WHEN THE MUSIC DIES

WHEN THE MUSIC DIES Chapter 1 I tripped and fell on the narrow back road. It looked like a road that led straight to destruction. The road was silent, except for the ragged sound of my own breath. I couldn't catch it, even while the earth kept spinning. I groaned and dragged myself up. "No... I can't... stop... here," I stuttered. I kept running as my life depended on it. Because it did. I had promised myself long ago that I would not end up like my sisters. No. I didn't create this fate, but I had to change it. There was no way I was going to marry that old man. Never. That would be the last thing I would do. Then I ran straight into them - the same men I had been running from. My legs locked. It felt like a spell had been cast on me. I lost my footing and fell hard on my butt, gasping. One of them lurched toward me, yanked me up by my hair, and landed a hot slap across my face. "Aahh!" I clutched my cheek. "You rat," he spat. "Take her away," the one who looked like their boss ordered. They grabbed me. I struggled, but my strength gave out sooner than I expected. With my chest pounding, I whispered the only prayer I could manage in that fear. "Dear Lord, save me today." Then I heard it. "If you want to take her, you'll have to kill us first." My brothers. All six of them. My eyes widened. Strength I didn't know I had rushed back into me. How? Had they been following me all along? They charged like their own lives depended on it. I yanked myself free from the men who wanted to drag me to the man my father had sold me to. "Mitchell, run! We'll find you!" Bennett, the youngest, shouted. I looked at them one last time, tears blurring my vision. "I'll pay you back, brothers, I promise!" I yelled and ran while they fought. My name is Mitchell, and I had no idea where I was going. I just knew I had to keep going until I found my own Canaan. I was born into a ridiculous, unfortunate home. Today was the day I had dreaded all my life. As the twenty-first child of my father, I knew my mother was simply waiting for the day I would be married off like the rest. In twenty-three years, my life has been drama upon drama. My father married three wives and had seven kids with each - not because he was rich, but because he was handsome. And trust me, we couldn't feed on handsomeness. Hilarious. I ran like I was in Temple Run. It would have been better if the monsters were at least visible. The sky was getting darker, and the cold was getting louder. After what felt like an eternity, I burst onto a wide highway. It looked like the kind of road that leads to someone's destiny. I looked around, searching for any route that carried hope, but every road seemed confused about where it was going. I sat under a short pine tree and watched the crows. There was no sign of human life around. Just me, the road, and my tears. _If I could fly, I wouldn't choose to die, On this ground tonight, I must find a way to survive. If I had wings, I would touch the sky. And if I stayed up high, would I waste my time on these endless tears tonight? The silence wouldn't know. I did nothing wrong, yet it wouldn't go easy on me. The only thing I hear now is that my life is on me. This silence threatens to pull the hair off my head - the same hair my father failed to pull. No, don't get me wrong. Even my pen has failed to understand me. I didn't mean to blame Father, but I keep doing it. Dear reader, do you know why? Would it be okay to blame him some more? Will this silence swallow me alive if I embrace it too long? If I never grow wings, will I live to see my ninety-ninth birthday? If I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, will I survive the bad day? Will I see the sunrise if I hug myself and cry tonight? Who am I to predict what happens next? I'll just hold this pain and wait to see the rest. My lips curved into a faint smile as I finished. I was tossing pebbles when I heard it - a car engine, coming from the left. I scrambled behind the tree. In no time, a fine black SUV stopped opposite me. A young woman, about my age, stepped out, phone in her right hand. I gasped without meaning to. From head to toe, she looked like someone heaven mentions every second. Beautiful. Elegant. I was sure her handbag alone could buy me and my six brothers. Without thinking, I ran out from my hiding place toward her. She flinched, and her phone slipped from her grip. I lunged and caught it with my left palm. Geez. Even I was impressed. I smiled and held it out to her. She stepped back, and my smile faded. I stretched the phone further. She took it, but her eyes never left my body. "Who are you?" Her voice was angelic. "Uhmm... my... my name is Mitchell. I'm a prodigal child," I said, and tried to chuckle. She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Then hurry up and go back home. You need a long bath." I leaned closer. She stepped back until her back touched her SUV. "Wait, did you fall into a ditch?" she asked, scanning me. I looked her dead in the eye. "If your father decided to sell you to an old man as a wife, would you go back home? Wouldn't you run, even if it meant jumping off bridges?" She made a face, irritated. I snapped my fingers. "That's it." I reached to touch her hair, but she moved her head away. "Your hair is beautiful, by the way," I said, then turned to leave. Halfway, I stopped and turned back. "What?" she said. "I don't know what you came here to do, but you're my only saviour. Help me." I didn't try to sound pitiful. I was pitiful. She scoffed, about to answer, when the back door of the SUV opened. A man stepped out. Not just a man. A celebrity. Director Dominic? The founder of Northstar Athletic? I froze. "Wait... are you seeing whom I'm seeing? Do dead people just show up on this highway too?" I whispered to the girl. She looked at me like I was insane. "Do you enjoy being funny?" "That's my dad, you fool," she said. And I burst into laughter - out of shock, exhaustion, and because of course, of course it had to be her father.