Where I'd Gone ⌲ River Phoenix ((COMPLETED))

Wonderful Tonight

April 23, 1990

"Guitarist Eric Clapton's son has passed away today- due to a 49 story fall. He was only 8 years old." Those words woke me up as the lights on the tv got brighter. Sam was glaring at the tv attentively, watching as the camera panned over to the building. "Clapton and the mother had just came home that night, while the boy was under the supervision of a family friend."

"God! I love Eric Clapton... I can't believe what he's going through right now." She sighed, pushing herself off of the couch.

"Same here..." But suddenly I felt weird, like my insides were churning.

"Chris- are you okay?" Sam asked. "You're so pale!"

"I-I just have a bad feeling about this... I'm going to take a walk."

"Okay- you do that," Sam consented as I grabbed my coat and walked out the door.

As I stepped out into the fresh air, I was greeted by a gust of wind. It was unusually clear outside, the sun was out and the temperature was comfortable. I was back in New York, unfortunately, my spring break wasn't as fulfilling as I expected it to be. Luckily it was the weekend so I didn't have to worry about classes for the next few days.

I walked around the campus with the fear of something I don't know how to explain. I had a sudden fear that something went terribly wrong... Something that slipped right through my fingers. But I don't know what it is. Terrifying right?

By the time I made it back to my dorm, Sam had abruptly pushed the telephone to me."You have 3 missed calls!" I called the number back, anxiously waiting for him to answer. It was River's number.

"Hello?"

C: River! What's wrong?

R: Uh... I don't know but Tom has not answered any of my calls. And he usually answers on the first ring.

C: God... River I've been feeling trepidation for the past 2 hours... I don't know!

R: Chris- calm down. I'm sure everything's fine. Let's just wait.

C: Did you see the news today?

R: No. I don't watch the news...

C: Well! Well... Well ... Uh.

R: Chris spit it out.

C: You know Eric Clapton right? The guitarist.

R: Yeah. He wrote Layla... No?

C: He did... But it said that uh... I just- uh.

R: What happened?

C: It said that his son died today... It said he was 8 years old...

R: Oh... No. It couldn't be.

C: Damn it you said Tom's dad is a rockstar!

R: This can't be... It just doesn't add up.

C: River it adds up perfectly! Tom is 8 years old, his dad is this rockstar and his parents were coming home the next day... Remember? He was so happy to see his dad after how long he was touring.

R: Bullshit. Tom couldn't just die.

C: It said that... He fell out a window. A 49 story window to be exact.

I could hear River cursing under his breath as I started to feel weak.

R: Chris- I-I it's my fault. If we never went to the fair this would've never happened.

C: No... You didn't contribute to it at all.

R: It was the damn ukulele! He was so overjoyed with it while we were driving to his house. Maybe he was so happy that he slipped and fell.