The Universe's Mixer

Jono had scoured the entire city several times over looking for her. It seemed cruel to give him something and then take it away like that, but apparently, that's what had happened. Maybe he'd been foolish to think he could have anything like her in his life. Something to make him happy like she had.

Their time together had been painfully short, and Jono wasn't sure that he could bring himself to be glad that they'd had any time at all. Laura had been the only one to understand what it was like, to feel like he had. Isolated and alone, they'd found one another and built a friendship, and it had become something more.

After his unsuccessful search, Jono had holed up in the apartment that the damnedable place had provided for him. Refusing to come out. If he didn't have Laura, there was nothing for him out there in that place.

Of course, fate would see to it that he needed to leave. After so many days of being plucked at, one of his guitar strings snapped. Jono waited for the City to throw him another one, or repair the instrument itself, but it did not. Frustrated, lonely, heartbroken, Jono set out and found a music store. He'd brought the guitar not wanting to leave it behind. At the store, Jono threw down for a whole set of new strings, and a backup. He also threw down for a tuner and a mini amp. All the money in his wallet was gone when he left the store, yet he knew it would be full again later.


His errand done, Jono wandered until he found a bridge overlooking water. There was a small patch of grass nearby and a bench. He plopped himself down there and set up the guitar and amp. The music that came from it was melancholy at best, discordant and spontaneous.

"Do you need some help?" Piotr was smiling as he jogged up to the older couple who were looking at a rather large piano, a moving truck, and a broken ramp. He wondered why they didn't have somebody doing this professionally, but he was too polite to ask. They looked frustrated and tired.

"Oh, if you've got some friends that can assist, or a ramp..." The woman said, surprised.

"It just broke." The man followed it up. "Piece of crap. They said that it was brand new, obviously they lied. And they're not open today or something, at least they're not answering the phone."

"I am sorry for your troubles." Piotr was still smiling, knowing that he needed neither ramp nor friends. He noted that the man was holding his arm curiously. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"I don't know how serious it is." The man shook his head. "But yes, I did. Something with the shoulder."

"We should take care of that before dealing with the piano..." Piotr started.

"Oh, no. We can't just leave it here. It's too valuable." The woman interjected. "We're selling it to the opera house, it's an antique. What if it gets stolen? Or what if somebody takes the truck? Vandalism? Anything could happen to it here. Dinosaurs might run over it."

"Da." Piotr made a face, dejected. He knew quite well that dinosaurs might happen. He'd seen them. He wasn't sure what to do.