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SACRIFICES - CHAPTER 1

Larisa sat on the edge of her bed softly strumming her guitar. She experimented with different chord combinations, and eventually wrote down the series of notes on the sheet that lay in front of her.

She studied what she had wrote, playing it back in her mind while lightly tapping her foot as she moved her hand to the various positions on the frets of the guitar. As she neared the end of the piece, a smile of glee and satisfaction began to appear on her face.

"Yes! Ah, finally! Took me forever but I finally got the harmonies in." She said to herself with exuberance. She then placed her guitar down on the bed, stood up and proceeded to the other side of the room where she picked up her phone. She quickly dialled in a number and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Hello?" Came the voice of Samantha, Larisa's best friend and bandmate.

"Hey! I finally got the harmonies for our new piece finished!" She exclaimed in delight.

"Alright! I'll be over in a few. I'll bring my guitar and we'll try it out." Samantha replied, the happiness in her voice apparent.

"Great, see ya then." And with that Larisa hung up the phone.

She walked into her tiny apartment kitchen and opened the fridge. She surveyed the contents of the fridge and eventually picked out an unopened can of pop. She held it away from her body and popped the top. She waited for the fizzing to die down before she took a long, satisfying swig of the carbonated drink.

She walked over towards the couch in the cramped living room, pop still in hand. She pensively gazed out of the 4-story apartment window out onto the emptying streets of Vancouver.

She spotted a couple walking down the street. The guy had his arm wrapped affectionately around his girlfriend's shoulders while she had her arm around his waist. They were smiling and laughing with each other. But then they fell out of view as they walked further and further away.

Larisa took another sip of her drink and let out an exaggerated sigh. It had been a long time since she'd had a girlfriend to smile and laugh with. She had spent the last few months all alone in a cold and lonely bed.

Larisa quickly pushed the sorrowful thoughts out of her head. She didn't have a girlfriend right now because she didn't want one. She was heading for super stardom; she didn't have time for a girlfriend. And she didn't want some girl holding her back, preventing her from achieving her lifelong dream.

Larisa grew up in a small town where entertainment was scarce. So she quickly took it upon herself to provide her minute community with her edgy, but yet poignant lyrics and the evocative music that accompanied it.

For as long as she could remember, Larisa had always wanted to be up on stage. Just soaking up the spotlight, hearing the crowds deafening roars of adoration, belting out her lyrics, and strumming her guitar with an undying passion.

Immediately after graduating, Larisa left home and came to Vancouver in hopes of starting a band in a city where creating a career for herself was possible.

She performed solo at a few bars before meeting and teaming up with Samantha and her band, Jovial Melancholies. Larisa wanted to be a star. And she and the band were going to make it happen.

Just then she heard a rapping at the door.

"Come in!" She called since she knew it was Samantha.

"Hey Larisa. So, let's see the new material you came up with." She said eagerly.

"Alright, it's in the bedroom." Larisa said cheerfully stepping out in front of Samantha and leading her to the bedroom.

They both sat down on the bed, and Larisa showed Samantha the new music. After they finished doing a run through of the key, the rhythms, the style, they picked up their instruments and played through it. Larisa playing harmony, Samantha playing melody.

After Samantha had finished playing the last note, she began nodding her head and looked towards Larisa beaming. "We got ourselves a winner." She affirmed.

They shared excited cheers with one another and began phoning the rest of their bandmates. They scheduled a few practices and talked about their upcoming gig at the club downtown. It was one of the best clubs in the city, and you knew you were doing well when you landed a gig there.

Midnight rolled around and Samantha headed home for she had an early morning class tomorrow and needed sleep.

Larisa brushed her teeth as she got ready for bed. She hummed the newly written tune through the foaming toothpaste.

A few minutes later Larisa was curling up in her bed all alone once again. Loneliness rushed through her body momentarily. But she once again drowned it out with thoughts and feelings of other things.

She couldn't be lonely; she had more important things to do and to be than be lonely.

Soon Larisa fell into a deep slumber with the moon shining softly on her face.

Across town in an expensive high-rise condo, that same moon was shining the same soft rays on a girl unknown to Larisa. But the girl was not to remain unknown for long.

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