Epilogue
“This is our final song for the
evening,” Taylor told the audience as he ran his fingers up and down the keys
of his keyboard. “And if I know you guys as well as I think I do, it’s
one you all know and love. So we want to hear all of you belt this one
out, as loudly as you can.”
Isaac caught Taylor’s eye.
Taylor nodded swiftly.
It was exhilarating, hearing not
only he and his brothers singing the song they had first written long ago, but
hearing the hundreds of girls and guys, who knew each and every lyric and note,
singing the song with them. Purely magical.
I could get used to this, Taylor
thought as the song that they had called MMMBop played. I could
definitely get used to it.
He grinned. All the hurt and
pain he’d put up with for close to six years had finally disappeared; in their
place was a quiet self-realisation of who he now was. A musician with his whole
life ahead of him.
But still he couldn’t ignore the
ache that remained. The knowledge that he truly missed the family he had lost.
And knowing that he could never have them back was the worst part of it all.
He signalled to Isaac just
before they said their farewells. “I just remembered…” He allowed his voice to
trail off into silence. “A few weeks ago, we wrote a song as a dedication to
the family we lost close to six years ago, and we would like to perform it for
you now.”
A silence fell over the crowd. “It’s
called Wish I Could,” Taylor said.
And there, in the silent
theatre, Taylor stepped out from behind the keyboards and took his microphone
up in his left hand. He shoved his right hand into the pocket of his jeans.
Without any accompaniment, and
eyes downcast, he sang his song.
Wish I
could turn back time
Make the
world mine again
Beside me once again
Gonna
make the most of this moment
Gonna
tell it like it is
Gonna
make all that’s false true
But I
can’t take that first step
Without
someone beside me
And that
someone is you
Wish I
could turn back time
Make the
world mine again
Beside me once again
You see
the pictures in the paper
Capturing
a moment
Caught
in colour for all time
You see
a smile on a lil’ girl’s face
Radiance
and happiness
Oh I
wish happiness were mine
Wish I
could turn back time
Make the
world mine again
Beside me once again
Gonna
make the most of this moment
Gonna
tell it like it is
Gonna
make all that’s false true
But I
can’t take that first step
Without
someone beside me
And that
someone is you
Wish I
could turn back time
Make the
world mine again
Beside
me once again
Wish I
could turn back time
Make the
world mine again
Beside
me once again
Wish I
could
Make the
whole world mine
When
the song ended, Taylor finally looked up. Absolute silence. After a few
seconds, the applause started.
Taylor
raised his gaze to the dark ceiling.
“Thank
you for giving me the courage to banish my demons,” he whispered.
Then
he, along with Isaac and Zac, farewelled the crowd and went backstage.
“Taylor,
you’re smiling,” Isaac noted. “You’re not on drugs, are you? ‘Cause that’s what
the press is gonna think.”
“Let
them think what they want. Besides, this shows them one thing.”
“And
what, may I ask, is that?”
Taylor
grinned. “That Hanson is back, and we’re back with a vengeance.”
“Ooh,
fighting words,” Zac said, pretending to shiver with fear.
“Damn
straight they are.”
All
the way home, Taylor kept thinking the same thing over and over.
Maybe
this won’t be so bad, after all.
