Momentary Bliss | Dark A.I|

Chapter 2

Life as a free man was a lot different than I anticipated. At first we just used our time to have fun; cheap motel rooms, alcohol, girls, fast greasy food. In the beginning it was exciting, like something that we had never experienced before. At least for me it was my first true bender. 

The thrill lasted about a week before we were slapped in the face by reality. Money was tight and the hangovers weren't worth it. Our boys week came to a quick and abrupt end and our dose of reality was harsh. We had to find a place to live and quickly.

 Luckily my uncle had left me a small cabin in his will. We had a small amount of money saved up from our music sales but not nearly enough to afford a house so this was a god sent. The boys and I made quick work of moving in. Placing our small touches and making the place ours. Yes we're a band and yes were living together, that's what bros do. We didn't have much but with the boys it truly felt like home. 

The main renovation that we did to the house was updating the basement. If we were going to make our career in music work, then we needed a space to record, somewhere that let our creativity run wild. All of us knew that we wanted to make a future for ourselves in music, so this was a necessity. 

Luckily the house had room for all of us, though it looked small on the outside. The inside was large and spacious and left plenty of room for the four of us. It was tucked away nicely as well. It was still in the city but the long driveway and many trees allowed us a good bit of privacy. Plus we were pretty far away from our neighbors which was nice. 

Overall, it wasn't a bad setup for some guys who were living on their own for the first time. I loved living with the boys I really did, but sometimes I felt like there was something missing. Lately they had all been getting really rowdy again. Drinking and screaming, it was driving me insane. I felt like their constant noise was embedded into my brain causing a permanent headache. 

Lately I had been giving into their constant partying as well. I wanted to change that though, I wanted to be better. I decided a walk would be good. I could clear my brain and make a solid plan. Plus if I was lucky maybe some inspiration would hit me.

The walk was nice, the air was the right amount of chilly to wake up my senses. Walking up to the park I decided that the swings would be the perfect spot to just sit and think. When I was younger whenever I was having issues my mom and I would go to the park, sit on the swing and talk it out. Ever since then the swing became my spot of tranquility and peace. 

Sitting down I began swinging back and forth, letting my feet softly brush against the mulch. Looking around I started to finally take a good look at my surroundings hoping to take my mind off the track that it was set on. There was an old slide to the left, some monkey bars to the right, and a tube smack dab in the middle. 

Looking up at the sky I began listening to the soft sounds of the crickets, cars speeding in the distance, and snoring? No that couldn't be right, snoring in the middle of the park at night? Absurd! But there it was the unmistakable sound of someone's blocked airways. 

Slowly I began to walk around trying to locate the snores. First I checked the slide, and though there was a lot of gum (and some indistinguishable fluids which I decided to ignore) there was nothing. I decided to skip the monkey bars, now that would just truly be insane. So all that was left was the tube. I mean it was big enough to hide a body but it couldn't be comfortable enough to sleep in. Besides it was too small for a hobo. 

Slowly I peeked inside, and to my surprise saw a small body. A small body?!? At this time of night?!? No way no how. Slowly I crawled into the tube being careful not to break it with weight. Inside I saw three things, a crusty purple suitcase, a scraggly white rabbit, and a small child. My eyes widened, a child, a living breathing child, at the park at this time of night! Where were her parents, where was her common sense! 

No child should be outside by themselves at this time of night. But what if she didn't have a home, or worse what if she didn't have parents. I couldn't imagine someone just leaving a child to fend for themselves. Though in this economy nothing should surprise me. Well if that's the case I can't just leave her here, what if the wrong person stumbled across her. I don't think I could live with myself if I was just a bystander in an event like that. 

But could I take on a child? I've never even had a pet fish let alone cared for another human. My brain kept rambling on and on running the different possibilities and outcomes. But before I could make up my mind frightened green eyes met mine and a small startled shriek rang through the air.