The Last Wish (Austin Carlile Father/Of Mice And Men)

The Last Wish

I wheeled myself into the gates, ignoring the passing looks I got from strangers as they wondered what a woman in a wheel chair could possibly be doing at Warped, especially with a three year old on her lap. People stared, yet nobody bothered to say anything to me. A**holes.

"Mommy, when are we going to see the bands?" Ariel, my daughter, screeched in my ear. Ouch. Of course, she was a bit hard to understand, but who could blame her? She's three. And she talked more properly than any other three year old I've ever met. Ariel used big words that she honesty shouldn't be able to pronounce until she was around five. However, the words were a bit screwed up because of her cute baby-ish accent, and her lisp.

I smiled, knowing I brought my kid up right if she was excited for bands. "In a minute, Baby. I just have to find the schedule, then we can go see whoever you want. I promise." She squealed in excitement.

I rolled over to the large sign, stating when and where the bands were performing, and I wrote it down with a pen on my hand. "We're heading over to the main stage to see Pierce the Veil, alright? I know you really wanted to see them."

"Yay! Let's go, Mommy!" I laughed, and wheeled myself over to the stage. I knew by the end of the day, my arms were going to be ready to fall off, but it was all worth it to see that huge smile on Ariel's face.

I traveled over to the side entrance of the stage, knowing that my last wish would grant me access to stand backstage, as I couldn't really go into the crowd with a wheelchair and my little girl. I looked around, seeing nothing but random people rushing around everywhere, strategically avoiding my wheelchair. I sighed. At this rate, nobody was going to help me.

I moved forward, trying to find the stage. I had no idea how confusing it really was back here. A head full of black hair moved in front of me, and, seeing as they didn't seem in a rush, I called out, "hey," to them, hoping they would turn around, but no such luck. "You, with the black hair!" The man turned around, and I saw none other than;

"Kellin Quinn!" Ariel squealed jumping off my lap, and rushing over to him. "I love your music! Mommy plays it for me every night!"

He chuckled. "Hey, Sweetie. What are you doing back here?"

I rolled forward. "She's back here with me," I said with a smile.

Kellin looked confused. "How did you get back here? Not to be rude, though."

I guess he didn't want to make assumptions, though with my bald head, covered only by a beanie, I thought it was pretty obvious. "It's my last wish."

"What?" I just shook my head. Nobody had to know. That was for me to know, and for Ariel to understand. "Nothing. I just managed to get an All Access Pass for me and Ariel."

Kellin smiled. "I'm guessing Ariel is this little cutie?" I nodded. "How'd you manage to get the pass? I thought the contest already announced their two winners. Unless Warped did something different with the passes?"

"Well, I decided to go all out for Warped this year, seeing as it's going to be the last one I'm going to.

Kellin looked confused, but I guess decided not to ask. "Well, I'll just have to make this the best Warped Tour you've ever had!" He bounded over to my wheelchair, gripping the handles in his hands, letting Ariel climb onto my lap before pushing forward once again. "You're here for Pierce, right?" I nodded. "Well, I have to leave you alone when I sing King For a Day, but then you can consider me your own personal tour guide!"

We headed over to the edge of the stage, just out of view of the fans, but I could see Tony and Jaime look over at us curiously, but both Vic and Mike were to focused on playing. Me and Ariel sang along to all the songs we knew, her standing on my lap, holding my hands for balance and dancing. It was the cutest thing ever.

Kellin leaned over my shoulder right before his due to go on stage. "I'll be right back!" He then ran on stage, greeting Vic and the crowd as he did so. Ariel and I watched the rest of the set, but I couldn't help but want to cry. This would be the last time I saw them live. After the set, Kellin ran off stage, greeting me and Ariel before running off with us backstage. "You guys want to meet Pierce the Veil?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Ariel shouted for us. I laughed at her enthusiasm. Kellin took us around a corner, and I saw the guys of PTV, just hanging about and talking to each other. Kellin cleared his throat, causing them to look at us. "Guys, this is Ariel, and her mom, uh-"

"Erin," I cut in. "Erin Valentine, nice to meet you."

They smiled as well, and greeted us kindly.

"Where'd you pick up these girls, Kell?" Vic asked.

"I found them backstage at your show."

Ariel jumped off my lap and ran to Vic. "Hi, I'm Ariel, and I love your music. You make me happy. Mommy plays you guys before I go to bed."

Vic laughed and hugged Ariel. "That means a lot to us."

Kellin pouted. "I thought she played Sleeping With Sirens every night?"

I laughed. "I've got a mixed CD." I looked down at my hand and realized that we were about to miss Of Mice and Men's set. "Ariel, come on Sweetie. We have one more set to go to, and we're late!" Ariel obediently ran back over to my lap.

"Where are you guys headed?" Jaime queried.

"Of Mice and Men!" Ariel shouted.

Mike laughed. "We were about to head that way."

"Let's go!" Ariel squealed.

Kellin came up behind me and pushed me outside and to a neighboring stage, before wheeling me to side stage once again.

"Thanks, Kellin. You have no idea how much this means of me.

Kellin smiled. "No problem."

I turned my head to watch the set, and once again, Ariel climbed up into my lap and danced, making me laugh. Vic let out a small "awe."

Austin looked over at us from the stage, and he smiled once he saw Ariel. "Hey Sweetie, you wanna come up here?" He asked.

Ariel looked around before pointing at herself, squealing "me!" Austin nodded. Ariel ran out on stage and into Austin's arms.

"Can you say your name into the mic?"

Ariel leaned forward a bit before saying "Ariel" into the mic, before jumping at the resonating sound. The crowd erupted into "awe'"s.

"Would you like to stay up here for the last song?" Austin asked. Ariel squealed and nodded, the sound of Second and Sebring sounded, and I couldn't help but find it a bit ironic. Ariel was invited on stage for a song about Austin's mother who passed away. And soon, Ariel will be in the same boat.

Austin moved around on stage, head-banging and screaming, all with Ariel in his arms Once the set was over Ariel ran back over to me, screaming "Mommy, Mommy!" She sounded so happy. This was certainly the best day ever. But who could've thought it was going to end so quickly.

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How is it? Anybody like it? Anybody hate it? I know it doesn't have a lot of detail and such, but once it's finished I'm planning on rewriting the chapters to make them longer and more detailed like a real book. Kind of.