Published in 16 Magazine
IT WAS INTERMISSION and the Doors were to go on stage in ten minutes. Instead of waiting around in the crowded dressing room, Jim Morrison decided to go for a walk backstage. After climbing endless stairs, he found himself in a tiny room where there was a porthole overlooking the stage. As he gazed down upon the bustling crowd below, he suddenly realized that he was not alone. Jim turned quickly and found himself looking straight into the eyes of a teenage girl!
“I didn’t follow you,” she said quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment. “I went out to get a Coke and they locked the door. I tried to find my way back in, and-“ Her voice trailed off.
He smiled. “-and you got lost. And you ended up here,” he said.
“That’s right.”
“It’s O.K.,” he reassured her. “Hey, I’m glad you got lost. I need someone to talk to.”
“You do?” she asked with amazement. She looked down and then said softly, “So do I.”
Let’s go find someplace where we can sit down and talk.”
Jim took her hand and led her down the dark stairs.
“I passed a nice place coming up,” he said. “Maybe we can find it again.”
Sometime later he found a little door which opened onto a balcony overlooking the garden behind the arena. On the balcony was a small, rain-battered bench. Jim ran his hands over the seat to make sure that it wasn’t dirty. “That’s fine,” he said smiling. “Let’s sit down.”
The girl suddenly relaxed.
“I wanted to meet you,” she said shyly, “but I never ever dreamed that I would. Well, I mean, I dreamed that I would, but I never ever thought my dream would come true.”
“Why did you want to meet me?” he asked.
For a momement she was at a loss for words, and then she said slowly, “Well, first I heard your records and I liked them very much. You sounded, well- different.”
“How different?”
She paused, and thought for a moment. Then: “Ah- like fiery, but lonely at the same time. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes,” he said looking down. “I know what you mean.”
“Anyway, then I saw some of your pictures in magazines and I read some stories about you and, well – I think you’re very interesting.”
“Would you laugh at me,” he said, “if I told you that you’re interesting?”
She looked embarrassed again.
“Can I ask you some questions?” Jim went on.
“Sure.”
“Who did you come here with?”
“My folks,” she said with a slightly exasperated sigh. “And two of my girlfriends.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked.
“Not really,” she said slowly. Then she added, “There’s a boy that I like a lot, but I don’t think he likes me.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t, really.” She pressed her hands together rather primly and said, “I haven’t gotten to know him very well.”
“I don’t think you have to know someone very well to like them,” Jim said softly. “I don’t know you at all, but there is something very sweet and sincere about you — and that makes me like you.
They sat in silence for a moment, then she turned to him abruptly and spoke in a rush: “I like you too, but I don’t know how to put it into words.”
“Don’t try—“. He placed one of his hands very gently over her. “Just remember me when I’m gone.”
Jim stood up and looked away from her – out across the garden. He slowly turned and said, “I have to go.”
Suddenly, as though he were awakened from a dream, he added, “Oh, you’ve lost your seat. I forgot. Come with me and I’ll get you one.”
He reached out and she took his hand he led her down the stairs to the backstage area. As they walked together, he turned once and looked at her, and she was smiling at him. He would never forget that smile.
He took her to a security guard and asked, “Would you be good enough to take this young lady into the audience and find her a good seat?”
“Be glad to, Jim,” the guard said. Jim slowly released the girl’s hand and the guard took her by the arm and led her away. Just before she disappeared behind the door leading to the audience, Jim called, “Your name—I forgot to ask your name!”
She opened her mouth as though to speak, but it was too late. The guard, trying to be helpful, escorted her out of sight before Jim could hear her reply.
All during his show Jim found that he couldn’t forget the girl. He found himself singing for her – to her—looking for her face in the audience. It was so strange. He could not find her, and yet every face seemed to be hers – looking up, smiling and laughing happily.
That night Jim found himself singing as though a new dimension had been added to his performance – to his life. There was greater intensity and excitement in everything he did. It was as though he wanted to show her – and all of the “hers” who were out there – what her (their) encounter had meant to him, and what it still meant and what it would mean. He was sending a very special message across the footlight, and suddenly, through it all, he knew that she had gotten it—his message. Yes, she had – and they had – and it was great, and strange, and somehow deeply significant.
After the show there were hundreds of kids outside the stage door and the rush to the limousine was the wildest Jim had ever experienced. Locked inside the car, he saw hundreds of hands pressed against the window and through the blur of excited faces he kept looking for hers. In one split second, just as the car moved off, he thought he saw her. As he moved toward her face, the police sirens blasted and the car rode away – and once again it was too late…
A little later when he walked back into his motel room, it seemed changed. It was not the gloomy, cold room he had left two hours before. There was a new light and warmth that pervaded the atmosphere. The test pattern still waved across the TV screen, but now it seemed friendly.
Jim sat down on the bed and put his hands up to his face. All at once he smiled – and then he laughed. He knew that had happened. She had given him a gift – the simple, pure gift of a moment of her love. – and he in turn had sent love back to her from the stage that night.
And he was happy – very happy. He knew that wherever she was, she was happy too. For they both had been enriched by each other beyond space and beyond time. They each had given the other gift of love.