Flute

“Your just trying to make your name hoping one day you will make it to fame. Your head turned down and your eyes looking at the ground. You sit there silently without making a sound. Bringing the slender flute to your lips you start to play a small tune to take you worries away. They may stop and listen but they don’t hear what you’re trying to say ”.

The sun was going down behind the city skyline. A darkened fog rested across the park as I started to pack up my things. I slid my flute into its case clasping it shut with a click. I pushed myself up feeling all the bones in my back crack from a day of sitting. I gathered my stuff and made my way down the sidewalk. A young couple was walking in the other direction holding the hands of their young daughter. I smiled at the family as they quickly walked away. I felt a twinge in my chest as I let the smile fall from my face. I continued walking with my head turned down but my ears up. The horns and voices flew around my head making me dizzy. I turned a quick right onto my street taking long strides as I walked. I made my way up the steps opening the door with a creek. The homey dust smell overwhelmed me as I put my stuff down at the front door. I steped into my small one room apartment and turned on the teapot. I fell back onto my chair letting the softness cover my aching bones. The pictures on the wall looked down at me welcoming me home. For the longest time these have been the only friendly faces I have been greeted with. I didn’t even know if these would be the last. I shook the memories from my head as I tried to stay together.

The early morning sunlight streaked in through the bare window. I opened my eyes slowly glancing around the room. I was hoping my dream wasn’t just a dream, that maybe I found her. I stood up from the chair my knees shaking from the strain. I shuffled over to the sink and filled up the rest of the teapot. The steam was pouring out of it in soft swirls floating up to the tattered ceiling. This day was no different then the other and would be the same as tomorrow. I filled up my mug and picked up my flute. On the way out of the house I noticed something was different. The usual noisy crowded streets where close to empty and the familiar haze of exhaust didn’t seem to bother me for once. I ignored the feeling as I started to walk down the street. I kept my head low as I made my way to the park. A flash of dark brown hair caught the corner of my eyes causing me to look up quickly. Without realizing it my foot hit a lump in the sidewalk. The ground loomed below me as I pushed my hands out catching myself just in time. I turned around to see what caused me to fall to find a newspaper. I sighed frustrated myself as I tried to stand myself up. Once I got on my feet a picture of the cover of the newspaper grabbed my attention. I squinted my eyes trying to focus on what the picture was of. A young girl with long dark hair smiled back at me her eyes sparkling with a familiar glow. I picked up the newspaper bringing it closer to my face. The headline read “local girl wins nation wide singing contest”. I stared at the picture again I knew I had seen that smiled before and those eyes I could never forget. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I turned around and made my way back down to my house. I slammed into the tiny room holding up the newspaper on the wall. My eyes fell on the picture of a young girl with her dark curly hair pulled into pigtails. A smile covered her whole face making her eyes squeeze shut. A younger happier me was next to her holding her in my arms.

“Jasey” I mumbled tracing her cheek with my thumb. Double-checking the resemblance in the photos I sat down back in my chair. I opened up the newspaper to read about my long lost daughter. Jasey Halden represented her small town of Lincoln at the National Young Voices singing contest in Los Angeles, California over the weekend.” Small tears came to my eyes as I looked back at the photograph. I couldn’t help the smile on my face from getting bigger and bigger. The constant pain in my chest even started to fade away. I didn’t know what I planned to do but I knew I had to find her.

I tried to walk as fast I as I could down the gravel path. My eyes went back and forth as I tried to look for my friend Marty. I saw a familiar brown top hat at a bench a few feet down.

“Marty guess what?” I said waving my arms at him.

“What man?” Marty grumbled moving his glassy eyes so he was looking at my face.

“I found my daughter I think I know were she is”

“Your daughter?” Marty mumbled a blank look over his face.

“Yea my daughter Jasey I’ve talked about her almost every day” I said sitting down on the bench next to him.

“Oh” Marty said slowly lighting a cigarette. He inhaled slowly looking around “ that’s good”.

“Yea” I said pulling the newspaper form under my arm “this is her”

“Woooooooo” Marty whistled opening his eyes wider. “Whose this pretty young thing?”

“My daughter Marty” I said pulling the newspaper away from his view “I need to find her”.

“Well how are you going to do that?"

“I don’t know they mention her town on here but it also says she’s going to college” I said reading over the article again.

“Then go to her town”

“ I can’t just show up what would I even say”

“How did you lose your daughter anyways?” Marty said in a softer tone. I looked over at him pursing my lips slightly.

“She was taken from me” I mumbled leaning back further in my seat.

“Who took her?”

“My ex-girlfriend”

“Why would she do such a thing?”

“I guess I wasn’t the most responsible person,” I said looking back at Marty. “I didn’t realize how much they meant to me”.

“Well this is your second chance man, it’s obviously a sign you decided to look at that newspaper today”

“Yea” I said sitting up straighter “your right I have to do what I meant to do my whole life, find Jasey”.

“Let’s go then,” Marty said sitting up.

“We can’t get there by walking its out of the city”, I said standing up after him.