@josettethejester
This hadn’t been the plan. There had been a location, chosen and advertised, where Lou knew people would be passing. Tired from work but not yet drunk, a place of being where those who would frequently ignore her voice ringing across the road would turn and start to wonder. But Jean had done something that morning to set off the shop owner letting them set up in front of her storefront and she’d nearly chased them off with a broom, leaving Lou with only a few hours to relocate and spread the word.
She’d never gone inside Le Gnome Qui Rit, had never much seen the point in paying for a laugh, but she had to admit that the crowds outside of it must be a sign of its quality. And even better yet, it was a crowd that had started to listen and watch as she stood on the raised stone railing across the street and started to speak.
“Mesdames et monsieurs,” she began, voice as clear and steady as it ever was. “It is an honor to speak to you tonight, to have a moment of your time as you wait for the evening’s entertainment.” As more heads turned to look at her, bodies shifting away from the entrance of the club, she felt the slight nerves in her chest vanish entirely. Perhaps if she were a singer or an actor she would feel stage fright, but there was nothing for her to fear. Every word she said, every explanation of the centuries of collaboration and kinship between humans to the blatant and eternal abuse of power by those who were given it, was true. Determination and pride - yes pride, in the people whose skeptical expressions faltered as they listened and began to think - left no room for fear.
