It's dark tonight. It's always dark at night, sure. That's what I like about the night. But tonight is the kind of blackness that swallows anything further than a foot from your face. Maybe it's even the kind of darkness that'd never give it back.

Even in the club, it's dark. The lights are low, the neon sign is off, and the old disco ball's layer of dust isn't disturbed. This was all by request, of course. My request. I've always felt that the night should extend to the world inside of our homes, our offices, our destinations.

This is a song I haven't sung in years. I'm not afraid of the reception, I'm afraid of myself. I know the song is always a big hit. It just seems like it's the wrong idea to sing it here and now.

I walk up onto the stage. The crowd is silent. Usually crowds cheer for me. They must see it in my eyes. The reason I'm here is the same reason I'd rather not be. Sure, I could hide it, but why would I? Expression produces either rejection or sympathy. They take more detailed forms, sure, but on some level you're always looking for one of the two, and you never know which you'll get.

Tonight it's sympathy. I'm glad for that.

I know I don't want to, but I know they're expecting it. So I go ahead and give the song an introduction.

"This song has a lot of different interpretations. Of course, the original band has said many times what they meant when they wrote it. I agree with them. But for me, it's more personal. This song is a tear in my heart and a stain on my skin. You'll know it when you hear it."

The guitar starts up. There are glowing looks of recognition in the crowd, but nobody says anything. Their eyes do all the talking, and they're only speaking to mine.

It's time for me to sing.

"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas rising up through the air."

A few more people recognize the song. Still there are no words vocalized.

"Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim. I had to stop for the night."

A stronger guitar riff.

"There she stood in the doorway. I heard the mission bell. And I was thinking to myself this could be Heaven or this could be Hell."

By now everyone's recognized the song. My eyes have adjusted to the dark and I can see all the way through the club. There are some special guests in the back. And their eyes are conversing with mine just like everyone else's.

"Then she lit up a candle, and she showed me the way. There were voices down the corridor. I thought I heard them say: Welcome to the Hotel California. Such a lovely place. Such a lovely face. Plenty of room at the Hotel California. Any time of year, you can find it here."

The rest of the song I run through automatically. I let the sympathy of these people wash over me. The sympathy of all of them, humans, cats, hedgehogs, dogs, bats, foxes... it doesn't matter. I'm here for all of them and they're all here for me. All of us have secrets we never tell. But our eyes share them every day.

The guests in back have the most outspoken eyes. They know me. Well, everyone here knows me, they're my fans. But the guests in back look like they're already friends.

The last line of the song. The big one.

"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!"

The rest of the song is instrumental. I'm not about to stick around for that. The guests in back want to meet me, and I need to meet them. Our eyes told each other.

So I walk up to them while the song was still going. Now that I'm offstage there's chatter again. But these two guests are dead silent. So I go up and shake their hands.

"Hello Sonic, Silver. We know each other very well."