Broken Songbird

Chapter 1 Abandonment

Another day of rejection why did this have to happen to me? I'm still in my apartment unsure what do. Everyone rejected me; I used to be part of a teen girl group until I graduated. My voice couldn't get any higher than an alto; so I went solo for the rest of my life. I took as many music classes I could but, I couldn't find a fit of where I belong. I've been with my boyfriend whose voice I could match, but he's mentoring her now. She has a more soprano voice where I sound older than my age. She sounds like she's 12, despite being 16. Why did people like her instead of me?

It's a normal day but people despise me and don't really know me that well. Its shopping day and I figured that I needed a new life since I'm already bored with my usual routine. My friends don't know about what I'm about to do but, I went to the store for a reason. Next Saturday, I'm going to be immigrating to America so I can start over. It's risky but, it's the only option I have left.

The store was crowded but I need to keep my patience. I'm only bringing carry-on and snacks. My ex-boyfriend is on tour for 1 month. He invited me but I declined the offer since I need to stay away from him. We broke up the day before he went on tour. He's not going to miss me since that neon teen is with him. The twins are too young to understand what's going on with me but they'll just forget about me since they are still young. I continue to shop around this supermarket I grab some snacks and once I got my items I went straight toward the checkout line and was first.

"Your total is ¥20,000. Will that be all today?" she asks.

"Yes that's all." I reply as I grab my back of groceries.

I walk back toward my apartment which wasn't that far but, it started raining since it was supposed to be raining right about now. I'm finally home and I put the snacks in my carry-on luggage. I packed my remaining clothes in my other suitcases. I grew up in Tokyo but it is best for me to leave the past behind. I put the bottle of sake on the counter. I sold everything in my apartment including the couch and bed. No would notice that I left since they never cared. I'm sure that bilingual girl wouldn't have to drive me home every other night, since I got drunk at the bar and could barely walk.

I never had any siblings and my real parents left me to fend for myself in high school. I took a final look to see if I left anything. I grab my dusty laptop from my first debut; it was a birthday gift given to me from one of the members. The others went their own way after I left. My voice just wasn't fit for what I wanted to do. I loved pop but when I got into traditional songs my voice just wasn't right; I could only do one song where my voice seemed to fit in, and nothing else.

Around 7 p.m., I walk toward the bar nearby where I grab a warm sake and some fried tempura so I have something to absorb the hard alcohol. I talk to some of the regulars. As usual I'm the only woman in the bar but the patrons are probably too drunk to realize that I'm a woman. I only drink 1 cup but normally I drink 6 cups; today was different since I knew I couldn't drink as often as I would like to in America. It's going to be a learning experience. I probably have to change my style to blend in and get used to the American alcohol since sake is rare and hard to find.

"Look life may seem hard but it's all we got. Sometimes fate wants you to hit rock bottom to sober you up. It's planned and I've noticed that with some patrons some found true love afterward. Fate and life is a game of chance and you're always taking the risk path." she says.

"I doubt that since I've hit rock bottom and no one seems to care anymore." I reply.

"Look don't doubt yourself. Just because you hit rock bottom doesn't mean something good comes out of it. Fate can change for you and you may even find someone you love and truly care about." she says.

"Really because I dumped my boyfriend the day before he left for tour. I didn't care what he thought because he loved her instead of me." I reply.

She didn't know what to say except tell me not to give up on life just yet. My plane ride is on Saturday, today is Monday. Just 6 more days of torture and I'll be out of this country for good. My parents wouldn't realize that I'm gone since they abandoned me. One day we were a perfect family, the next we just separated with no known cause. I decided for the next few days I was going to visit the last places I liked that I knew I was going to miss once I leave.

Around night fall I go to the skyline so I can take one last look at Tokyo. The busy streets and passing cars will not be missed. I have old friends I would be leaving but, they abandoned me one by one. Nothing will hold me back I don't want to come back. I'm already fluent in English so it shouldn't be a problem for me to blend in; my accent changed whenever I spoke English. I'm not sure which country it sounds like but I'm thinking it's German since it doesn't sound American. It's probably going to be the worse experience of my life to be adjusting to a 15-hour time difference. It is going to be a pain for me to adjust and I'm probably going to have to take a motion sickness pill so I'm not throwing up on the plane. It's going to be a long week for me but I'll have to pull through eventually.

I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock beeping and I shut it off and take a shower. I put on my street clothes which is basically a t-shirt underneath a long jacket; complimented with a scarf and boots. I walk downstairs toward the street level and walk around the city and hangout in the park one last time. So many memories here; this was where I met him. He was a failure at first when he first started out. Until that neon teen got involved then my popularity went downhill and his went up. I still miss the other singers who were with us. One used to mentor me when it was just a few of us.

No one would know I left anyway, we all went our own ways afterward. The others retired and left; him and I are the only ones left from first generation. Then the twins came in, bilingual girl, and neon teen. No one seemed to care about where I went. I just went my own way. Life has been hard on me when I lost my popularity. My deep mature voice outweighed my potential, I need a new place to stay where I don't feel rejected. I'm probably going to end up working at a discount supermarket and live in poverty.