Past the Horizon (Eddie Vedder)

Ch. 6 - Duct Tape Soundtrack (Eddie)

Chapter song:
"Hunger Strike" - - Temple of the Dog

*****

Monday, September 4th

Eddie didn't get lost in Stoneridge, and the Brew A Bean was so close to the trolley stop that he would have had to be a complete idiot to get lost on his way back. Once he made a quick pit stop at a convenience store for a bottle of water before the trolley arrived, he now found himself back in the now familiar setting of Smoky Potato. The gods must have been looking down on him fondly for once because he miraculously made it back to the campsite with no further unfortunate incidents to be documented. He managed not to injure himself again or, more importantly, anyone else; he didn’t trample over any more unsuspecting bystanders; and the keys were still safely packed away in his side pocket. Yes, he checked before climbing into the trolley. Even the bitterly cold rain that had assaulted him yesterday was pleasantly absent, and the temperature outside was steadily increasing. Perhaps he would be able to forgo the jacket soon enough. And it could have been due to his recent caffeine intake, but the sun even seemed to be shining a tad bit brighter. 

Small victories. 

He'd take it.

He sat in the same spot on the couch as the night before, knees pulled up and the notebook propped open on his legs. The blanket still lay crumpled on the back of the couch; he defiantly chose to ignore it… even with the lingering chill on his bare legs. He didn't need any more accidents. Luck may have been on his side for now, but there was no need to push it.

Lit cigarette nestled in between two fingers, his other hand was busy rewriting his lyrics, minus the scratch marks and scribbles. He felt ready… anxious too, all of the good and bad things rolled in together. The tape was different; he just recorded it and threw it in the mail. Out of sight, out of mind… not really, but a similar concept. He never actually thought anything would come from it, that maybe it would be lost in the shuffle with the other mediocre singers trying to catch a break.

This, however, would be face to face. There could be no out of sight, out of mind mentality. He'd have to listen to whatever words they said in response and see their facial expressions and what lay hidden beneath the words they chose not to say. Whatever the outcome, he could handle it. He didn't have much of a choice really. Plus, if they approved, they'd have five songs already. Not bad for day two. He wanted to create as much as possible before leaving for San Diego on Saturday, and five songs would be a good start. The goal was to leave a positive impression after all. It was step one.

The sound of a car door being shut broke the silence of the air surrounding him, pulling him from his thoughts. He listened to the indistinct voices outside of Smoky Potato, trying to discern who they belonged to. Jeff and Lily, maybe? As he closed his notebook, he was proven to be at least partially right as Jeff's form appeared in the doorway, smiling when he noticed Eddie on the couch.

"Hey, got here as soon as I could," Jeff said, closing the door behind him. "You do okay here last night?"

Eddie lifted his notebook. "Yeah, I got some, uh, some stuff written to show you guys."

"Yeah? You mind if I take a look?"

Eddie skimmed through the pages until he found the new lyrics, trying to stifle the fluttering of nerves threatening to spread their wings in his stomach as he passed the notebook to Jeff's outstretched hand. He knew Jeff wouldn't be overly critical, but he wanted an honest opinion as well. So many unknowns were currently left open to battle against the elements, and it was hard to predict where and how things would go, which way the tides would shift. Hell, they might not even give a fuck about lyrics anyway. There was a possibility that he could write about bunnies and unicorns and they wouldn't give two shits. A slim possibility, but hey, that would work in his favor… not that he had poems about unicorns stashed away somewhere.