Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 88

On the night of the concert, Bri and Madilyn were in the dressing room with Lea, helping her get ready for her big night.

"And, you're good to go," said Madilyn as she finished applying Lea's makeup.

"How do I look?" asked Lea.

Bri smiled at her. "Stunning, just like a Celtic Woman."

Lea wore a long, white, strapless gown with matching flat dress shoes. She looked in the mirror, and smiled at her reflection.

"Welp, it's showtime," said Madilyn as she and Bri led Lea out to the backstage area.

Sméagol's eyes lit up when he saw her. "Oh, Lea, my precious, you look so beautiful!" he said breathlessly as he hugged her. "My beautiful Celtic Princess."

Lea smiled. "Thanks, Sméagol."

"You ready?" asked Bri.

"Yep," said Lea. "I wish Gollum was here, though."

"Me, too." Bri hugged Lea. "He would be so proud of you. But, Damian is filming the entire concert, so you can play it for him when he comes back."

"Good."

"Okay, I'm gonna go announce you, and then, Sméagol's gonna lead you out onstage."

"Okey dokey."

Bri laughed softly as she walked out onto the stage, and grabbed the microphone. "Good evening, everyone," she said nervously.

"Good evening!" the audience responded happily.

"So, my name is Brianna Haskell. I'm Lea's best friend, and I am totally nervous, because I don't usually speak publicly. So, if I say something stupid, well... deal with it," she joked awkwardly.

The audience laughed.

"So, like I said, Lea Foley is my best friend. We've been best friends for six years now, and she has been a God-sent to me from the beginning. I was very deep into my eating disorder, Bulimia, when we first met, and she always encouraged me and supported me through my recovery. She believed I would get better, and I did. But, she was also fighting her own battle. She's both Autistic and visually impaired, which made things really hard for her. Growing up, she was heavily bullied. She was in one bad relationship after another, abandoned by one fake friend after another, all that fun stuff."

The audience chuckled at Bri's sarcasm.

"You know, it's really hard to find people who accept you when you're 'different,' but even though things were really tough for her, she took her pain, and channeled it into her music. She has an incredible voice, and her songs are just as incredible. Right now, she's fighting her toughest battle yet. Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with cancer, a very aggressive brain tumor. She recently found out that she has only a couple months left to live." Bri felt tears coming, but she managed to swallow them. "Sorry. Um, so...one of her biggest dreams was to be a singer, and share her story with the world through her music. She just finished and released her first album, Lea's Life. You can find it on iTunes and Spotify and Amazon and all the things, but if you want a hard copy, you can pick one up here tonight for ten bucks. She also has a YouTube channel, Lea Foley Music, where she posts covers of her favorite songs, as well as original songs, and shares her story there. So, anyway, she wanted a chance to perform the songs from her album, and share her story with the world, so her incredible boyfriend, Sméagol, came up with the idea for a concert. So, we all put our heads together, and pulled some strings for her, and here we are tonight. I am so pleased to see every seat filled up. You guys are in for a treat. So, I'm gonna quit yacking now."

The audience laughed again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, my incredible best friend and sister, Lea Foley!"

Everyone cheered loudly as Sméagol led Lea out to the stage, and Bri handed her the microphone.