Free Feast of Saints by Zoe Wildau

rendition of “The Lonely Goatherd” had them rolling with laughter. When Kurt stepped up to finish “Edelweiss” after Captain Georg Von Trapp faltered singing and the sweet ode to the Austrian homeland, there was not a dry eye in the house.
    At the show’s end, the audience roared in approval, hooting and clapping through three curtain calls. On the last one, Ty scooped up a red rose from the stage and tossed it to Anna. Some lucky girl was going to have this boy, Lilly thought, and she was going to be the happiest girl alive. She hoped it would be Anna.
    When it was clear the actors were not coming back, Lilly turned to look toward the exits and was startled to see that Jake Durant had been sitting two rows behind them with the rest of Tyler’s family. He had already turned and was headed out to the aisle. He was not alone. Sierra Nighly, looking drop dead gorgeous in a slinky green silk dress that hugged every curve, was his date. As she stepped out into the aisle, Jake put his hand on the small of her back to guide her out of the theatre.
    Lilly was shocked by the twisting sick feeling that overcame her at the sight of Jake’s hand on Sierra Nighly. When had she come to feel so proprietary about Jake, a man she’d met only twice?
    She was frowning at his tall, retreating figure, when he suddenly turned to look straight at her. He gave her a small salute and continued out of the theatre.
    “Let’s just wait here a bit and let the crowd clear,” she said to Anna, confused and appalled at her visceral reaction to seeing him with Sierra. Her dark mood returned suddenly, dimming the bright light Anna had brought to her afternoon and the joy of Ty’s outstanding performance.
    Lilly stroked Anna’s hair as she fell asleep. Normally when Anna slept over, they both crowded into Lilly’s queen-sized bed. Tonight though, Lilly was worried that she’d frighten Anna by waking up thrashing and screaming with her recurrent nightmare. As she listened to Anna’s soft breathing, she questioned the wisdom of continuing to work on Feast . She had another four or five months of this horror flick. If she couldn’t get her stress level under control, she was going to turn into a basket case. She fell asleep sitting up in the chair beside the bed, still with no good answer for her dilemma.
    The following morning, Lionel loaded Anna in the back seat of his car, shut the door and turned to her.
    “What’s going on with you, Lilly? You look exhausted. I’d ask if it was Anna, but you looked like this yesterday, too.” Concern etched his features.
    “I’m okay. Just stressed. It’s this movie. It’s gruesome. Not my cup of tea.”
    “Are you sure you want to do this?” her brother asked.
    “No, I’m not sure. I’m really struggling, but I don’t intend to quit.” Lionel recognized the stubborn, determined look on Lilly’s face, and knew from long years of experience that she wouldn’t give up.
    Not bothering to talk her out of it, instead he admonished, “Don’t go driving around in traffic on your Vespa without getting some sleep.”
    “I won’t,” she promised.
    True to her word, Lilly barely left her bungalow over the next couple of weeks. Continuing in the vein she started, she built on the Allegrezza she had begun after speaking with Kyle. It was the Jake statue that she began to think of as her production Allegrezza. On days that she awoke in a sweat, running from her fiery nightmare, she would uncover dragon Jake’s draped figure just long enough to stare him down and calm her heart, then blanket him again until the next time. Elven Jake she left uncovered and often consulted as she worked.
    “What do you think, Grezza?” she’d ask him, stepping back to survey her design.
    “You think it’s too much? Yes, yes, of course you’re right. Let’s start that brow over again….”
    When she had a productive day, she’d slightly change elven Jake’s features to a kindly smile. If she was stymied,