‘Are you rehearsing?’
What hasn’t been explained in the multitude of print and social media that’s been dedicated to Laura Lyrebird Button is that this ‘gift’ she has is completely and utterly natural. It is not contrived, concocted, conceived as part of an act. It is within her, part of her. It is her make-up, her function, her way to communicate, as others have their own ways. There is no talk of her spontaneity, her quirk, if you will. It’s almost as though it isn’t seen, it doesn’t want to be seen, as though the only gifts these days that are taken seriously are those that come in packages, carefully wrapped, and well-presented to the world. She cannot turn it on and off like a tap, yet it’s left to Laura to rein it in, when they knew what they were getting in the first place.
Not once did Solomon ask her to stop or ask her why she made one single sound. Not once. Laura’s head spins and she aches for him.
She absorbs the new sounds, new accents, the increase in tone at the end of their sentences.
This evening is an appearance on the Cory Cooke Show. Jack will do an interview on the couch, also on is Will Smith, who’s promoting his new movie. And then on the show is Lyrebird.
‘What am I doing on the show?’ Laura asks Bianca.
‘Schedule says TBC,’ she explains, looking up from the rail of clothes. She’s holding dresses against her body, posing in the mirror.
‘What does TBC mean?’
Bianca assesses her for a moment to see if she’s serious. ‘To be confirmed. We’ll find out later what they want you to do.’
An hour later, hair and make-up on, clothes to be decided next, a total of six outfits for six shots, but have eight just in case. The show have been in touch with Bianca and the arrangement is to have Lyrebird sitting in the front row in the studio. Jack will do his interview ‘on the couch’ and the camera will throw to her as Jack discusses Lyrebird and her impact on the show. She is lucky, it seems, to be sitting in the front row in this studio, on the Cory Cooke Show.
An hour later, when photos emerge of her at the airport and social media hype grows that Lyrebird is in Australia, the TV show call Bianca as Laura is finished make-up. Laura’s front-row position in the audience is to be increased to two questions from the host, Cory Cooke. Questions are TBC after the staff meeting. By the time her hair is complete, Lyrebird has been moved from the front row in the audience to now walking down the illustrious steps that only celebrities are allowed to walk down. This, Bianca tells her, is a great honour. Bianca seems to see Laura in a new light. What Lyrebird will do when she gets to the end of the steps is TBC.
Laura begins to relax when she is given a minute to step outside for fresh air before she puts on her first outfit. She hadn’t felt uptight but the forest lets her fall into an even deeper relaxation. She’d almost forgotten how it felt to be in that state of relaxation, almost hypnotic, as she went about her days and chores with a feeling of harmony. Even in her most relaxed moments in Dublin, on the couch with a cup of tea, talking with Solomon, she was nowhere near that old feeling.
Laura closes her eyes and breathes in, loving the fresh air and the sound of new accents and birdcalls. When she turns around, she sees the hair and make-up team, the journalist and press photographer gathered at the door staring at her.
‘What?’ she asks, self-consciously. ‘Did I ruin my hair?’
Wanda, the sweet make-up artist, looks at her with amusement, ‘You sounded like a kookaburra.’
‘Really?’ Laura smiles.
‘And a whipbird,’ the hair stylist says.
‘I don’t even know what a whipbird is,’ Laura smiles.
They join her on the verandah, while Bianca nervously watches the time. She was chosen to come on this trip with Lyrebird because of their closeness in age. Bianca is a year younger than Laura and this trip is a big promotion for her, but Laura can tell her handler is just as nervous as she is, despite trying to hide it with her cool and confident demeanour.
‘There,’ Wanda says, ‘that’s the kookaburra. Jane, what does a whipbird sound like?’
They all listen in silence.
‘There,’ Jane whispers. She looks at Laura. ‘There.’
Laura closes her eyes and listens. She doesn’t even notice herself attempting it but they all start laughing with utter joy.
‘You are bloody amazing!’ they cry, and they point out as many other birds as they can, though their knowledge of birds isn’t broad. Magpies and cockatoos – that’s as far as they get in identifying sounds, but Laura doesn’t need to know what they are, she enjoys hearing strange sounds anyway. Despite Bianca pointing out that they’re now behind time, Laura appreciates everybody pausing in this moment with her.