Contest Entries

My Song

Caleb closes his eyes as he tries to calm himself. He could feel his tears forming, but he does not want to show it to this girl in front of him. He never shows his tears to anyone.

He thought of the moments that made him feel this way about music- the pressure and expectations that the company has been giving him, his family who never supported him and never appreciated the music he creates, his sister who calls his song a piece of trash, and the disappointing looks of his parents every time he visits them at their house.

"I was too boastful, that's why my family hates me. When I told them that they could not control me anymore and that I'm on my own.... certainly I was. Because ever since I pursued this career, they disowned me as their family member."

Caleb curses the world. It is unfair. Every night he would lie on his bed, thinking of all the times the world treated him badly. He hates it. And he even hates more the fact that he isn't strong enough to live his life and to move forward.... Because every night, he would just wish of all the suffering to come to an end.

The both of them were quiet, indulged on their own thoughts.

Eve finally had the guts to break the silence when she starts to hum. Caleb stares at her, wondering if what'll she do. Eve closes her eyes this time and feels the humid air touches her cheeks.

She opens her mouth and she suddenly starts singing. It is an untitled song she composed when she couldn't sleep two nights ago, when she was all alone inside her dark room. Caleb listens to her voice and watches her as she sings the song that is unfamiliar to him.

When she finishes it, the silence fills the place again, until Caleb claps and smiles at Eve.

"You sing really well." he comments.

Eve opens her eyes and looks at him."I never had the chance to fight back, like you did."

She takes a deep breath. "My parents were always fighting, were always shouting at each other. All the years I'm growing up, it wasn't music. It was all noise.... A noise I wouldn't want to hear. My parents would always release their anger on me. My father would always shout at me, insult me... my mother slapped me very often that eventually I got numb. I did not have the courage to tell them to stop, because I honestly believed that they were just angry, and beyond that, they still have the heart that loves me as their own daughter."

Caleb stares at the girl in front of him. She does not give him the impression of someone who lacks courage. She looks tough to him.

Or maybe it's just what she seems to be, he thought.

"I stopped going to school, too. We lacked the funds. I lost all of my friends, because they moved on without me. They finished school, they got their diplomas, they all have a good job now unlike me. I don't have anyone to ran to.... But then, one day, I heard a voice who reached out to me like a parent would to her own child. It was your music, your voice, who gave me the motivation to keep on moving forward, for me to continue living. Because your music comforted me, told me that I am not alone in this sullied world."

Eve gives him a smile; it is a smile like no other. A smile that touches his heart. A girl in front of him who have all the will to live on, despite all the trials and suffering she's been facing. Caleb shakes his head in disbelief. This girl went through much suffering than he did and yet, she is stronger than him.

Caleb looks at the sky. "What's your name?"

She answers, "Eve."

He smiles at the dark sky, at the stars shimmering above him. "Eve... That means to live." He understands it now. It all makes sense. Her name really fits her, for she is someone who continues to live unlike him. "Your name has a good meaning, unlike mine. Caleb means dog." he adds.

She can't help but to chuckle, but she regains her cool. "I think it suits you though, because I think dogs are really strong animals."

He looks at her in surprise. This girl believes too much in him, that he doesn't know whether to be happy with it or the other way round. When he peeks into her eyes, all he could see is a girl who has a genuine heart. Someone who can truly appreciate him, and most especially, someone who can truly appreciate his music.

Someone calls out Eve's name from inside. 

"I.. I gotta go," she says.

He just nods quietly. Eve waits for him to say more, but he didn't. She acknowledges the nod as a signal that she could go. She nods back, and finally goes inside.

The night is long for Eve. Every now and then, she keeps on looking at the bar's main door, waiting for Caleb to leave. She wipes off the tables when the night ends, and then people finally leave the bar; but she did not see Caleb leave. She heaves a sigh and thinks that maybe he left quickly that she didn't notice him leaving.

"We're done." Bryan declares exasperatedly.

She packs up her things and waves goodbye to the people at the bar. She slowly walks out of the bar - the night still keeps on playing on her mind. For a moment, she thought that maybe it was just all her imagination that Caleb, her favorite singer and inspiration, talked to her.

But she is proven wrong.

Because when she raises her head, she sees him leaning on the lamppost, as if waiting for someone, with his guitar case hanging on his shoulders. She stands there looking at him, deciding if she'll walk up to him and have the chance to converse with him once more, but she's afraid of what Caleb may think of her. She doesn't want that. So instead, she looked up at the sky, searching for a sign like she always does, and when she leers back at him...

Slowly but surely, Caleb turns his head to look at her, too.

Images starts to flash on his mind. He goes back to that time, over five years ago from today, the first time he stepped on a stage for a solo performance. He perfectly remembers that time when he was nervously tapping his fingers on the table and asked for a drink to ease him up a little, when a girl by the counter looks up to him with such gleaming eyes  and a smile that was full of life.

A smile that somehow encouraged him to keep on moving, even if others are pulling you down. All these years he wishes that he could have the chance to talk to her, and to see her eyes and smile once again.

He smiles at her, a smile different from the one he wore a while ago.... And feels the joy that finally, he could return the smile that gave him the courage to fight once more.