I FOLLOWED THE LIGHT

On a cold, spooky winter night, I found myself on a strange looking bench. At first I was confused, I did not remember going there at all. There was a small music store in front of me. I could see bass, electric guitars. They looked just like my past father’s favourite. My heart ached, memories flew by my eyes. It all started when I saw that small light through the glass. Suddenly, the moon duplicated, two little circle-shaped shadows on the floor. As I looked up, I saw that the music store lit up, with white, purple and blue colours. It felt unreal, like I was dreaming. I decided to walk in and look around. I was walking with slow, cautious steps when a man in a suit and a weird-shaped hat approached me. I jumped, looked at the man in shock but it almost felt like the man already knew me so well, with a warm yet cold smile on his face. He might not have said a word, but his expressions spoke for themselves. He walked to the guitar, the one that looked exactly like my father’s favourite. The same colours, stripes and something about the way the strings were shaped, as if it was trying to draw me closer and closer and more interested in staying in the shop. Because of my father’s accident, I had lost all hope upon playing the guitar. He used to teach me, and he was unbelievably good. I have went through a lot as a kid. Bullying, deaf mother, deaf brother, passed away father, you name it.There was always a lot of pressure on me, I felt like I was my family’s pride, I was the only one healthy, so the only one with hope. I focused so much on my academics that I forgot to even focus on my own personal life like friends, hobbies etc. Except the guitar, that didn’t last long. The man, with a low voice whispered in my ear, “Take this, you’ll need it.” I was confused, what was that? It was a small piece of paper, what was so speical about it? I decided to leave the shop. This is where everything went south. As I walked through the door, I felt the subtle wind and sunshine brush my face like a sweet melody. It was unusual because it was winter, cold and spooky. I found a newspaper on the floor, picked it up and saw the date was 1995! I was shocked, I didn’t know how to feel, my mind felt like a forgotten puzzle with pieces eveyrwhere. I started to wonder where my brother and mother were. It would be tragic if I didn’t find tjem. What if something happens and I am not there? I got really stressed, sweat dripping down my hands, I felt like crying when this  guy who looked almost my age approached me. Handed me a small poster and said, “Page me if you’re interested.” Page me? Did he seriously say page me? So it was true, I was stuck in the past. I read the poster, hoping it would somehow help. It was about a band and there was an empty spot for a guitarist. I was shocked, was this fate? I decided to buy a guitar from that same place, but strangely enough, it wasn’t there anymore. I was trembling in fear, how was I supposed to go back? I didn’t have anywhere to spend the night with so I slept on a small sidewalk, with the newspaper iver me as a blanket. I was shivering. When I woke up, I heard the sound of cooking, so I went to check. I saw my mother, preparing breakfast. I was so confused, happy, I literally didn’t know how to react. She glanced at me with that usual smile and gave me a kiss. She was acting like nothing even happened. I thought it was a very strangely realistic dream, but what happened after shocked me completely. There was, my father, sitting on the couch, drinking tea. Big tears started coming out of my eyes, I felt them crawling down my cheek, tasting the salty water. Even he acted like nothing happened and it was just casual. I remembered that piece of paper the shop owner gave me. Turns out there was a phone number written. Without hesitation, I phoned the number. The man answered and knew it was me. He said, “While you were there, eveyrthing changed, the people, the inventions, everything.” Then hung up. What was that? I, to this day still do not know clearly about the situation. Though I was happy to see my father, playing sweet melodies, and alive, happy.