Cold and lonely in the winter, hot and crowded in the summer, is this my life to be forever through life. Tonight the boarding rooms were full, so I had to find an empty alley in which to wander from winter’s Mother Nature. I sometimes feel that winter was invented by God to punish street bums. My whole life has been spent trying to escape from my own demons and hide from all others. I took the last gulp of wine that I got from a lady on the streets. All I really had to asked for was some change, but she reached into her grocery bag and gave me the wine. I think the only reason she gave me the wine that she felt if she not I would of mugged her and stolen it away. On nights like these when sleep is hard to find I would often dream of a warm family, parents naive, cherishing my every need, sister actresses, glamorous and proud, brother antelope, all together laughing and hugging.
Morning’s sun awakens me, alone. Climbing to my feet I already see police searching the alleys for winos to throw in the clink. Making my way out the back of the alley I picked up a few cans of which I could cash in for coffee and liquor money. I also found a newspaper in the trash that I could read. So I read my daily horoscope. “Today you will no longer need something that you have always felt you needed, for you will come upon an object that will change your entire life.”
By mid afternoon I could already feel myself craving a bottle of wine. I was feeling lucky, hoping that I could find some trinket in the waste that I could sell to a pawn shop. For the next two hours I found nothing but an old plastic watch band, until in one dumpster I came upon a small leather case. It was heavier than a small case should be, so I knew there was something in it. Not wanting to caught with a package of any value, I began to walk down the street with the case tucked away under my coat. I walked to the outskirts of the city where I found a small abandoned apartment.
Inside there was nothing in the kitchen and in the living room there was one, small, old, grey couch and a coffee table with one leg missing. I sat down and placed the package on the table and just stared at it. Finally I had to open it and inside was a silver flute, surrounded by beautiful, blue felt. I placed the two separate pieces of the flute together and softly rubbed the flute with my flannel shirt until it shined as if it was never touched by human hands. I sat and played the flute straight into the next morning. Walking to the store for a cup of coffee and a paper, I realized that I had gone a whole day and night without a drink. As I was strolling back to another day with my flute I read my horoscope, “You shall be a great musician, in which all shall hear and love you.”