Just A Sick Muse

Your whole life is leading up to this.

That's the tagline of season one of my favorite TV show ever, Six Feet Under. Sadly it was only five seasons long, (By choice, not cancellation.) But it was the only show to ever affect me in such an emotional way in such a short time.

Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends.

That's the tagline of season five. The final season. The end. Six Feet Under is now Six Feet Under.
What does this have to do with anything? Nothing really. Just good taglines that are true for everyone. There's always something that your life is leading up to, and Everything, Everyone, Everywhere...Ends.

My whole life has been leading up to this. I moved from San Jose to LA about six months ago where I'm attending art school. I don't really expect to make a living selling paintings or anything, but it's just a hobby I have and enjoy doing. I'm also a performance artist on the streets of Hollywood with a group of friends. I've got my own apartment, although not in the nicest part of town, where I live with my dog and some fish.

My family thinks I'm a bum and doesn't agree with my life choices which has kind of caused a rift in our relationship. I've talked to my mom once since I moved and I haven't talked to my dad or sister at all. I figure that one day they'll come around. If not, what can you do? Besides that fact, I like to think I'm pretty happy.

"Hello?" I answered my ringing phone.

"Ellie, there's a family thing going on downtown, we're gonna head down and find a spot. You in?" My friend Lisa asked. She's one of the group I perform with. We find busy spots on the street to make maximum cash.

"Yeah, I'm down."

"Alright I'll pick you up in twenty minutes." She said.

"Kay, thanks. See you then." I said hanging up.

"Come on, Dandy. Let's go for a walk." I called out to my dog. I got back ten minutes later and changed my clothes. I packed my costumes, makeup and props, into my duffel bag and headed down to the lobby of my building to wait for Lisa. When she pulled up I got in.

"Yo, Elles. This is gonna be Fuuuuuuuun." She dragged out.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"I think we're gonna do the robot skit." Lisa said. The robot skit is something we do that is pretty weird. We all dress in shiny silver coveralls and put silver makeup on our exposed skin (Face, neck, hands) and do "robot-y things". It's odd, but it makes people stop and pay attention. It also attracts kids attention which brings the parents also. And since this was apparantly a family event that was going on, it seemed like the best choice. We had many different kinds of performance pieces, adult pieces, funny pieces, serious pieces, strange pieces and sometimes we improvised. Sometimes we talked, sometimes we were silent, sometimes we danced, sometimes we stood still. Above all, we have fun. Although we don't make that much money, once in a while we can make up to a few thousand a performance. Depends on the spot we pick, the day and choosing the right piece for the situation.

After about a twenty minute drive we found a parking place and met at the corner the other two group members had told us to meet them at. They were already dressed and ready to go. Our four member performance troupe was called "LA Bombsquad" and consisted of Myself (Ellie, 23 Years old), Lisa who is 24, Bobby who is 25 and Devon who is 23. I joined the group less than a month after I moved to LA. It just seemed very "me".

Lisa and I finished getting ready and we began our routine. As was predicted the kids wanted to stop and have a look which ended up bringing parents, which ended up bringing everyone else, even if it was only for a few minutes. We performed with a couple short breaks for about two hours before we decided to pack it in. We all got into the same car since the guys had taken public transit and Bobby started counting the money.

"That was fun." I said from the passenger seat.

"Definitely. I think we probably made more money today then we have for a couple months." Bobby said lifting his head quickly from his counting before going back to work.

"We need to make sure we always hit up busier places. It's kind of a waste of time to go somewhere that's literally dead. We should get a list of events in the city or something and hit them all up." Devon said.

"Yeah, I guess. But don't forget that we aren't just doing this for the money..." Lisa trailed off.

"Maybe not, but I don't see any of you with alternate jobs. We've still got to live." I added.

"Yeah. I guess." She repeated. That was when my phone started ringing again.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey hows it bitch?" I heard from the other end of the phone.

"Mattaaay. What's up? I just finished a performance at the family day downtown."

"Sweet. Nothing really up here. I'm bored and alone." Matt replied.

"Boo Hoo. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Would you keep it down guys? I'm trying to count!" Bobby growled and the others laughed.

"I just wanted to make sure I was right and that it is your birthday next friday?"

"That would be right." I said in a suspicious voice.

"Sweet bye." He said and hung up.

"How rude." I said putting my phone in my lap.

"What?" Lisa asked.

"Eh, nothing." I laughed.

"We made, I think, Two thousand five hundred and fifty Dollars and seventy-six cents." Bobby said.

"Alright!"