「 SINCE MY BABY LEFT ME : OPEN 」

[JERSEYBOY]

JERSEY
BOY

Come on, this place had to have some sort of music. Nobody had a fuckin... iPod or something? Then again, he supposed that these people wouldn't know the first thing about such technology. How the hell did they listen to things, if at all? This was starting to irritate Jerseyboy, seeing as he loved music and he hadn't heard a tune in what felt like ages.

The tuxedo tom entered an abandoned bedroom, in which objects and junk were sprawled about the space. Comic books, knick knacks, little collectors items... nothing really stood out to him. That is, until he set eyes upon the top of the dresser.

He jumped onto it and was faced with a rather large gadget. It was boxy-looking, and the inside contained a round plate-looking thing — he recognized it to be a vinyl record. These things were old-school, but they sure were cool. Plus, a lot of the records tended to be from classic rock bands, which Jersey could definitely appreciate. However, considering the fact that he couldn't fucking read, he was going to have to see what it played.

Jersey clicked what he believed to be the on-switch, and the record started to spin. The needle lowered down onto it, and wouldn't you know it, "Heartbreak Hotel" began to play. "Well, since my baby left me, Well, I found a new place to dwell. Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street at Heartbreak Hotel..." He began to tap his tail to the beat, nodding his head in tune to the rhythm. It was lucky to have been an Elvis record; he enjoyed him a great deal.

"Where I'll be--where I get so lonely, baby, Well, I'm so lonely... I get so lonely, I could die..."

© MADI

[sybil.]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 55%; min-height: 9px; font-family:; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 20px"]It was the music that drew her forward. Sybil had heard music time and time again back home, but it was nothing like this. The songs her fore-bearers brandished contained no instruments, and they were meant for the gods or rituals only. Every so often, she recounted, a mother would hum a lullaby to her child in an attempt to quell their worries, but that was as far as music strayed from worship or ritualistic occurrences. This song, she surmised, was intended for enjoyment only. Nothing more, nothing less.

The panther lingered in the doorway of the room, silent, listening. Some strange feeling blossomed in her chest: had she known someone who enjoyed music like this? The name, the face, everything about the individual was just out of her reach save for the color of baby blue. The soothsayer allowed a tiny frown to play upon her lips before her face returned to its neutral look.

Clouded eyes glanced to Jerseyboy, and though she didn't speak, she hoped he could read the questions in her eyes. She wanted to know what all this was.

[JERSEYBOY]

JERSEY
BOY

Then, the guitar solo. Jerseyboy had always admired the way Elvis jammed on the strings, his solos were so melodic and crafted and yet so raw at the same time. He bopped his head along to the music, tapping his paws to the strums of the guitar like he knew every single chord ( and he did ).

It was only a matter of time before it ended, and he found his eyes trailing to the doorway. Someone stood there, someone unfamiliar to him. She had... said nothing, but was continuing to stare up at him like she was confused about what was happening. The tuxedo cat piped up, "Ey, Doe Eyes, what're you starin' at?" Shit, he knew he was a sight for sore eyes, but this chick wasn't being subtle all. "Ain't you eva' heard music before?"

© MADI