#i finally understand why people literally travel across the country to follow them on tour | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

matsbarzal · 3 years

Note

Random/au number 10 with Connor McDavid please.

random #10. "im 600 years older than you. calm down."

word count: 1.1k pairing: vampire!connor mcdavid x reader warnings: mentions of death, vampirism, cynical connor

Connor couldn’t fathom why humans did half the things they do, he couldn’t understand the emotional development, or the obsession with caring about all the people around you when they would inevitably end up as just hallow versions of themselves when time finally took its toll on them. There was also a chance he may have just been a pessimist.

He tried to sympathize with the people that crossed his path over the years, tried to sympathize with their emotional capacities, their will to love and to care for one another, he just… couldn’t. It wasn’t that he, himself wasn’t emotional, far from it, really. It was just that he had seen time come and go, seen time ruthlessly rip human nature and capacity apart. Why continue to care, when inevitably everything would be gone?

You threw him through the ringer, though. Something about you made his brain itch, made his eyes cross as he tried to figure you out, tried to figure out what it was about you that made him… feel.

He wasn’t sure what it was about you, whether it was your lack of regard for his cynical view of life, or your lack of self-preservation every time you forced your way into his being, into his way of life, into the things he did. It was probably the fact he showed you what he was, and you just laughed. Laughed, and laughed and laughed as he stood there gobsmacked, annoyance covering his facial expression in seconds.

Connor would be cliché to say it, but maybe you were just different. He couldn’t say he loved you, not really, maybe, but not really. He couldn’t acknowledge that a mere human, a person with a beating heart and blood flowing through their veins, could evoke a passion inside of him, a fiery emotion that he hadn’t felt in over five centuries.

He was intriguing, from his perfect hair to his perfect skin all the way to his dark demeanour and the all-black house that made you laugh even more when he finally revealed who, what he was.

“Connor… this house, is so fucking depressing.”

“I like it. It’s quiet and keeps the warmth out. Watch your language.”

Groaning, you threw your head back at his words, a sigh leaving your lips as you observed your surroundings. The cabinets? Black. The bed coverings? Black. The window shades? Black. Aesthetically, it was pleasing to look at, but any sane person wouldn’t survive.

Good thing Connor wasn’t entirely sane.

“God, language? Are you kidding me? What are you, my dad?”

Smirking, he looked towards you, “I’m not your dad, but I am 600 years older than you actually, so calm down with the language.”

Scrunching your face up at his words, all you did was glare as you continued to make your way around the house. He’d be lying if he said you weren’t the first human to be allowed in, even Leon hadn’t seen his new development, opting to remain in his native country of Germany until he inevitably got bored and travelled again.

Connor had been alone for many, many years. By preference, of course. He wasn’t a naturally social creature. He didn’t care for constant companionship, or regular socialization. He enjoyed his solitude, enjoyed travelling, or staying in one place by himself. There were locals everywhere he went just like him, albeit usually younger, Canada not being a popular destination for the older generation.

“Do you actually sleep in here?”

“Huh?”

Quirking an eyebrow at you, he followed the direction of your pointer figure, meeting his clean-kept bedroom, the hue from the lightbulb illuminating the darkness of the room. He didn’t sleep often, didn’t really need it, at all, actually. Technically, he was already dead, no need to rejuvenate when there was nothing to rejuvenate.

“I relax in here, yes. Watch sports sometimes, I’m sure if you keep showing up, I’ll end up sleeping in there once or twice,” he knew his words could potentially come off as disinterested, but you just shrugged your shoulders, continuing on through the house.

He wasn’t lying when he said the darkness kept the warmth out, the goosebumps eliciting across your skin as he continued his tour. A collection room had you stopped in your tracks, observing the view in front of you. There were tons, if not hundreds of different artifacts, most small in nature, some larger, all shining back at you. Books, antiques, plants, drawings, everything was prevalent across the room.

“How old is all this stuff?”

Walking more into the room, Connor shrugged as he observed his surroundings. “Dunno, depends on each thing. Some are from the 16th century, and so on. That hockey stick there is from the first ever game played for the Stanley Cup, or the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, as it was called then.”

Swivelling around to look at him, he just grinned toothily at you and grabbed it.

“1893, awarded to the Montreal Hockey Club. Billy Barlow’s stick, pretty sure they don’t know I stole it, but ya know.”

“If you were still like… human, think you would’ve played?”

Placing the stick back in its holder, Connor contemplated, his head tilting side to side before nodding it gently. “My best friend and I, Leon and I, sometimes when a few of us are together we’ll play our own version. Doesn’t always work out well, and sometimes people end up with some nasty injuries, but Leon and I love it. Tkachuk almost gets his head severed every time, little shit deserves it, though.”

You could see the excitement enter his eyes as he talked about the sport, his mind reminiscing on the past experiences with his friends. At least some things evoked emotions in him.

“Why are you keeping me around? Why do you keep inviting me places?”

Connor stopped in his spot, his face going stoic as he looked at you. He wasn’t necessarily sure why he kept inviting you places, why you were so intriguing to him. What was it about you that made him want to be around you? Made him want to invite you into his home, and have you meet his old friends, have you meet his maker one day.

“You’re not like the others, I suppose. I enjoy spending time with you, you’re not like the others, and you’re not unbearable. A bit of a profanity problem, yes, but we can work on that.”

“Gonna keep me around for a while then, McDavid?”

Shrugging his shoulders again, he deflected the question as he gently placed his lips against yours, his hand cupping your cheek as his eyes slithered shut. Your own lips pressed against his greedily as your eyes closed.

“Perhaps. We’ll see.”

note: ah this is literally just cynical vampire!connor with a lil soft spot for the reader. thank you for requesting!! and i hope you enjoy <3

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lauralikesbaking · 6 years

Text

Feedback on my short story?

Hello! So as a writing exercise I wrote a short story based on one of my secondary characters to understand the character more and now I have a completely different character than the one I started off with. And now I’m hoping to get some feedback on the character and my writing style.

The short story just mainly follows the inner dialogue of the character, Jack Drummond. He’s the lead singer of a band and he’s supposed to be writing music but he’s having a bad bout of writer’s block and anxiety. His label creates a contest - Jack is going to pick a fan with an original song the fan wrote and produce it in his studio. It goes into his back story of how he became a musician and a certain gay love interest, and why he chooses the winning song.

The book I’m writing is going to follow the contest winner’s point of view - this is like a prequel to that. The book is going to focus on how music production works and what it’s like to work up close and personal with your favorite band.

Anyway please and thank you in advance!!

Shit. Shit. Shit. Absolute shit.

Jack Drummond was lying on his back on his old leather sofa, cradling his laptop between his stomach and his thighs. Scattered around him, stuck in between the cushions and on the floor, were various open bags of beef jerky and peanut m&ms. A couple of empty cans of Monster energy drink were on the coffee table beside him.

Jack had lost count of how many nights he had spent in the studio. He was trying to force himself to write something, anything. It had been over two months and he hadn’t been able to write a single lyric, melody, or even a decent beat to work off of. He was sifting through his library of saved voice memos on his computer, hoping something would spark inspiration. He had over 500 tracks of recorded material, and he had so far been unsuccessful..

So much fucking shit.

His voice memos contained different melodies, drum beats, harmonies and various compositions that had come to him on the fly. Scores and instrumentals he drafted while he grocery shopped. There were harmonies inspired by a flock of sparrows nesting in the trees who called out to each other. Composed guitar riffs and percussion to match the beat of his nervous energy while sitting in interviews. He’d be on the toilet in the middle of the night and find that his hands would be tapping out a rhythm. It never seemed to matter where he was, or what he was doing, or what time it was - there was always music in his mind.

For the last two months however, his mind had been quiet. His normally restless hands remained steady at his sides. His knees didn’t bounce when he sat. He wasn’t walking to the pace of the half formed song. There wasn’t a soothing lullaby in the back of his mind either to lull him to sleep. He was no longer overwhelmed by the music notes no one else could hear. His brain remained stoically and numbingly silent.

Jack reached the last voice memo. A jarring, pop beat played out from his speakers and just as soon as it started playing, he hit the spacebar, cutting off the music. He groaned, rubbing his hands over his eyes that were sore from staring at his computer screen from too long. He had listened to all 500 recordings he had made over the last three years and every single one of them were absolute crap.

He was supposed to be working on demos for a new album. Now that the Archives cycle was over, he was due to hand in 10 to 12 new songs in a year and a half from now. Usually, around this time after the last cycle had ended, he would have handed in five, different sounding demos. His label would then approve the ones they liked and would tell him to write more like them. By now, he should have already had ideas lined up that he had thought of while he was way on tour during the long bus commutes from city to city. He had some half assed ideas, but when he recorded them listened to them, he’d just as soon as scrap it.

His band mates suggested that he’d take some time to do some solo research and travel to a couple of cities famous for music. He decided on the U.K., hoping the country’s old rock sounds and history of producing world famous bands like the Beatles and Queen would give him inspiration. He toured all the old famous recording studios; Abbey Studios, Olympic Studios, and Trident Studios. He visited the venues and cafe’s where The Who had first played at. He browsed through vintage record shops and scored a couple of rad guitars that he couldn’t wait to play around on. He even went as far to travel to Scotland, but the only thing he gained from that trip was a severe hangover after being challenged by a local to a drink off in the pub. It turned out the pub had a fun time tricking Americans into drink offs, get them completely wasted, and then take their photo and add it to their “Make Americans Drunk Again” Wall of Fame. Jack returned home to the states with two new guitars, a severe headache, and still no new ideas.

He dreaded the meeting between him and the label when he returned. He knew that once he explained to the label he still hadn’t thought of anything new, they would threaten to let him go. There was no point for a label to continue to support a musician who couldn’t produce music.

Instead, the label had suggested the fan contest. For one week, Jack would work with a fan one on one with the fan’s original song and produce it in his studio. Jack wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of having a fan shipped out here. It wasn’t that he despised or was afraid of his fans, even if he’d get the uncomfortably personal question at almost every meet and greet, or the time he was gifted a handmade doll of himself made with the fan’s own hair. He loved his fans, and he was grateful for their unyielding love and support of the band. It was himself he didn’t trust. He was afraid that he would disappoint the fan, that the fan would show up, eager to produce their song and Jack still wouldn’t have any fresh new ideas. The winning song is supposed to be released digitally at the end of the week of the fan’s stay, and if those digital sales and streams tanked, it would be Jack’s fault.

. The contest was a good idea. Sometimes working outside of your own work to someone else’s sound sparked creativity. But he also knew the contest was the label’s last ditch effort to get him writing again. If he didn’t, then Jack would know for certain; he would be done. He’d be Jack Drummond, former lead singer of the band 5 Years From Now, officially washed up at 27 years old.

Jack ran a hand over his tired face, feeling the scratchy stubble that had started to grow across his chin and jawline. It had been over a month since he bothered to shaved. He didn’t have any gigs, music videos, photoshoots or interviews he had to prepare for. He wasn’t supposed to be assigned to one for a while anyway. He was supposed to be using the time away to write music.

With an exasperated sigh, he closed out of his iTunes library and opened up Twitter. He ignored the hundreds of notifications he would get daily from fans tagging him in posts. In the search bar, he typed in #5YFNMYSONG. The page reloaded and displayed all of the fan entries, from most popular to most recently uploaded. The contest had closed a few days ago, but fans were still submitting entries.

Jack was responsible for picking a winner. Each of his band members and his team at the label were helping him sort through the entries, but in the end Jack would have the final say. The problem was there were literally thousands of entries. Word had spread about the contest, and aspiring musicians from all across the country were entering. The entries had a wide range of aged contestants, the youngest he had seen being about ten years old to contestants in their 20s.

They couldn’t help but remind him of his time in Hollywood when he was on Great American Voice, the country’s singing competition. There were thousands of people who had tried out over the course of the few days he was there. They had driven from all over the tri-state area. There were people of all ages, which had surprised Jack since the show had only ever cast competitors ranging between mid teens to mid twenties. There were little kids dragged in by their parents who hoped to make money off by sticking them in front of cameras. There were adults who hoped to at long last chase their dream of pursuing music. And everyone he talked to had a deeply personal, traumatic, backstory; one girl had been abused by her father up until she was 13 years old; an 18 year old boy suffered from severe bouts of depression. There was another girl who had at last minute decided to enter because she wanted to make her recently departed mother proud. These were the type of contestants who got film time with the celebrity judges, and that was when Jack realized what they were doing. They were using their trauma, deaths, mental disorders, any type of leverage they could to get themselves filming time with the celebrity judges.

Several fans who uploaded videos to his contest were doing the same. They would spend a few minutes before performing their song to explain their own backstories of depression, anxiety, death of a loved one, abuse, and other various traumatic experiences, and how music has helped them become stronger. He wanted to believe their stories. But he wasn’t interested in selecting a fan just because it was their parent’s dying wish. If they were talented on top of their tragic backstory, then great. But Jack needed someone who was both talented and sparked his own creativity.

Truthfully, Jack hated singing competitions, and he despised the fact that this fan contest was essentially just another form of one. At least this way, he could just choose one person and be done with it. He knew first hand the true toxicity of reality competitions. It had been over ten years since he was on Great American Voice, but the memories still burned in his mind.

It was difficult from the start. In the beginning he was sectioned off into group harmonies with contestants who thought they were better than everyone else and tried to take charge. Those first few weeks of group harmonies and group performances were tests to see how well you collaborated with the other contestants. The test was designed to make you feel uncomfortable. Really, they were just picking out anyone who succumbed to the stress early on and send them home.

As Jack advanced through the weeks, he found each week was always harder than the last. There was constant pressure to sound great, look great, and be great. You had to convince the judges and the fans each week to vote you back for the next round. It didn’t matter if he nailed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” last week. If you got a bad review from one of the judges, it could cost you your spot on the show. Soon sounding and looking great weren’t enough. There was always something new added each week. Photoshoots, interviews, and costume fittings. Charities, children hospital visits, school visits, parade appearances and sponsorship commercials. And you were still expected to do four to five hours of vocal rehearsals. The schedule was endless.

By the time Jack was finished with the show he had lost about 15 pounds and was struggling with episodes of insomnia and depression. Jack thought he’d be relieved when he was kicked off the show. He could finally sleep in. He could finally eat whatever he wanted and not what his vocal coaches and stylists told him to avoid. He could finally relax from being under the spotlight, from being picked apart week from week by his stylists, the publicists, the judges and from the public. He didn’t have to be followed by camera crew from the moment he woke up to when he lay his head down to rest in the evening.

But he wasn’t relieved. He’d lay awake at night, angry that he had come so far in the competition, and with a single vote, he was kicked off. He had developed his own sound on the show. He loved working on new covers each week with his production team, and each Friday night he couldn’t wait to get on stage and show everyone what he had been working on. But the show had left him high and dry. He beat himself up, blaming himself for not being good enough to make it to the next round. He self critiqued constantly, watching and rewatching his performances, trying to figure out where he went wrong, and what he could have done better. The sickening truth was, he wasn’t done being in the spotlight. He wanted it more.

When he made the decision to stay in L.A. after the Great American Voice LIVE! Tour concluded, he jumped right back into the music scene, scoring a small one album record deal with Kathoulos Records. But that had been a mistake. Right before the album was supposed to released, the label was taken over by new management and dropped Jack and his band. The label refused to sell them back the rights to their album and the album was never released.

The days following the label drop crept from Jack’s memory like a slow, sinking infestation. The black, bleak days when he continued to make desperate attempts to get resigned by a label. The swell of bitter disappointment of doors slamming in his face over and over again; the paranoia of over hearing security guards murmuring into their ear pieces. The nights he spent stumbling through bars and dark alleys in a dizzy, drunken hazes…

He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose. He counted to four and exhaled slowly through his mouth. The flashbacks were coming at him more often now that his mind wasn’t distracted with constantly writing music. It was why he was so desperate to get back to writing music. When his mind was silent, everything else he suppressed began to resurface. Each night he lost more sleep, and each night it would whisper in his ears, reminding him of who he used to be. Who he still could be. They would become louder and more insistent as the days and nights blended together. He heard it now as he struggled to slow down his heartbeat, quickly rising into panic. He needed to get back to writing music, and soon.

Not all of his memories from those years were bad. He still talked with his vocal coaches from time to time. His real saving grace during those first few months was his hotel roommate, Danny, a boy his age from Mississippi. They had become fast friends when they discovered they had a bunch of shared interests - music, movies, online gaming. Jack had never become so close with someone so quickly. Maybe it was just the pressure of the competition, and it was his own selfish desires to meet someone who wasn’t trying to sabotage his performances. When Danny and Jack had both made it to the top ten, they had celebrated by sneaking cheap champagne into the hotel room. They had gotten deliriously drunk and were jumping on their beds belting Queen. Danny had hopped from his bed to Jack’s, tackling Jack on to his back. As they lay there, laughing and out of breath, he had noticed the precise shade of green Danny’s eyes were. Clover green with specks of silver, like morning dew sparkling in the sun. The way his heart had pounded in his ears.

Jack forced his attention back to his computer, yanking himself out of the memory. He refused to let himself go back there.

He scrolled through the entries. Twitter automatically displayed the most popular entries first, and then the most recently added. Right now, the fan favorite was a girl from Tennessee named Missy Maeve, the red headed version of Ariana Grande, except instead of singing about goddesses and ninety nine problems, Missy Maeve sung in a strong country voice about being true to yourself in a world of fake media. She stared confidently into the camera, pouring all of her energy into the performance.She had spared no expense in creating her video, using professional cameras and lighting, and had an entire back up band performing behind her as she danced around on stage with her long red ponytail swinging hypnotically behind her.

Right away, Jack knew she wasn’t the one. He had seen these types of artists before. They may have sounded and looked good, but at the end of the day, they weren’t connecting with the music. They’d be more focused on how they looked and sounded to other people. A real musician didn’t care about performing; he played music for the sake of music. He didn’t give a fuck who listened. He also would rather be caught dead than write a fluff piece about being true to yourself.

There were several decent entries, but none of them had what Jack was looking for. Jack wasn’t even sure if it existed in other musicians. He was searching for the moment when the musician was no longer a musician. It was those moments he felt himself, when he became so in tune with the music itself that reality fell around him. He’d forget he was on stage, performing in front of hundreds or thousands of fans. The music would fill him so completely, it was like he was the music. Every time he performed like that, it would leave him shaking and exhausted. It was the best kind of high.

He sifted through the videos. He felt guilty knowing he couldn’t possibly watch all of them. There were just so many. His label assured him not to worry about watching them all. The label was responsible for looking at the numbers - meaning who ever had the most likes and views. The band was free to look through them at their convenience, just as long as he had an ideal entry picked out by tomorrow.

There were a lot of good videos - too many good ones, in fact. A lot of the fans showed off their riffing skills, as if that was the one vocal skill that proved how well of a singer they were. Jack secretly despised artists who used too much riffing in their songs. It always sounded like the artist was trying to say “look at me! Look out amazing I am at singing! No one else will be able to copy these incredibly complex arrangement of riffs because I’m so amazing!” There were artists who tried to over compensate with autotune, which he detested more than any other sound engineering tool. It always felt like cheating. If you can’t hit the note, why bother pretend you can?

Jack continued to click through the entries. There were just as many bad ones as there were good ones. There were fans who recorded with voices too flat, or too sharp. They were monotonous, or pitchy. Some hadn’t even tried to submit an original song and sang a cover of one of his song. It was almost always his song, “Perfect Chasers” that he had written about the toxicity of perfection and his own personal addictions. Even though it had been years since he released it, it continued to be a fan favorite.

He kept sifting through hoping a song would jump out at him or he’d find an artist with unique vocals. He kept checking the time. 12 hours before he had to pick someone. Then it was 9. Then it was 6. Jack shifted his weight, so he was lying on his side curled up and had his computer sitting on the coffee table and continued to scroll with his wireless mouse. The couch perfectly cradled his thin form. His eyes burned from the white light of the endless scrolling through Twitter…

“DUDE!”

Jack jumped awake. The bright lights of the studio blinded him. He blinked away the the thick eye crust coating his eyelashes. He made out a silhouette standing in front of him.

“Huh?” Jack mumbled.

“We’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” said the silhouette that Jack recognized as Cody, his guitarist. “The meeting with the label is in a half hour.”

“Shit.” Jack sat up. The room spun around him for a moment and stars popped into his vision. His neck and back was sore after another night of sleeping on the couch. He grabbed his phone to check the time. It was dead.

“Did you pick someone?” Cody asked.

“Um…” Jack couldn’t remember. He saw him computer still sitting on the table. He reached over and tapped the keyboard. The screen lit up and showed all of the Twitter entries he had been looking through. He had gotten deep into scrolling through the entries last night. He was almost at the end of the list.

“Yeah,” he lied.

“Cool. Get ready, the guys and I are out back.” Cody left.

When he was gone, Jack groaned and leaned into his hands. Taking a moment to gather himself, he breathed in deeply. He figured he got maybe three or four hours of sleep. His head ached, rebelling against him for the lack of sleep. After a few slow deep breaths he got up and washed his face and brushed his teeth in the studio bathroom, ignoring the dark shadows under his eyes that matched the shadow of his beard.

When he finished he sat back down at his computer. He still had to choose someone. At this point he didn’t care if they were bad. He couldn’t show up empty handed. He randomly chose a name, scrawled it on a piece of paper and tucked it into his jeans.

Jack climbed into the backseat of the bassist player, Mark’s truck. He slid in next to Brendon, the band’s drummer..

“Good morning, sunshine,” Mark called back to him from the driver’s seat. “You enjoy sleeping in?”

“Mhm, right.” Jack mumbled, if you counted barely sleeping at all as sleeping in.

Brendon looked at him. “You kinda look like hell man,” Brendon said, concerned. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. Brendon handed him a pair of sunglasses.

Out of everyone in the band, Jack had known Brendon the longest. They had gone to grade school together and form a band after Jack finished on Great American Voice. Jack was close with all of the guys, but Brendon was always the one who somehow understood Jack and noticed all of Jack’s warning signs. Like right now.

Jack gratefully accepted the sunglasses.

Thank God for coffee, thought Jack as he filled a styrofoam cup.

At the label meeting, everyone was going around the room, pitching their chosen contest candidates. Someone mentioned Missy Maeve and Jack immediately shot it down, claiming if he had to write a bubble gum pop country song, he’d cut off his ears.

Each of the guys in the band got a turn to present someone. Jack waited to go last, since he technically didn’t pick out anyone in specific. He trusted his band, and hoped they would find someone decent enough to produce for that wouldn’t want to make him chuck himself over a cliff. Each band member played the video and explained why they chose it. Their reasons were good and valid, but despite the talent presented, none of them inspired Jack. He had been betting on one of the guys would find someone for him.

“Alright then Jack,” the label manager asked, swiveling his chair towards Jack. “Who did you pick?”

Jack swallowed the lump his throat. “Yeah, I’ve got someone. Her name is…” He pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and read the hastily scrawled note. “...Robin Jones.” He walked up to the front of the room to the computer that was projected onto the pull out screen. He searched for her name in Youtube. Her video came up as the 7th result on the page.

Christ, she only has 6 views. Jack kicked himself. Why didn’t he bother to check the view count? He hit play. Please don’t suck, please don’t suck.

The video began with a blurry close up of blonde hair. The camera refocused as Robin leaned back from the camera. She was sitting at a baby grand piano. Around her were music stands, stage risers, and a variety of other instruments were stacked up against the wall. She looked like she was recording from a high school band room.

The girl cleared her throat and stated to the camera, “Hi. My name is Robin Jones. I am 18 years old. I am from Boston, Massachusetts and this my original song, Candle Light.” She turned to the piano, a curtain of blonde hair falling in front of her face. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. Then she began to play.

She was nervous. Her movements were slow, calculated and careful. The notes began higher on the scale, and then steadily dropped into lower notes as she began to quietly sing the first verse.

“When did it begin?

Couldn’t you tell me where the start of it ends?

Cause I got caught in the light.

Yeah, it was too damn bright.

It left me blinded, just for you.”

She sang in a soft, lower register, which surprised Jack. He thought by the tone of her voice, she would have sung higher. But she was good. Thank God.

Her voice shook slightly through the first chorus. It wasn’t until she broke into the second verse, he noticed a shift in her performance. Her voice grew stronger, and she tucked the hair that had curtained off her face behind her ear. Jack found himself nodding along with the gentle rhythm of the song.

I had to take the long

way home, did you know I barely survived

I couldn’t see how and I,

Couldn’t see why after all this time

the goodbye still hurts you more.

Jack almost paused the video on that last line. It stood out to him. It was a good, subjective line that he liked to use in his own music. It was one of those lines he knew came from her specific experience, but it could relate to anyone. It could relate to him. It did relate to him. The goodbye still hurts you more. Jack knew exactly just how it related to him.

Memories of Danny popped back into mind. He saw Danny standing to the side of the stage with everyone else advancing, crying when Jack was voted off. He saw Danny fight with him at the end of the Great American Tour when he didn’t want to move back out to L.A. with Jack. The look on Danny’s face when Jack spit harsh words out of anger and regret. He saw himself a month later, staring at his phone, wishing Danny would just fucking text him back. Danny and his stupid, morning dew green eyes.

The harder lessons are learned

When you see the scars are from the burn

Wish I wasn’t so afraid to believe

That there could still be so much more.

There was Danny was again in the last line. Robin was good with her lyrics.

She launched into the chorus with a change of confidence. She sang with a soulful vibrato. Her eyes were closed as felt her way through the song, her fingers finding the right keys on their own. Her performance looked effortless, but Jack could tell she was pouring everything inside of her into the music.

Her fingers danced across the keyboard, racing towards the bridge. Robin’s entire body rocked along with the rhythm. Suddenly the song tapered off to the quiet notes from the beginning of the song.

I could for now, just stay where I am

Though I still don’t know how this all ends.

Until then I’ll hold on to a little light

So one day you might find me again.

When she finished, she rested her hands on the keys, drawing in a few deep breaths. Her hands dropped so suddenly from the keys, like someone had caught her playing when she wasn’t supposed to. Robin turned back towards the camera and leaned in to end the video.

There was silence in the room. Jack was holding his breath, waiting for someone to respond.

“Well,” the assistant manager started. “She has a nice voice, but -”

“This one,” Jack interrupted. “I want this one.”

His manager looked at him, arching an eyebrow. “You want this one? A romance song?”

Jack was equally surprised. What was he doing? He doesn’t write romance. He doesn’t even like songs about romance. And the memories that she pulled from the back of his mind should have given him enough of a reason not to pick this one. And yet, it had slipped out. He wanted this song.

Jack looked to his bandmates for their confirmation. He wasn’t about to make a decision without them, especially when it involved all four of them. They looked between the three of them, silently discussing the song. After a few moments, and some shrugging, Brendon nodded to Jack.

“Yeah,” Jack said. He cleared his throat. “She’s got a great voice, and the song sounds a little different from most romance songs I’ve heard. I think maybe the lyrics could use a little help, and I think if we put in some percussion with some better acoustics - “ Jack caught himself. He almost didn’t notice the click in his brain. It was like suddenly he turned on a light. Or lit a candle after the power had gone out. His was brainstorming. He was writing.

At that moment he knew for a fact - this was the winning song.

He looked around the room, waiting for everyone’s opinion. They exchanged glances, debating.

Finally, the manager stood up. “Alright, I guess that’s it then. We’ll go with…” He squinted his eyes, looking up at the project screen. “...Robin Jones. Tomorrow we’ll go live with the announcement.”

The meeting concluded. Everyone started packing up. Jack let out a breath of air he didn’t realize he was holding.

The guys approached him.

“So...romance now, huh? Didn’t know you had such a soft spot all of the sudden,” Cody remarked, smiling.

Jack shook his head, just as surprised as they were. “I guess maybe I need to start looking into the romance writing genre.”

“Hah, yeah man.” Brendon clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Good to have you back man.”

Jack gave him a smile of thanks.

When he got home, he pulled up Robin’s song again and rewatched it, beginning the process of drafting different types of instruments and background sounds he could add to the song. The ideas came easy, and he could feel something in him relax. He was relieved. He was writing again.

The song had resurfaced those memories of Danny that he fought for so long to forget. Some part of him still thought he was insane to want to work on this song. But another part of him, the part that he had shared with Danny all those years, demanded him to work on this song, and it refused to be ignored. He felt a nervous tingle in the pit of his stomach.

He didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the song had given that part of him a new, stronger voice. And it was screaming at him.

Jack continued to write.

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floraexplorer · 5 years

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A Guide to Misahualli, Ecuador’s Gateway to the Amazon

Welcome to the tiny Amazon town of Misahualli, Ecuador.

Nestled in the Oriente region in eastern Ecuador, the tiny town of Misahaulli (pronounced miss-a-WHY-eee) sits between two major rivers, the Rio Napo and the Rio Misahualli, amidst a lush green landscape. Although it’s a sleepy place nowadays, Misahualli was once a bustling port for travellers and tourists arriving by boat from Coca – a transit route which eventually dried up after the construction of a new road.

But why was this tiny town so popular? It’s because Misahualli is also right on the edge of the Amazon jungle – otherwise known as the biggest rainforest on the planet.

For backpackers travelling through South America, spending some time exploring the Amazon is usually high on the list. This stunning rainforest stretches across nine countries and while there are dozens of points of entry, the most obvious destinations are Manaus in Brazil, Rurrenabaque in Bolivia and Iquitos in Peru (the world’s largest city which is totally unreachable by road!)

But for budget travellers who are keen to see a quieter, less frenzied and ultimately less touristic side to the Amazon, I’d suggest paying a visit to Misahualli, Ecuador.

The day before arriving in Misahualli, we’d taken a four hour bus ride from Baños (cost: $6) through stunning mountain landscapes to Tena, the province’s capital city. We’d planned to spend a few nights at the Hostal Pakay in Tena while we did our Amazon jungle research, but that evening we were approached by a local guide named Juan who explained his tours to us – and we were immediately sold, agreeing to meet him in Misahualli the following afternoon.

I knew the Amazon was going to be a different style of travel. But it didn’t properly dawn on me until we discovered a huge tarantula scuttling around our dorm room at Hostal Pakay – and had to call for the owner who chased it between the mosquito-netted beds in his underwear, wielding a machete.

Exploring the Amazon is not your everyday travelling experience. It’s literally a jungle out there.

So what exactly is there to do in Misahualli?

In this part of the world you can spot wild animals, trek through humid jungle, gaze up at thousand-year-old trees, splash around in river water, and (best of all in my opinion) spend time with the locals who call the Ecuadorian Amazon their home.

Humans and animals alike.

In this article, I’ve written about thirteen of the best things to do in Misahualli, Ecuador. My best suggestion would be to bear all these activities in mind when you’re planning an Amazon tour, and make sure you ask tour operators if these activities are included in their tour packages.

1. Meet the Misahualli monkeys (from a distance)

Misahualli is an hour’s bus ride from Tena (cost: $1). Once we arrived in the town square, we had a few hours to waste before meeting Juan and heading into the jungle so decided to explore the town – and first up was meeting the local monkeys.

Aside from its proximity to the Amazon, Misahualli is probably most famous for the troop of Capuchin monkeys who casually terrorise the town’s main plaza. These guys swing from overhanging branches, chill on rooftops, clamber across the surfaces of parked cars and buses – and their constantly curious nature means plenty of thievery.

If you ask a local Misahualli resident about the monkeys, they’ll smile ruefully and shake their heads. Every day the town square echoes with shrieks from tourists as sunglasses and phones and water bottles are swiftly snatched by little clawed hands, only to disappear into the trees.

It’s hilarious to watch, but a little less amusing when it happens to you. While I was taking photos they grabbed a bag of crisps from the side pocket of my bag and started munching away before I could even blink. Securely stow away all your possessions, and never trust a monkey.

NB: It’s not advised to tease the monkeys, and don’t try to feed them either. They may look adorable but monkeys can turn aggressive easily, and will bite or scratch if you get too close or annoy them.

2. Visit the butterfly house in Misahualli

Just on the edge of Misahualli village and next door to the local school is the mariposario, or butterfly house. The owner, a local man named Pepe, built an enclosure in his back garden because he loves butterflies and wanted to ensure that the hundreds of species native to this part of Ecuador continue to thrive.

For a $2 entrance fee, Pepe showed us around his butterfly house, explaining how he collects butterfly eggs from his visits into the jungle, then cares for the caterpillars and pupae before finally releasing them into the enclosure.

There are little habitats showing the different stages of a butterfly’s life, and a range of different pupae/chrysalises – including some stunning gold-like chrysalises, which apparently help to ward off predators: reflecting sunlight gives the impression of a water droplet instead of a chrysalis).

(This fascinating video shows how a common crow caterpillar transforms into a golden chrysalis. Not for the squeamish!)

Pepe also collects all manner of different insect species from Misahualli plaza to prevent them from being eaten by the monkeys. They get stunned by the bright electric lights, allowing him to grab them and transport them home!

As we wandered through the enclosure, it was clear that Pepe was passionate about butterflies. He’s set up little feeding stations and planted all manner of flowers for the butterflies to drink nectar from, and everywhere I looked there were fluttering wings and flashes of shimmering colour.

3. Sail down the Rio Napo in a canoe

Once we’d met up with Juan and picked up some supplies for our stay in the jungle, he drove us in his jeep to the river’s edge. There we boarded a motorised canoe and set off into the Amazon.

Sailing down the river in a canoe is a wonderfully gentle way to experience life on the water. Despite being motorised, the boat is quiet enough to let you notice the sounds of the jungle around you: clicking insects, birds calling, the occasional splash of the waves against the canoe’s hull.

But be forewarned – while river-borne, your shoes may be stored in amongst a basket of green bananas, freshly harvested yuca and some giant orange cacao pods.

4. Go tubing and swimming in the Napo river

Tena is world-famous for its whitewater rafting opportunities – The World Rafting Championships were even held here in 2005 – and there’s lots of opportunities to go kayaking too.

Unfortunately we didn’t manage to sample either of these adventurous water sports, but we did spend a somewhat rainy afternoon tubing on the river, which was more enjoyable than the glum faces below would have you believe!

Alternatively, swimming in the river is just as enjoyable: the temperatures in the Amazon are humid and sticky, so it’s a relief to wash off in the cool water.

It’s particularly lovely at sunset – just watch out for the piranhas (which we didn’t see) and the water snakes (which we did. Cue plenty of screaming..!)

5. Explore the Amazon jungle on foot

Most people visit Misahualli or the neighbouring city of Tena because of their close proximity to the Amazon rainforest, and there are plenty of companies offering guided Amazon tours in both places. In fact, tour costs are kept relatively low here because of all the competition, making it a good choice if you’re on a budget.

On our wanders through the jungle with Juan as our guide, we began to understand what makes the Amazon so special. Pushing our way through dense jungle vegetation, dodging the creeping vines and taking care not to trip over exposed roots twisting along the ground, I felt like I was in a completely different world.

And then, out of nowhere, we would crest a hill and suddenly see the Napo river through an opening in the trees.

We were quickly sucked back into the jungle again, soaking up the green, until Juan stopped us.

“There, look!” He pointed up into the canopy, and we realised that the tangled roots we stood beside actually belonged to a giant tree purported to be a thousand years old.

6. Learn about medicinal jungle plants

The Amazon is filled with medicinal plants which many Ecuadorians swear by – and Juan was no exception. Throughout our walk he picked herbs, flowers and jungle leaves, explaining their significance to us before depositing them in his backpack.

When we passed a tree covered in hatch marks from a machete, Juan explained that this was the cruz caspi, a tree whose bark is stewed up and the resulting liquid drunk by local people to help them conceive.

Later, Juan heard one of our friends coughing and immediately stopped so he could give her some medicine. Deftly folding up a large leaf, Juan mixed together a thin paste of San Juanito tree bark and water, then poured the concoction up the nose of its cautious recipient. She coughed and spluttered but he said it would clear her cold right up!

Read more: my surreal experience of taking part in an ayahuasca ceremony

7. Experiment with natural jungle face paint

You’ll often see images of indigenous tribes in the Amazon with bright red and orange designs on their face – but where does their face paint actually come from?

Juan showed us a handful of spiny red seeds. “This is our natural paint,” he told us, squeezing open the seed’s casing between his fingers to reveal a cluster of red powdery pods inside. These are seeds from the native achiote tree, also known as annatto, and they’re used for a multitude of purposes: hair dye, lipstick, even food colouring (it doesn’t add any flavour, but it gives a reddish hue).

Using a wooden stick to mix the seed pod’s contents, Juan began to draw delicate designs on my outstretched hand – and soon we were smudging our fingers into numerous achiote seeds and painting our faces.

8. Visit the AmaZOOnico Animal Rescue Center

Upriver is the AmaZOOnico Animal Rescue Center, an animal sanctuary run predominantly by volunteers. They follow a program of rescue, rehabilitation and release, with a goal to help every animal that comes through their doors to go back into the wild, and staff on duty during our visit assured us that all the animals had been rescued from previous owners who’d mistreated them.

Unfortunately, I’ve been to enough zoos on my travels and seen enough animals looking unhappy in their cages to find it unpleasant visiting a place like this. I didn’t know beforehand that we’d be visiting the Rescue Center, or I would have refused to go.

I’ve since researched the center online and sources maintain that the ethos is to rehabilitate all animals, but it’s still sad to see them behind bars – so if you don’t feel comfortable seeing animals in cages then I’d avoid visiting.

Read more: Ethical mistakes I’ve made while travelling

9. Pick yourselves some pineapples

As you might expect, Ecuador’s Amazon is a fertile and lucrative place. But the most surprising thing I saw growing here was pineapple. Mainly because I had absolutely no idea that this fruit grows on a bush.

Over 116,000 tons of pineapple are grown in Ecuador each year, with plenty coming from the Amazon. We paid a visit to Juan’s neighbour, an elderly farmer called Don Jaime who runs a pineapple plantation and was even kind enough to give us a few pineapples for breakfast the next day.

10. Help to harvest the yuca plant

Yuca (or cassava) is an extremely common food in South America and is a staple of many Ecuadorian dishes: chopped up and added to soups, served as an alternative to potato, or ground up into flour and baked into things like pan de yuca, a deliciously dense little cheesy bun which I ate in abundance while living in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Juan took us to visit his family home, where we met his mother harvesting a crop of yuca. Although the guided tours bring in the bulk of their income, Juan’s family still farms plenty of different produce including yuca, mango, banana, cacao and plantain. They harvest at different points throughout the year and sell straight to the consumer at local markets.

Read more: Modern life in the Ecuador Amazon jungle

11. Learn how to cook chocolate with fresh cacao

Ecuador is one of the world’s top ten producers of cacao, and many Amazon tours will offer a visit to a cacao farm.

Under a canopy at their wooden stilted house, Juan’s mother showed us how to make chocolate from roasted cacao beans. The first step was to grind them into a fine powder using a hand grinder, then she set them in a metal pan on top of the fire and added water.

We took turns stirring the mixture as it gradually took on a thick and silky consistency – and once she deemed it to be ready, we dipped chunks of fresh banana into the hot chocolate.

I half expected it to be bitter and strong, but it was delicious!

12. Have a sleepover in the jungle

Many Amazon jungle tours are offered just in the daylight hours, but it’s also possible to spend the night in an eco-lodge. Juan’s place was close to the riverbank in a little clearing surrounded by tall trees.

After you’ve spent the day exploring the jungle, your activities become wonderfully restricted.

We shunned the idea of internet access in favour of playing cards, lazing in hammocks, staring up at the stars and gossiping in our little dorm room while the insects chirped outside.

13. Go on a night walk in the Amazon jungle

Of course, being in the middle of the jungle late at night is an opportunity you shouldn’t pass up. Once it was properly dark outside, Juan gathered us together, told us to don our head torches, and we set out into the night.

The nocturnal side of the Amazon is fascinating. Animals which hide away from predators during the day are suddenly out and about: copulating grasshoppers, steadily crawling caterpillars, giant moths, very nimble spiders, and teeny tiny frogs.

Because it’s so hard to see, our ears became much more attuned to the sounds of the rainforest. All around us there was a cacophony of nocturnal noise: the constant buzzing of cicadas, the clicks and croaks of tree frogs, the chirping of geckos, and a whole host of other sounds, most likely mating calls, courtship rituals and attempts to mark out territory.

Juan led us through the deep darkness towards the places he knew various creatures were hiding. He spotted a morpho butterfly and carefully picked it up to show us – just one of the beautiful and unexpected sights amongst the pitch black of this other, haunting world.

What do you need for a visit to Misahualli?

To prepare for a trip to the Amazon rainforest, you should think about packing loose, thin clothing for the humidity – but to protect against mosquitos and spiky or itchy vegetation you’ll also need long sleeved tops and long trousers.

The Amazon’s weather is prone to frequent tropical rains, warranting the use of waterproofs – but that humidity means you’ll sweat. A LOT. Bring a complete spare set of dry clothes to change into after a day of exploring.

If you’re already travelling with hiking boots then bring them, but don’t worry if not as most tour operators will lend you a pair of rainboots. Just make sure they fit properly by walking a few hundred metres in them first!

Here’s a good Amazon packing checklist to follow:

head torch or electric torch

sunhat

mosquito repellent

clothes which cover your legs and arms

spare dry clothes

swimwear

waterproof raingear, usually a jacket or poncho and trousers (although you may not wear the latter due to the heat!)

flipflops/sandals for the evenings

waterproof liner/drybag for your bag (in a pinch just use a rubbish bag)

How to get to Misahualli, Ecuador:

– Tena to Misahualli: catch a bus from the Junmandy bus station in Tena – it takes an hour and costs $1.

– Quito to Misahualli: take a five hour bus to Tena (costs $6) and then take the one hour bus from Tena.

– Baños to Misahualli: take a four hour bus to Tena (cost $6) and take the one hour bus from Tena.

Have you ever explored the Amazon jungle? Pin this article if you’d like to visit Misahualli!

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