TimeLabs Inc (Romantic Sci-fi - LGBTQ)

Play Off

Author's Note - The challenge for this round was to write an alternative reality story about a famous couple, in my case, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. I felt uncomfortable using their real names, (Courtney is still living) so I compromised with second names for my story. Word limit 1500 - story 1327 not counting the pre-amble.

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The real story - with grateful thanks to Wikipedia.

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana.

The band found breakthrough success with "Smells Like teen Spirit" from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled "the flagship band" of Gen X, and Cobain hailed as "the spokesman of a generation". Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention.

Cobain befriended a homosexual student at school and suffered bullying from heterosexual students who concluded that he was gay. In a 1993 interview, Cobain claimed that he was "gay in spirit" and "probably could be bisexual."

He married punk rocker Courtney Michelle Love in 1992, after a courtship which began with her pursuing him.

During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the US, and over 75 million worldwide. Cobain was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in 2014.

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Alternatively ...

Play-Off

Don crashed out the last chord on his guitar, thrust it skyward then brought it down to smash into a hundred deafening pieces on the stage. Sweat poured down his face as he grinned at the rest of the band, feeding off the vibes from the screaming crowd which filled the hall.

Chris, the bass guitarist, caught his eye and grinned back."All right!" He shouted, brandishing his own guitar. Crash! Another hundred pieces.

High on adrenaline, the band left the stage and headed for their dressing rooms, still riding the wave of excitement and eager to keep the energy pumping.

Chris reached out, pulled Don to his side and kissed him.

"Aw man," protested Don, "I told you not to do that." But he was smiling.

Michelle was waiting in the wings, grinning from ear to ear. "Brilliant!" she exclaimed, jumping into Don's arms and planting a hard kiss on his mouth. "You had them eating out of the palm of your hand." She slipped down to the floor but kept a possessive arm around his waist, flicking a warning "hands off" glance at Chris.

Chris grinned—it was so easy to annoy Michelle. Although Chris was firmly committed to his partner of three years, he did enjoy stirring the pot, pretending to chase Don. And Don seemed happy enough to let him. Despite Don's current relationship with Michelle, Chris couldn't help wondering if Don was playing for the wrong team.