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"This was your plan"

She groans, but I know she wants to sing

"Go," I say "Before the judges put a stop to it"

Daphne hugs e, stopping only to beg a guitar off a guy who all too willingly hands it over

She stands on the stage, adjusting the guitar over her shoulder I can’t help thinking she looks as bright and intangible as a ray of sunshine, standing in the spotlight She leans into thethat I wrote with my dad You may have heard it before" She looks in the direction of where she left"For you, Haden"

She stru "Shadow of a star …"

Her voice echoes out fro the club The entire room comes to a standstill All other sounds, voices, movements stop Orelse disappearing Nothing else exists I can’t even breathe, for fear ofher is like staring into the sun, but I can’t look away

When she finishes, the room remains frozen for a full three seconds, then explodes into cheers and applause The judges hold up their cards I can’t see what they say from here, but they make Daphne happy She throws her hands up in the air and curtseys at the same time I’ve never seen anyone look so alive

And that’s when it strikes me How can I take Daphne away from this world? How can I take sunshine and life into a place of shadow and death?

For the first ti that the Oracle will tell od were still alive, if I could pray, I’d send down a prayer I’d beg him to tell the Oracle another way I’d cry to hi for this girl

Daphne runs toward est s more than for her to throw her arms around me If she doesn’t do it, then I will

"Are you Joe Vince’s daughter?" a largebetween us

Daphne stops short "Yes"

"Ah I thought so Do you et a picture of you for our ‘before they were stars’ wall? We’ve got a picture of your dad up there," he says, pointing to a wall of fra et a picture now"

"Uaze flits to me

She smiles at the man as he takes a picture with his caht next to the picture of Joe!"

When the oes to the wall of photos I follow her There, right in the center of the wall, in a big black fra Joe Vince He poses for the photo with his arirl who looks very much like Daphne