The piano strikes a chord. It’s like someone just switched the light on. The still room has now come to life. Drinks spill and glasses smash. Nobody seems to mind. The piano guy is taking everyone along for the ride, whipping them into a frenzy. Yes. The piano guy knows what he is doing. Lunacy has entered the room. People dancing on tables. Howling at the moon like animals. Everyone. Man and beast alike. In a matter of moments the place had become like an asylum. It’s time for me to leave.
It was only midnight according to the man made clock. The witching hour. I left the party and walked outside into the rain.. And now that I was by myself i didn’t feel so alone anymore. I began to walk, with the dull cry of the madhouse being drowned out by the blue blue rain. Why is it that any room I enter, the first thing I look for is the exit sign? Small talk is a chore. At least I have Fante. My companion. The only one I need. He is with me wherever I go. By my side. He knows when it’s time to get outta there, and with a nod of the head, he signals to the nearest door and we are gone. He never says much, but when he does it hits me like an arrow. Why do I love it when someone can say in a few simple words, something that I have always known but have been unable to say? A good friend told me that’s why I play the guitar. It does my speaking for me so I don’t have to. Leave the chit chat to other people.
I suddenly notice that I’ve walked in a complete circle and have somehow wound up back outside the party. Right back to the place I’ve been trying to escape my entire life. I peek into the window. It looks like a scene from hell. So many faces in there are already walking around dead. They didn’t even wait until death to die. Accepted their fate at an early age and did not stop to question it. Everything you would ever want to know about them was written in tortured phrases across the desolation of their faces. And yet again I am on the outside, looking in. Me and Fante. He looks at me with a cheeky grin, my good friend and evil companion. I slip on my mask of sanity and go back in. The piano guy is playing with his feet now, driving the room to new levels of depravity. Yes. He knows what he is doing. Someone hands me a drink. I don’t know what it is but I sink it. The full moon is out. I can feel it. It’s almost frightening. I look around for Fante. He is not around. I am by myself in this room full of people. There’s only one thing for it. I fasten my mask of sanity and dance into the maddening crowd. Into the sea of ghosts. Time to mingle. Time to fit in.