in the woods somewhere.
with fuchsia ( @moxle )
it's been a whirlwind, recording the album and hitting the charts - then taking to the road for a country-wide tour. every show they played for the first week and a half, jack felt a fire within him like never before. he almost didn't want to shower off the sweat from the sets - deep down, he was worried the cold shock of the water would wake him. that this was all a dream. he did shower, of course - he tried hugging on their keyboardist and was immediately shunned for the stink. he had laughed like a madman - louder than he'd laughed in so long, that's how blissful the tour made him feel - and then took to the tub.
by the end of the month, life on the road revealed itself as a far less glamorous reality than it appeared to the band at the beginning. all squished together in that tiny RV, only to unload in tiny towns for a few hours - the length of their new album and some of their old classics. fast food and bar food and lots of drinking. seriously, lots. it was all starting to get a bit... tired. they all were tired. jack missed his bed in his tiny studio apartment more than he ever thought he would. and their manager was starting to take notice of the low morale.
their manager's remedy to the band's burnout had taken a romantic approach: the ever-so-classic 'return to nature'.
in the critically acclaimed pieces of the genre, going out into the wilderness always recharged the protagonists and gave them a new outlook on life - so why not try it out themselves? who knew, maybe some new songs could come from this little endeavor? at least, that's what their manager had teasingly told them before calling off a few dates on their last week and careening them into the closest national park.
the only thing this solution wouldn't solve were the steadily developing feelings jack felt for fuchsia. being in the same group meant than any escape from the rest of the world only meant running faster toward each other - and for once, he didn't know if he could face the music.
the RV sat, headlights dim and engine quiet, in the backdrop with the dozens of tall trees. cicadas chirruped noisily around them, thrumming like some ancient bass line for the world's oldest open-air event. jack stood and stretched, his spine popping - he gave a sigh of relief.
looking up at the sky unburdened by city smog, he could see every star in the blue velvet matte of the evening. "wow," he said gently, just barely above a whisper. "it really is beautiful out here. maybe we could write a song or two.."
