  I feel awkward just leaving her here by herself.”

“I will watch her, it’s ok.  I know how hard it is.  I promise, I will make sure she stays safe.”

“I couldn’t ask.  We are strangers.  That feels rude of me.”

“I’m Jillian.  This is my daughter Lian.  Now we are not strangers and you didn’t ask, I offered.  Please, it’s not rude at all.  She will be safe, I promise.”

I could see she was wrestling with her decision.  I would have as well.  She finally looked at me and said “I’m Maria and this is Lizzy.  Thank you for your help.  I don’t think I can make it until the end.”  She smiled gratefully, then turned to Lizzy and yelled something in her ear.  Lizzy just shook her head and kept ‘rocking out’.

Maria smiled and mouthed thank you again as she squeezed past us to head up to the restrooms.

It was well over an hour into the show and “Strong” was ending and the boys were making their way to the end of the stage where there was a rectangular platform area.  As they made it there they started singing “Better Than Words” and the stage started to rise!  Up it went, and as it did, it revealed another display area that was all lights with computer graphics.  The four screens behind the stage were showing the same computer generated show of the boys.  It was all quite fabulous.

We were signing and yelling and truly enjoying the displays.

Just as quickly as it stated, it suddenly stopped.  Darkness fell on the stage and all the screens.  An eerie electrical sound, like something you might hear in a haunted house death chamber at Halloween, was emitting from the raised stage.

The boys stopped singing and then the raised platform they were standing on collapsed.  It just fell straight down and hit with a tremendous whoosh of air and dust billowing a full 360 degrees.  The sound of the landing was indescribable.  Almost like a car crash but with an explosive sound to it.