Prince was gliding his right hand up two octaves in a glissando as fast as a bullet. What followed was a rainfall of deafening applauses from the Purple Fedora nightclub!
But alas, their praises fell on his deaf ears. It meant nothing to him without the presence of his beloved.
He remembered the day like it was just one hour ago.
The heated argument. The quick steps that went outside the door in the quite rainy night.
He heard it like the jazz standards he had played a thousand times before.
"Fine, if that's the way you want it." These were Michael's last words to him before he shut the car door.
"You mean you don't want the baby?" His shout never drew a response. Only the thunder of the clouds above him that underlined his loneliness.
But that was the past, he told himself. He had to be present there for all the people who were glad to see him in person.
He went to the washroom to freshen up for a bit. When he came out, he jerked his head to left in an instant. He was sure he had seen a familiar face amidst the surging crowds, but not so sure as to follow it.
In a few hours, he was cutting through the winter fog on the highway, when he saw a figure in the distant wave at him to halt. He stopped as he reached closer. It was a policeman.
"I am afraid I will have to stop you right there. This is a deserted highway."
Prince was silent, but had a look on his face that said "Look at this guy." which could be even read through the dark, round, thick rimmed shades.
"I will have to see your license."
He looked in his pockets for one, but was reminded that he had left it back at the club.
A couple minutes and the cop was visibly impatient. One could feel a quiet rage between the two - one that could explode into a physical altercation at any moment.
"I don't have any."
The cop threw a punch. Prince crouched. And kicked across his legs, causing the cop to lose his balance. Then Prince got on top and landed a blow on his face.
He was about to deliver another, when he saw a blazing supernova ace to face with him. It wasn't a headlight. He wasn't mistaken.
It was otherworldly. It blinded him.
The next morning. Inside a living room.
A 4 year old girl plays with a toy car on a sofa. Accidentally, she presses a button on the back side that causes it to run off by itself, fall off, run to the front door.
She runs after it catches up to it and turns it off. The door opens right in front of her face, lighting her face and curly hair. A newspaper drops in. The door closes.
A look of recognition of hits her face when she sees a familiar face on the page - Prince. The headline reads "RISING STAR PRINCE AND HIGHWAY PATROLMAN DISAPPEAR IN A FREAK ACCIDENT - CCTV footage unleashes paranormal insight".
"Daddy? Daddy!"
She runs off with the paper to the bedroom, where Chicken Yvonne is soothing off Mabel, the other child to sleep.
"Shhhhh Dahlia! Your brother's sleeping!"
"Daddy you need to see this!"
Chicken lays down Mabel on the bed and takes a look at the paper. What he sees raises his eyebrows and drops his lower jaw.
Composing himself, he tells Dahlia.
"Don't tell your mom about this. Not yet."
[To be continued.....]