It was a bright day in Greenwich, Connecticut when Ember Lane told showed her mother she could sing. Her mother was opposed to the idea first because of their money situation, but, when Ember on three competitions in a row she saw this as a way to get more. Her mother soon got more and more strict. Whenever she was home all her mom did was make her practice songs, she had no friends, and when she tried to run away, her neighbors would rat her out. She was forced to put on a smile in each performance, whether she liked it or not, and each time it felt like she was painted that way.
Her only escape was sleeping which she only got a few hours of each night, and she never got a chance to go to school, so although she was twelve, she still was in 5th grade. It wasn't like she disliked singing, it was just that her mom made her sing so much it lost all of its appeal, and it started to feel like a chore.
One day she found a song book titled Freedom Through the Years, with in different languages, but mostly English, about freedom and all of them were songs she had never heard before, which as a rare experience. Most were from the 1960's to the last couple of years. They were titled Brown Girl by Aaradhna,Respect by Aretha Franklin, and Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. Ever since she found this book she kept it hidden from anybody in case her mother found out that she was looking at songs that she was not assigned to sing. It was one of these days in the summer when he mother was out shopping and she was outside practicing when a boy around her age came up behind her and yanked on her hair, hard.
"Do you believe in loOOVE OUCH!" She looked around and then down quickly; she was never good with other people. And especially not good looking and well dressed, teenage boys
"What, I just wanted you to shut up that screeching, I've heard it every day for the past like month. So, shut up would you!"
"Oh, sorry I'll go sing inside." He yanked harder.
"What don't you get? Just. Shut. Up." He yanked each word then let go and Ember ran inside crying. She was in her room lying on her bed sobbing; when her mom stomped up the stairs and slammed the door open.
"Why in the name of God are you not practicing?"
"Well, there was this boy…"
Her mother ignored her, "Do want to win finals next week, or not, I spent all this time and money for you to do what you love! This is how you repay me? I am flying you to New York City!"
"Well, actually…"
"Oh, and might I mention I got you cough drops, and you didn't even ask me to. I personally think that was very kind of me. Especially since you have been complaining and complaining about how your throat so much." She did the last for words in a poor imitation of Embers. This was what most days were like, some were better some were worse. Some days she was forced to practice so much that her throat felt like it was tearing apart. Some days, usually when she got a new song, she would enjoy it for once, practice it for a day happily. Then her mother asks to her it and she sings it perfectly, and her mother finds nothing to not complain about, her voice is too high, her voice is too low, too fast, too slow. Never perfect in her mother's eyes, why? She didn't know.
It was the eve of the finals and Ember passed out on the porch steps, exhausted from staying up two nights in a row. She only got a few minutes rest before her mother came out and honked a really loud air horn, for about a minute. The neighbors stayed quiet as the usual bout of yelling commenced, about how she "wasn't trying hard enough" and if she "wanted to repay all the kind things done to get her where she is now".
The features she disliked most about herself was her lashes, eyebrows, and her eye shape and her hazel eyes, simply because those were the only features she got from her mother. While her mother was pale as a sheet, red haired, and freckled, Ember had tanned skin, brown hair, and relatively clear skin, save for the occasional pimple. While her mother's eyes had an angry light in them, Ember's had more of a gentle glow, like fireflies.
It was nearly twenty minutes later when her mother stopped yelling and told Ember to start singing or she would not get caugh drops for a week. Ember did not even really like them, they never helped with her throat, but she would do anything to top her mother from yelling. Even if the relief was only a few minutes long, plus they gave her a chance to take a break when she was feeling particularly, for lack of a better word, bleh.
It took about an hour and a fifteen minutes get from her house to the motel they were staying at. They got a tiny rundown room and while her mother got the bed she had to sleep in the bathroom floor which was cramped as it was. There was enough room on the bed, but her mother did not like sharing things.
It took her mother an hour and a half to get ready before the performance. When they finally got there it was a few contestants before her, and she was getting ready. It was finally her turn, and when she got called up, there was a smattering of applause. She saw the familiar look in her mother's eyes, a mixture of greed, anger, and pleasure. She gave the judges her name and age, they then started playing the music when she had a sudden idea. What if she used the same tune, but different words, she was confident she could do it, but her mother would possibly strangle her when the competition. This was going to happen, she could take her mother, she hated it, it killed her inside, but she could do it. This all happened all in a few seconds and when she made up her mind she was sure. Why not, she would not get a break from her mother's yelling and consequences, but it was time to stand up for herself.
Have you ever
Dreamed a dream
Where you could
Fly away from the earth
Leaving it all away
Wouldn't it be nice
She sang this all low, quietly. As she was singing, she was gaining more and more confidence and soon started getting louder and louder, soon almost yelling out the couros This gave her the inspiration to start belting out the notes. She was as shocked as the judges were at her lyrics and pace of song.
Why when people say
For we to do
What we are told
Why don't we do
What we want
When we want
Why
She continued on her song, making it up as she went, trying to remember to actually sing, not just yell her feelings into the mike. She started tearing up as she started to slow down again now putting words into it about her mother.
Why do you do this
To me, to them to everyone
How could you do this
Your own flesh and blood
That is what I thought
Oh what I thought
She ended with a long drawn out high note. The judges and the whole audience gave her a standing ovation. Well, the whole audience except for her mother. She stared at her with an expression she Ember could not read. But, for the first time in a long time, Ember smiled, not a fake smile she plastered on for the benefit of her mother, but a real smile. After all these years, after all this time she smiled again.