"Here's the last one," Henry said, putting the cupboard box down on the ground and handing some papers to the storekeeper. "What's up today? You called for more supplies for the third time! It's so unusual even for a Friday's night. Right? It's almost midnight now and my boss told me to go home directly after sending this last batch."
"Yeah. We would be very busy as long as the stadium is holding any activity. Today is Jay Feng's singing concert, so many people had been coming and the concert just ended about twenty minutes ago," said the storekeeper. "I'll sign these for you. Please wait for a minute."
Henry walked out of the store, looking at the people walking out from the stadium. Then he looked at the posters around the stadium. On the posters was a boy, and some texts saying,
Happy Train's New Journey! Join Jay Feng's All New Singing Tour.
Henry gazed at the boy on the poster and felt quite envious. He knew who Jay Feng was. Well, who didn't? He was only 12 years old, but he had already recorded three creative albums. His first album was released at age 10 and was very popular. Henry remembered some of Jay's songs, like "I Want To Fly", "It's Raining", "Where Am I Going", and "Happy Train," which was adapted from a nursery rhyme. He could hear Jay's songs almost everyday on the radio. Besides, though only ten years old, Jay was good at playing the piano and guitar. His unchanged, high-pitched voice was very bright and clear. Plus, with his baby face and charming smile, all females from age 10 to 60 were very fascinated by him.
Gazing for a while, Henry sighed deeply. He used to have a musical dream. He used to imagine that it was him standing on the stage, facing thousands of people who were crazy for him. However, a dream is only a dream. After all, he was not the right material. He neither had excellent talent, nor outstanding looks. He strove with some good friends for some time, but finally, they still knuckled under the pressure of life. He could only be a delivery man to eke out his living.
He didn't know how long he stood there. Then someone patted him on the shoulder.
"Why are you standing here in a trance?" It was the storekeeper's voice.
"Oh, nothing," Henry said, awakened from his trance. "I'm just looking at those posters."
"A charming boy, isn't he?" smiled the storekeeper, handing Henry some papers. "See if there is anywhere I forgot to sign."
Henry browsed the papers and put them into his bag. "Nothing left. Thank you. Good night!"
Henry waved to the storekeeper. His busy day finally ended. Now he just wanted to go home to take a shower and have a sound sleep. He walked to his company's van, opened the door and jumped in. He opened the window and took off his t-shirt. On a summer's night, he liked to let his body embrace the cool wind directly. He turned on the radio and started the car. He stepped on the gas pedal and the van started to run down the road.
The radio was playing Bon Jovi's "It's My Life". Henry was quite familiar with this song. When he was playing music in his own band, he sang this song frequently. So he started to sing,
It's my life
And it's now or never
'Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive.
It's my life
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive.
Henry turned right and drove onto a silent street. He kept humming this song.
It's... my... life!
"Do you like that song too?" suddenly a voice asked.
"GAAAA!!" Henry was almost scared to death. He stepped on the brakes heavily and the van stopped in the middle of the road. Henry heard a 'Pong!', and then an "Ouch!"
Henry's heart was beating crazily. He tried very hard to calm down. After a few minutes, he screwed up his courage to turn his head to see who was in the backseat. He saw a head with a baseball cap, along with a hand rubbing it.
"GAAA!!" Henry screamed again. Who was that?
"Don't scream. I'm not a ghost," the 'head' said.
This time Henry finally understood that it was not a ghost, but a little boy.
"Who are you? Why are you in my car?"
The boy didn't answer but still rubbed his head. After a while, the boy jumped to the front seat, sitting beside Henry.
"Take me anywhere you like. How about going to your place?"
Henry took a look at the boy. The boy was wearing glasses, a t-shirt and shorts. He looked at the boy's face.
Hmm... It seemed to Henry that he had met the boy before.
The boy's glasses... they seemed to be plain. He reached over and took off the boy's baseball cap and the glasses. Hey! Isn't the boy Jay Feng?
"You... are you...?"
"Yeah, I'm Jay Feng. Please drive now and take me to your place, okay? I don't want them to find me," Jay answered impatiently.
"How did you get into my van?"
"You didn't lock it. Now I just want to hide somewhere, so I disguised myself a bit and sneaked away from them. I ran up a few alleys and your van was the only one I could open the door. So I hid in it."
"You can't get into anyone's car like this! I think I should send you to the police station."
"Don't! Please..." Jay pulled Henry's arm and begged. "I finally ran away from them. If you send me to the police station, they will send me back. Please! Just take me to your place. Come on, please, please, pleeeeeease?"
Henry looked into Jay's eyes. Well, they were really not like a 12-year-old boy's eyes. Jay had taken off the outfit he performed in and cleaned the hot makeup from his young face. Henry saw dark circles under Jay's eyes. And this pair of black, tired eyes was looking up at Henry, pleadingly. Jay looked like he had not had a good sleep for a long, long time. Henry became soft-hearted, deeply sighed, and restarted the van without saying anything.
Jay released Henry's arm, sighed in relief and sat back. Henry just headed to his place silently. A glance at some movement caused Henry to look over at his new passenger, who was wiping his eyes with his hands.
-- To be continued.