Bodies

'So this is what they meant by the thrill', thought Jonathon, the stage lights picking out his gangly frame, the amps turned up high, his beloved sticks in his hands and a sort of nervous excitement that overwhelmed him every now and then. Wow, the feeling of your first ever gig was too good to forget! He was going to make the most of this and play his heart out. He looked out to the audience, about thirty people were huddled in groups around the bar. Alright so it wasn't Wembley, but it was a start right?

All of a sudden the ferocious sound of feedback left the band holding their ears in pain,

"Gah! Clara!" Cried John.

"Okay, I'm sorry! Erm...Hi everyone! We are ' Call My Bluff' and this song is called 'Going Insane'."

The band started playing to a mixed reaction from the "crowd". They weren't exactly super-star status yet, but they weren't the worst band that had ever played at 'The Royal Tavern'. Yes, the barman Gary, had heard a lot poorer.

Their music was hard to describe, it had the standard punk anarchy, chaos and political lyrics, and yet the instruments were oddly melodic. It was kind of hypnotising, until one of the members played a wrong note. When one of the girls or guys went wrong, the bandmates, would glare at each other, oh, you could tell there was a lot of love in this room.

'Fight for out Freedom', was the closing number. Kyle, who played the bass guitar, had written this when his job application at the mall had been turned down because of his facial piercings, as they were not deemed appropriate. He was in a bad mood for days, the band suggested he wrote a song to vent his frustrations and it turned out this was the best tune, that they had in their back catalogue.

' Fight for our freedom,
Don't let the masses win,
They dictate what is "right",
Advocate sin,
Our society is crashing,
Walls are caving in,
Freedom is our saviour,
Don't let the people win'

They finished their set to scattered bursts of applause and numerous drunken shouts.

"Well that could have been a lot worse," John said to himself, feeling elated, as he put his drumsticks down and wiped his sweaty brow.

"It could have been a lot better, John! You screwed up, like, three times in 'Morality'. We practised that for months and you still can't get it right! What is wrong with you?!" Macey the lead guitarist said in a raised voice, "Can't you do anything right?"

Seeing the disappointment and hurt etched across the drummer's face, she softened her tone a little; "Look John, you are a good drummer okay? It's just..."

"I'm not good enough - right?" He retorted and pushed past her.

He pulled up a seat by the bar. He didn't feel in the mood to congratulate the others any more. His skill was obviously not appreciated in this vicinity, the others had messed up as well, yet he was the one getting the blame. As usual, everyone just shifted the responsibility to him. What kind of equal treatment had Clara been talking about when he joined 'Call My Bluff'? Because he wasn't seeing it.

"I know it's tradition for the guy to offer, but...would you like a drink?" A smooth female voice inquired, "You kind of look like you need one."

"Erm...Jack Daniels please?" He replied, too wrapped up in himself to acknowledge the person talking to him.

as the woman ordered the beverages, from Gary, he caught a sideway glance of her. 'WOW', was the only word buzzing through his head at that moment, maybe this night wasn't so bad after all.

"The name's Pauline by the way," She added as she handed him his whiskey.