Another Reason To Live (Watty Awards 2014)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

I set down my guitar and dropped my pick onto my bed and immediately started to massage my sore fingers. The pads of my left hand fingers weren't quite used to playing the guitar, which meant that every time I practiced, they would hurt a little more from the strings.

But it was worth it. The Green Day song is coming along nicely and day by day the guitar was getting a little less frustrating to figure out.

Gerard and I haven't hung out since the lake, which was two days ago, so I'm hoping that he'll stop by or call or something. I enjoy being with him and learning from him. After all, Spring Break is almost halfway over and I was curious to see what else he wants to show me.

After rubbing the soreness away from my fingers, I had an itch to listen to music, rather than play it. Getting lost within a song was a magical experience that I liked to do, ever since listening to Queen at The Boombox.

I exited my room and padded across the hallway and hunted around for my dad. The house seemed somewhat quiet, so I guessed that my dad was either in the backyard or in the basement.

I walked into the kitchen and across the tiled floor to look out the window that overlooked the backyard. The blue sky was covered in light gray clouds, but they weren't threatening rain. And sure enough, I saw my dad, hunched over the bushes that ran along the fence.

I walked outside and went across the vibrant green grass until I was within five feet of him. He was busy trimming the bushes and didn't immediately notice my presence, so I cleared my throat, just loud enough to get his attention.

He tuned his head to me and shot me a small smile before turning back to the bushes. "Hey Scarlette, did you come out here to help me out?" he asked, obviously already knowing the answer.

"No, I actually have something to ask you," I replied with a smirk.

He turned back to me and held the clippers at his side while he wiped some sweat off of his forehead with his other arm. "What is it?"

"Do you have any CDs that I could listen to?"

He thought for a moment and shrugged. "Yeah, but it depends on what kind of music you want to listen to."

I paused for a moment to think that over. "Music that you can get lost in. That speaks to you."

He smiled and nodded. "Ah, so you want good music." He sucked in his lips and was quiet for a moment, seeming to think it over.

"I know that there's some Metallica, Nirvana, Queen, and The Rolling Stones CDs downstairs next to the old couch. You can listen to those, but don't scratch them," he suggested.

I smiled and started to turn towards the house. "Thanks Dad."

He saluted me as a response before turning back to his work, while I briskly walked back into the house and trailed down stairs and into the basement.

I walked along the concrete floor, which was occasionally covered by a large area rug. It was mainly used for storage, but it wasn't completely cluttered. It just had some old furniture and appliances and some toys from mine and Noah's childhood.

Once I spotted our old worn out leather couch, I looked on each side for the CDs. Sure enough, in a neatly stacked pile, were several CDs. I snatched all of them without sorting through them and raced back to my room, eager to listen to them.

I cleared my guitar off of my bed, but kept the laptop on. I sat down and inspected each CD. The first one was a Metallica album called 'Ride The Lightning'.