Lost at Sea |

III.

ADELAIDE.  A U S T R A L I A-

James felt the warm embrace of sunlight against his face as he slowly navigated his way out of the veil of sleep. It felt as if he slept for a year, and was probably up there with one of the best night sleeps he ever got. Probably up there with that time he was crammed into a hotel room with his entire family. If it were possible, the bed even seemed to have gotten more comfortable as the night progressed, almost as if it wasn't the same mattress he fell asleep on. He felt himself slowly regaining consciousness as he shifted around under the sheets, his long arms folded under a fluffy pillow while he nuzzled his face into it. He heard the chirping myna bird from outside, and it brought him to back to his days before the band when he had to get up for school. Usually the sound was accompanied by the familiar smell of his mum cooking eggs in a frying pan, and the noisy hustle and bustle of two growing boys getting breakfast.

The pleasant memory was put to a halt, once James realized that he wasn't just imagining the sound of myna outside his window. Although his eyes were still closed, he was almost 100% sure that was the chirp of a myna bird, one of the most common birds you hear around where he lived back in aus.

He fluttered his eyes open, and felt every muscle in his body tense at the sight he was greeted with. At the moment, he was staring into a giant window that went from floor to ceiling, and was overlooking an ocean that looked almost identical to Gleneg Beach in Adelaide. Now that he thought of it, he was certain was that exact same beach. He'd only been there a couple of times growing up but he distinctly remembered the peaceful, picturesque surroundings there. He always used to tell his parents he wanted to move there one day but he hadn't thought of that desire until now.

James' heart began to race in his chest as he began to observe his surroundings, his hands shaking when he realized he didn't recognize the bed he was sleeping in or the room he was even in. It was a medium sized bedroom, that was clean but not in the perfect hotel way that James had become so accustomed to. The floors were a light chestnut color, a little scratched up from what looks to be from consistent furniture rearrangements. A small bookshelf the same level to the floor held a whole stack of different volumes of books. Plants seemed to be coming from everywhere, hanging from the ceiling,tiny potted plants in bookshelves, and even some just in the corners of the room. A steel fan sat near the bed, blowing cold air in his direction every ten seconds on rotation. The bed he was laying on was low to the ground, and only had white sheets and fluffy white down comforter. A large painting of tiger lilies hung above the headboard behind him, and the initials were stitched in the corner. This was clearly someone's bedroom, in Adelaide and for the life of him, James couldn't figure out how he got here.

James had played in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, performed on national television and award shows to a sea of musicians way more talented than he- and yet he was at the closest he's ever come to hyperventilating. He shot one hand out to the nightstand next to him and reached for the iPhone currently charging. Hoping the phone would give him clues to see who's bedroom he'd ended up in, he decided to worry about the how later. His brain could only process one thing at the moment, and right now it was finding out whose phone this was.

Luckily who's ever phone this was, they didn't have a passcode so James was able to unlock it with no problem. Assuming this person was a regular human being and took selfies every now and then, he decided to look through the pictures first. But he couldn't prepare himself for what he saw next.

It was mostly just pictures of him. And not stage pics from concerts, or paparazzi candids of him walking around Hollywood-they all looked to be personal photos of him. Photos that he didn't remember taking but there were hundreds of them. Some of them he was smiling in front of the Sydney Opera House, or some looked to be more candid like him taking a bite of the person across from him's food. There were tons of him on the beach, a surfboard leaning against him while holding up a peace sign, and even more of him actually surfing even though James knew he couldn't surf to save his life. James' palms began to sweat with nervousness as he continued to flick through photos filled with him posing with people he didn't recognize. He didn't see one picture of him at an awards show, or on stage, or even with a guitar-they were all of him at parties or with members of his family that seemed to look older.