Tainted Melodies (Ciudad de Escalante #5)

Phase 05

Something about the oscillations I created in my fingers against the strings felt so blissful as if it were molten energy seeping right through my skin. I can still remember the first time I felt like I was in a wonderland when a melodic tune gently flowed in my ears when I attended a musical summer camp back when I was eight.

In the blink of an eye
I was falling from the sky
In the blur, you took my breath away
And my heart starts beating
And my lungs start breathing
And the voice in my head starts screaming
I'm alive!

That was the first time I felt like I found what I had come for in this world; I was so lucky. I found my passion at an early age. But I guess, as I grew up, I realized it's not all about the passion anyway. It is who we become while we're pursuing it.

Envisioning music notes floating within the summer air of the camp, I aimlessly follow the brilliant yet calm sound of an arpeggio. To know precisely where these tunes are coming from, I slowly open my eyes.

You're like a laserlight,
burning down, burning down, on me
You're like a laserlight, burning down
Burning down, on me
You make me feel good
You make me feel safe
You make me feel like
I could live another day
You make me feel good
You make me feel safe
You know I wouldn't have
it any other way

I saw a grown man, a performer with long fingers and a quirky side smile, gingerly embracing a mahogany acoustic guitar and playing it ever so elegantly. Captivated by the melody, a little Solaire stood there, amazed while watching his hands strum and pull the guitar's steel strings. I took one step closer to him to get a better view of his hand positionings.

I tried to mimic his hands and the movement of his fingers. And at that moment, it opens the reality around me. I realized that every guitar is destined to sing and create its style to those warm hands that give it such a soulful touch. I closed my eyes again and imagined I was holding a guitar too, and I could beautifully produce sounds from the strums I made.

It felt so real even it was only my illusion.

You and me, face to face
And there's so much I could say
On these words, and forever seem the silence
Can you hear, that box bre-brea-breaking
And the world starts sha-sha-shaking
They keep talking, talking, talking
But we're walking, walking, to the light
Tonight, tonight

Binuksan kong muli ang aking mata at bumalik sa realidad. An eighteen-year-old Solaire was now standing on the stage with her bandmates. The electric guitar in my hand sang the poetry of the world, those melodies that came to the soul in quietness and sailed to us as a song.

You're like a laserlight,
burning down, burning down, on me
You're like a laserlight, burning down
Burning down, on me
You make me feel good
You make me feel safe
You make me feel like
I could live another day
You make me feel good
You make me feel safe
You know I wouldn't have
it any other way