The girl with the guitar

He was passing by on his way to work. She was singing a soft tune while playing a battered guitar. In a normal day he wouldn't even have noticed her. But today was not a normal day. He had woken up early with a headache, alone in his king-sized bed. Last night they had such a row that a neighbour had called the police. It wasn't the first time that had happened, but surely it was the last one. Her games, her flirting with other guys, her fake tears, that he could cope with. But last night, she confessed to what he could not forgive. Ever.

He walked fast, the sound of his heart beating loudly in his ears. Like a bad movie, flashes of the last three years spiralled ceaselessly in his mind, feeding his temper. And then, suddenly, a song sung in the background made him stop in his tracks. The song was a familiar one. From the time before HER.

Slowly, as if afraid of breaking the spell, he turned to look at the young girl playing in the street. For a moment, all the rage, the memories, the pain, ceased. His mind, focused only in that sweet voice and the warm chords, suddenly transported him to a long-lost happy time. A time when he was carefree and young. A beach, a bonfire, friends, someone playing a guitar, the sea waves, a starry night...And suddenly, he knew. This would pass, as that happy night in the beach passed long ago, and it would all become a memory, a fadded memory.

Soothed by this revelation, he went on his way again, now with a spring in his step. And the girl playing the guitar, who had hoped that this stranger would give her some money for a warm coffee after standing there listening to the whole song, stared angrily at his back as he disappeared in the crowd.

Dafne Thaus, April 2016
(CC-BY-NC-ND) 

Thanks to the Rogue Writers for their useful comments and revisions.