The One Hit Wonder

Chapter 3

The night was worth the wait. Again, the song played and he saw a silhouette dancing with it.

A star stayed with me tonight.

What he saw seemed to be enough. He stood up and went home quietly. A smile was painted on his face for the first time in years.

The man was always going inside stores just to find his old vinyl album. He wanted to find out if there's still one out there. And tonight, unlike the other nights, he was fortunate to find one. He wasn't sure if it was a copy of his record, but one thing is for sure. It was him singing the song, and it was a girl dancing with it.

The man sat down on a dusty chair. He cleared the dusts above the table and placed a paper. He proceeded to write on the paper; words of gratitude to that one star who stayed with him for the last time.

He folded the paper and went out. He took a bite of the dumpling he bought earlier and walked like he never walked before. For the first time, the man went out with happiness inside his heart.

I have never saw the rising sun after the stars disappeared that night. Storms often comes my way and world felt like it was all black and white. The stars are above me all the time, but it's the first time that it felt like they were actually there for me.

Dust collected on my floor and windows. Cobwebs on my ceiling and walls. My home felt like my heart, it was heavy because of all the dust that burdened me.

I was once a rising artist. Everyone loved me and my songs about happiness, love, and cute romantic stuff garnered the heart of every fan out there. I was so young that time that all I can sing about is how fun life was.

Everytime I enter a room everyone would be screaming to welcome my presence. Everyone would clap and rejoice that I was there. And as I grew older it all became normal. No one claps when I'm there, no one screams when I arrive. Like everyone grew tired of me and just when I thought it was over... it really was over for me.

A song named me as an artist. All year long I was singing that song until everyone was sick of it. I grew older and wiser, but those listeners never did. A song about the constant anxiety that I felt on every step that I make in my career ruined me. I thought about it as my refuge, but it become the weapon that killed me.

No one took interest on that record. Everyone criticized me, everyone left me. Even the happiest song that I wrote became the saddest to my ears. And everytime I walk around the streets, no one recognizes me. Sometimes I would wonder if they just ignored me and laugh at my back. The city was a very loud place, I feared that one of the noises that contributes to that loud noise are laughs and jokes about me.

I kept searching for traces of me. I kept looking for people who might know me. From the man from that record store to the humming girl with dancing silhouette inside her room. I never thought that I would find them so soon. 

My eyes grew tired from searching the world. My ears bled from hearing the loud noises of the cities. And my mind goes crazy because of the memories of the crowd that looked like stars inside that stadium. My senses couldn't feel anything but pain.

It has been decided for so long that I would end this. But like a ghost, I had an unfinished business that I couldn't leave the world. Now, I just have go make sure that the only person in the world who listens to me never forgets my name. So that when I leave, I will be immortalized in her memory and in her heart.

The man reached the house and left the letter on the doorstep. He felt so light that he feels like flying. And the next thing he knew, he was standing on bridge until his eyes were shut and his body drops from the height.

And afterwards, no one heard a thing about a one hit wonder who ended his own life.

The morning comes and the girl found the letter. She was happy to receive a letter from the person who kept her feeling alive.

“I will keep listening to you,” the girl said.

THE END

The story of the one hit wonder who was once heard ended. Everything might not feel right after reading everything. But his story wanted you to know that a pair of ears who listens is more than a thousand who sings with you. And sometimes the words we don't listen to, are the words some people needs to hear to keep on living too.

The man and girl helped each other. One to free himself and the other to keep herself.

— Damieros