Stillwater Equestrian Academy

Chapter 22

Two days before the rodeo.

The day before, we had brought in over twenty five million dollars. I paid my band and my team. I paid myself and then turned the rest into the school for the upgrading of Stillwater Color Guard Dorms, equipment, and etc.

Maddie walked up to me and sat down. "Now what were you saying about candles last night, Stevie?"

I sucked in air and let it back out again. Candle is my biggest, brightest, most requested song. So I think what we should do do is this. Have little candles made that light up. They can run on batteries. And they're the size that people can hold. Sell them out front in the lobby. That way when I sing the song, they can turn their candles on. I believe that I can sign my name with a permanent marker or have it engraved into the candles. I also believe that when I sing the songs, the lights get turned off and candles around the room get lit. It looks like the flames are actually moving. That includes candles on stage. I need to record an album called Candle. What does everyone think about that?"

"Until then we will have to use real candles." Casey said.

"Yeah, people can light each other's candles. Just engrave my name into them. Not a bad idea, Casey. I like it. I like it a lot. Let's do it."

I stood up and walked up to the passenger side seat, sat down, and buckled up.

"Ms Campbell, we need to split up and go to different stores. We need a lot of long slender candles. So..."

"I heard the conversation back there. We're stopping at all the Walmarts, Michaels, and etc. You kids have the morning off as always. So Stevie, that should give you plenty of time for you to carve your name in the candles.

"This afternoon, I will be in the back of the room. My candle will be lit. I will light the first candle. I will have one person at every two rows max. That way they can light the first candle of each row. How does that sound to you?"

"Sounds great, Ms Campbell. I'm all up for it. I can't wait. But I have to. It'll be all right though."

I went back and sat down. We pulled into Burger King drive way and up to the menu. Soon we had our morning meals and our sodas. We went to a park, sat under trees and ate our breakfast and drank our sodas. Then we were back on the road again. We talked about the new ideas.

Maddie and me were dropped of at the Walmart Supercenter at 4505 West Charleston. Together we went around the store until we found the candles. We grabbed every good candle they had. We also grabbed a small carving knife and cardboard pieces to use to catch the wax. We took them up to the check out counter, grabbed two Cokes, and paid for our merchandise. We grabbed them and headed outside. We hopped into the mobile home and sat down. I then went to work on carving my name into the candles. As I got through, I passed them on to be packaged. The more we picked up the others, the more the candles we had. We only bought enough for each person at the concert to use each night. By the time we got to the Las Vegas Convention Center, I had everyone of them done. I quickly grabbed my other new outfit. It looked just like the one from the day before. Except it had sunflowers on it instead. I quickly made it to my dressing room with my bodyguards in tow. I made it inside and snatched the one outfit off and threw the other one on. I did my hair, makeup, and nails. That time, I just put my hair up in a simple ponytail because it was cooler. Plus it was my style when I'm doing a concert.

I announced that I was ready. I was escorted to the back of the stage. I couldn't wait to see the faces of the people when they respond to the candles. I was where I could see the faces. The lights were turned off and candles were being lit. My band began playing Candle. Everyone cheered and whistled. I walked out on stage and people went wild.