Second Chances: The Return of Gollum

Chapter 13

The following Saturday was the day of the concert. After we finished eating lunch, the three of us got dressed and ready. Then, we headed out the door.

When we arrived at the performing arts center, we met up in the choir room to warm up and briefly rehearse. Sméagol and I went over our duet one more time to make sure we had it down. When we finished, we had a few minutes before we all had to line up in the order Lucy wanted us to stand in during the show. That part was always a little stressful for me, but luckily, I was right between Hayley and Sméagol, which calmed me down a bit. They both knew how to guide me.

"You ready for your big duet?" asked Lucy.

"Oh, yes," Sméagol said enthusiastically, "Sméagol is ready!"

Lucy grinned. "What about you, Cheyenne?"

"Yepperdoodles," I said in a silly, excited tone.

Sméagol and Lucy laughed.

"Isn't she precious?" Sméagol giggled, wrapping his arm around me.

Lucy smiled. "Yes, she is, and so are you, Sweetie."

Sméagol smiled warmly at Lucy. "Awwww, such a sweetheart you are."

Lucy hugged Sméagol. "Oh, Sméagol, I'm so glad you joined our choir. And, hey, if you two wanna hold hands during your duet, that'd be fine with me. I think it might make it more authentic and... I don't know."

"Adorable?" Hayley chimed in.

Lucy chuckled. "Yes, very much so." Then, she turned to the whole choir. "Okay, guys!" she announced. "Did everyone drink enough water, use the bathroom, do what you needed to do?"

Everyone nodded and murmured "yes."

"Alright, let's line up! Back row goes in first!"

So, we all lined up in order. The back row went into the auditorium first, followed by the third row, second row, and finally, the front row.

It was finally showtime, and I wasn't a bit nervous. The pianist began to play the first song, and we all sang our hearts out.

Soon, it was time for Sméagol and I to sing our duet. If you're wondering what it was we were singing, it was a gorgeous choral arrangement of "When You Believe" by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. The good thing about this arrangement is, it didn't include all the crazy lilts, trills, and riffs. We could sing it straight through, but if we wanted, we could add our own flavor to it, which we did, but not over the top. We both poured our hearts out into this duet as the choir backed us up, and yes, we held hands the entire time.

When we finished, the audience leaped up, cheering, screaming, and applauding loudly as Sméagol and I shared a big hug, and he sneaked a little kiss on my cheek. I like to think they were cheering more for him than me. I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging, but I have gotten similar reactions from audiences when I sing. However, I've never gotten a reaction like this before. I like to believe it was more for Sméagol, because that's the exact reaction I always want to give him when he sings. As for this duet, he sang his part so beautifully. His voice was so pure, soft, and sweet, yet it was also powerful and full of emotion everyone could feel and hear. Everyone could tell he meant every word he sang, and his vibrato... wow... That's all I could say about it. Very fast, as always, very pure, sweet, heart-wrenchingly beautiful, and radiated so much love in his kind heart and soul. He truly had the voice of an angel.

As we looked out into the audience, Sméagol saw nearly everybody sobbing and wiping tears from their eyes, and it tugged at his heart so much. "Awwwww," he said to himself as he smiled lovingly at the crowd, and blew them a big kiss, which only made the moment even more spectacular and heartwarming.

The whole concert went so well. All the other soloists did phenomenal jobs, and not to brag, but as a whole choir, we brought the house down. We received a major standing ovation at the end.