There she stands. With the nonchalance of a ‘70s road-side diner waitress, chewing gum and looking bored, eyes glazing over as she watches her dreams being squashed. Pretending not to care. Desperate not to follow in the footsteps of those who raised her; yet fearing that she has no choice. Seeing the potential of a better life slipping by with every year.
Suzy from the road-side diner.
Not giving up and still clinging to a belief in her own dreams.
That she will be different.
That life will be kind.
The panic brimming just underneath her almost-dead eyes.
Keeping her alive.
Just.
————-
Who is she today??
Is she middle-aged, worn out, and bitter?
Is she rambling on in some care facility, her visions grotesquely mocking her; her eyes deader than ever?
Or is she still clinging on, trying to hide her greying hair, full of botox, instagramming her forgotten youth with images of her and her retired husband, his hand awkwardly around his obviously-aged mannequin-wife?
Has Suzy from the road-side dine broken the demons and is now happily at peace, super-cool, with no hangups and a vast amount tattoo-ed stories to tell?
Or has she turned her almost-story into a story for others to read, inspiring through her heart and her pen, as she touches a chord within which most dare not to touch?
Who is this chick once she shakes off her hang-ups??
Once she flicks aside her cigarette, squashes it with her boot, spits her gum into the bin with contempt and not a backward glance. Once she casts her apron aside in one swift movement as she eases forward, determined, and with a sudden vitality, a hunger for LIFE, stepping into her leadership and out of her teacher role as Suzy from the roadside-diner.
Who is she then?
No longer Suzy, she disappears off-stage (like a real dame would do) to go into her inner sanctuary, before emerging for her next role, whatever she decides that will be.
