Chapter 1

The beginning and the end

Harmonies Journey

By Scott Evans


He isn’t listening. I’m too tired to keep on trying. I can’t spend another three hours, until we get to the city, trying to find even a glimpse of my old pal. I’ve just gotta face it, the Simon I loved growing up with is dead. The man driving beside me is a corpse. You can’t bring the dead back to life.

Dan nuzzled his head between his shoulder and the cold window glass and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep. Simon didn’t notice, just like he hadn’t noticed his best friend trying to talk to him for the past few hours. His jaded eyes just relentlessly gazed intensely on the dark road ahead. He was a Nowhere man, drowning in his Nowhereland.  

…

EYES! Two startled eyes, terrified small eyes, suddenly appeared in the beam lights. Simon snapped back to life but it was too late, he couldn’t avoid the devastating impact that would close those beautiful eyes forever. He carried on driving, frantically looking into the rear view mirror but all he could see were his own wild blue eyes looking back at him. Those were not beautiful. Not anymore.

Simon fought with every last strength in his ravaged body not to lose control again. He didn’t want to wake Dan. “It was just a rabbit, mate,” Dan would have said, but he would have been wrong. It was a life. Megan would never have forgiven him. 

Megan. My beautiful girl. No.  I don’t want to think about it. Oh God. Don’t.

Yet again Simon’s thoughts betrayed him. Yet again they tortured him with such repeated cruelty. It was a movie that had played a million times in his mind, a million times more than he had ever wanted to see it.

“Do you know where you’re going, Simon?”

“Yes, Sarah! Now stop going on and let me drive won’t you? I can’t concentrate on the road signs with you asking me that same question every two seconds.”

“I’m telling you it was the last turn off we should have taken.”

“Sarah! Please! Stop going on.”

“We should have been there by now, Simon.”

“I know, we’ll be there as quickly as we can, okay! I promise we’ll get to the party before your Dad does.”  

“Okay…sorry.”

“Don’t worry, okay. Look, we turn right at the end of this road and then we’re just two minutes from your Aunt Jocelyn’s house.”

Simon looked in his rear view mirror. Looking back at him were two great big green eyes. Gorgeous, just like her mother’s.

“You okay, Princess.”

“Yes, Daddy.” she giggled.

“You looking forward to seeing Pappy?”

“YEAH!” she cheered.
Simon smiled. Megan always made him smile. He stopped at the end of the road and checked for any coming cars and then he pulled out. The world stopped.

“SIMON! SIMON! Wake up, wake up!”

Simon could feel himself being aggressively shaken. It took his mind a moment to make sense of what was happening. My head is cold, why was that? Why is someone shaking me? What’s that on my face? Simon ran his hand through his hair and then examined it. It was soaking wet. It was red. S**t. Blood.

Simon snapped back to life.

“Sarah!”

“Get out of the car Simon, quick,” Sarah sobbed hysterically.

Simon remembers that. The anguish on Sarah’s face as she tried to drag him out of the driver’s seat. She wasn’t trying to help him. She wasn’t trying to save him. What happened next was a blur. The movie begins to jump. It skips a few scenes. Images flicker. Simon finds himself outside of his car. Twisted metal. A motorbike wheel spinning. A man in a helmet lying very still. Kneeling down to help but again Sarah’s pulling at him. 

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. What a perfect day. So hot. Beautiful

The next scene starts but again Simon doesn’t want to watch but it plays and he sees. He is kneeling down again but this time it isn’t the man in the helmet he is trying to help. 

Megan. My baby, my beautiful little girl is lying in front of me. Move for Daddy, Megan.

“Help HER! SIMON HELP HER. HELP HER. HELLLLP HER!” Sarah doesn’t stop shouting. She is stuck in a horrific loop. “HELP HER HELP HER HELP HER” … “Please Simon, save our baby.”

“Wake up, sweet heart. Open your eyes. Megan,” he whispers gently, “Megan, please. Can you just open your eyes for Daddy, just for a second?”

“Oh no. Noooo NO!” Sarah screams, with all of the Earth’s air in her lungs.

“Hush little Megan, don’t you cry. Daddy’s going to sing you a lullaby.” 

“What are you doing?” Sarah is hitting him. “What are you doing? Stop singing” He ignores her. 

Megan likes this song. The world falls deathly silent. Sarah’s screaming fades away. All he can hear is Megan’s favourite song. He picks her up and cuddles her close. He then closes her eyes so that she can hear him better as he continues singing.

He looks at Sarah but he doesn’t hear her anymore. He can’t hear what she is saying. He doesn’t want to, but as the movie is repeating this specific scene over and over, he eventually relents and listens.

“She’s gone, Simon. My baby. My beautiful little girl. Megan. Megan. Megan. Simon do something. Simon, make it better” He says nothing. He just looks at Sarah, but he is concentrating on is the feel of his baby in his arms.

The cold reality hits Sarah as hard and as suddenly as the bike hit their car. All of a sudden my she stops her unbearably crying. The never ending years ahead them without their princess, the light of their lives, their perfect joy is too much. Just too much. Without a word Sarah quickly crosses the road and stepped in front of a speeding car.

The movie ends. For now. Once again Simon sees the road ahead. Dan insisted that he should continue driving but Simon could see that he was tired. He doesn’t sleep much anymore; the dreams are more vivid than the memories. He doesn’t want to be awake and he doesn’t want to be asleep. He needs to occupy his mind. Keep the enemy away. He turns on the radio. Music fills the void. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish. He needs a song that captures his attention, or else a rubbish song will just allow his thoughts to wonder. Rubbish, rubbish, then a good one, brilliant in fact. Stairway to Heaven. Led Zepplin:

Your head is humming and it won't go 
In case you don't know 
The piper's calling you to join him 
Dear lady can you hear the wind blow 
And did you know 
Your stairway lies on the whisperin' wind 

And as we wind on down the road 
Our shadows taller than our souls

The music is electrifying. Simon can feel his emotions growing as the music builds to orgasmic proportions but something is terribly wrong. The song is doing the very opposite of what he wanted. His feelings are charged. As the singer wails, the guitar solo soars and the tribal drums erupt with such might, Simon’s heartbeat races.

 And she's buying a stairway to heaven...

The dark begins to suffocate him. The black desolate sky echos his soul, howling, screaming and flooding the ground with its violent powerful tears. His mind suddenly snaps!

Something felt wrong. A brutal movement. Dan woke up. He opened his eyes in time to see his car tearing across the lane, to the wrong side of the road.

“Simon, plea……” The world stops

…

Simon opened his eyes. He found himself outside of the car.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. What a perfect day. So hot. Beautiful.

“Simon, are you there?”

Reviews

[Skye]

Okay, so, I'm a bit confused, but I liked it. I'm intrested to see where it goes.