Dotty knew exactly what was happening the moment that big ole jukebox kicked in. She’d been here a thousand times, this was Lous Diner, home from home for the teenagers. She was waiting for the inevitable tinny sound of Johnny Starlight.

The biggest rock n roll star and perhaps the last of his kind. The kids all bounced like caffeine addicted puppets, everyone loved Johnny and it was apparent from the worshipping in this place. He was like a God to these kids and rightly so, the music was raw and new, a breath of fresh air in the post world war era.

The conversations went on, the excitement in the air when his tinny voice blared through that beautiful jukebox machine.

“Rocket to my heart, baby, blast me away…”

The words soared through the diner, they all clapped, mimicked and cheered for Johnny Starlight. One girl twirled her skirt and seemed like she levitated at the same time, a boy tapping his hand on his blue denim jeans to the music, when he lost the beat his gang laughed at him and eventually through a red face he laughed back.

But dotty didnt laugh, she didnt think it light hearted. In fact her eyes never left the jukebox until she looked down at her root beer float. It had started sweating and she gave a sigh, an annoyance that took her away from Johnny’s voice.

She interrupted the 6 kids next to her who were deep into stories about Johnny Starlight. She pronounced “You just dont get it, do you?” Her voice razor sharp and instantly cutting their voices to dead silence.

“Johnny’s not just a singer you know. Hes the sound the universe spins to and when he sings the world shuts up and listens”

She put a finger to her mouth straightafter as a signal to shut up and listen.

They laughed, they always did. Then some boy with slicked back hair snorted “He dont know that you or I exist Dottie. We are all just a face in the crowd.”

Dottie tilted her head, her eyes calm but her mouth was in a wide grin. “Oh, he definitely knows me boy.” Her smile seemed to have become wider which seemed impossible, she continued “He sees me. He always sees me and me and him…we are the same”

The jukebox stopped. The mechanical arm replacing the record to another. A slight scratch heard. Annoyance in Dotties eyes at the sound, almost like it was sacrilegious to hear a scratch on Johnny’s record. Then it played. A line that drifted over the chatter.

“…Strap me in, baby, don’t let me fall…”

Kids started singing along to the song, alot of imitating his fantastic voice. The owner, Lou rolled his eyes behind the counter after ear wigging Dotties conversation.

“One day that girls gonna snap like a pretzel” he muttered to himself as he flipped a burger, set it in a bun then placed it in a tray next to some fries. He slid it over to Dottie.

Dotty picked up a fry between her fingers, just smiling insanely. “Better to snap than to fade away to nothing” she said as she looked at Lou. He felt embarrassed at being caught talking to himself. He turned back to the grill. She continued to herself “I was born tuned to him, thats all there is to it.”

Just then a car light shimmered, faintly over the diner. It was brightly lit but Lou could have sworn that he saw Dotties body wobbled. Like ripples on water, he shook the notion off as having worked too hard.

Dottie smiled that big wide grin, looking at Lou. She turned back to her food a d let the music wash over her, she basked in the enjoyment of the other kids enjoying the music. She was small, human and fragile looking but in that moment you could swear she commanded that room. That it swayed to her own beat, just like that kid tapping to Johnny Starlights music.

She couldnt wait to see him again.