The Idol
Roy auditions for American Idol on January 22nd. The producers like him. He’s worth money. He’s glad he decided to do it. If it wasn’t for his friends, he wouldn’t have done it. Later, the judges admire him. He’s an artist. People vote. Girls go crazy about him. He’s got fans now. He receives letters, e-mails, and phone calls. He’s voted through to the final two. He’s made friends and watched them leave the competition. He hopes, he’s nervous. The final moment comes. He loses.
But he’s still an Idol – fans won’t let him down. He signs a contract; he releases an album. His music is inspiring. He gives hope.
Far away from Hollywood – the place that has become Roy’s home – in New York, Kylie silently cries. Ever since, she found out about Roy, about his music, his being, things were better inside her. She didn’t cry as much, because when it felt like she was breaking down, she’d listen to Roy’s voice and he’d calm her down. Now, she sits perched next to the window, the wind coldly blowing her blonde blocks against her wet cheeks. A sad but hopeful song plays, each note hitting her eardrums with the grace of falling snowflake. Kylie listens to Roy’s every word, believing it. He gives her strength and helps her to move on through every terribly hard moment. Since both her parents died in a plane crash – in the plane that was bringing them back to her – Roy’s music was the only keeping her from suicide. Roy was her Idol.
Even further away, in Northern Europe – Finland – Aria’s pen hovers above a plain white piece of paper, preparing to write the first words of the sequel to her bestselling debut novel. Words keep flowing into her head; it’s not that she doesn’t know how to put them together into a dazzling beginning, but that there are too many ways in which she’d make her words shine. Aria never knew she could write, let alone write a bestseller. It all began on a night when she was listening to a song. It was a song she loved with all her being, as if there was some sort of energy imprinted in it that attracted her to each beat. It was a song of Roy’s – Aria’s new-found Idol. Right then, she took a paper and scribbled down all what came into her mind. Then, in less than six months, she finished what proved to be a masterpiece. The main character, Tommy, was in so many ways similar to Roy. She wanted him to be like that, and maybe that was what gave life to her novel, what inspired it.
In Seoul – South Korea – Soya lies unconscious on a hospital bed, fighting still for survival. It’s only the modern apparatus that keeps her heart beating and the doctors have little hope. Her parents are desperate and devastated. Soya has been hit by a bus, while she was crossing the street on her way back from school. The bus was going way too fast to be able to stop; the driver tried to honk and make her get out of the way, but she didn’t hear the noise – she was listening to a song on her iPod. Now, sitting beside her bed, knowing her each breath was another battle, her mom gets an idea. How could she forget? Soya’s room was practically loaded with posters of that singer that became her Idol. She’d told her so many about him, though she didn’t care much at the time. Her mother quickly searches for the iPod that somehow slipped undamaged through the accident. After she gets the doctors’ approval, she dabs the earphones in Soya’s ears and one of Roy’s most beautiful songs starts playing. Vaguely, through the darkness, Soya hears a few notes and her subconscious recognizes the pattern of sounds. She fights harder, with passion. Five hours later, she opened her eyes for a short moment.
Across the ocean, in Sydney – Australia – Emily and Ian lie embraced in front of the fireplace, watching little vigorous sparks escape the flames. They feel so happy, so fulfilled and in love. They are so sure they are meant to be together. They got married last year and their passion for each other didn’t dissipate ever since. They’ll never forget that night, that concert that brought them together. It was Roy Gosling performing and neither would have missed the change to see him live in concert. He was their Idol. Now, it seemed like it was a chance for something more that seeing an Idol – a chance for love.
What if, Roy never auditioned for the show that gave him the adoration of so many people around the world? What if he was stubborn enough to say no? What if he was afraid to show the world whom he was? By making a dream unknown to him come true, Roy didn’t open only one door – his. He shoved open so many, and lit the way of those who had lost hope and will. If he would have stayed aside, he would have gone against his destiny.
