TravelingDreamer

  After we got settled in the apartment, Al headed out to explore the Castro and Mahya and I sat down at our puters and started books. I used up all the funds on my prepaid credit cards ihan an hour, and Mahya was in the same boat. So, we swiftly performed an online seard then headed to Walgreens to get more prepaid cards. To abide by the loading limits for each card, we pletely emptied all their card stocks and loaded them to their maximum. When we left the store, all the employees looked after us wide-eyed in shock.

  It took us all day, but finally, we finished with all the orders in the evening. Once again, I ordered all the textbooks on every subjeder the sun.

  Physid Engineeriry and AlchemyBiology and BotanyMathematicsAstronomy and NavigationGeneral MedieHerbal Medie and PharmacologySurvival and Wilderness SkillsAgriculture and Food Produstru and ArchitectureLiterature and PhilosophyCrafts and Manual ArtsMusid ArtsAdditionally, I purchased a vast assortment of fi and cooking books and songbooks taining music sheets for every instrument. I was nid got Al another set of books that covered a wide range of subjects I thought would be an Alchemist, including chemistry, historical alchemy, herbalism and botany, pharmacology and toxicology, geology and mineralogy, cooking and fermentation, aallurgy. I’ve gone all out this time and bought many books on meical topics, c everything from boats to airpnes. You ever tell what might e in handy. Remembering the kids from Shimoor, I also ordered every c book I could find without text.

  Al wasn’t back yet, ah wao stretch s after a whole day of sitting, so we went for a bike ride on the Golden Gate Bridge and visited the Japaea Garden.

  Wheurned, we saw Al hadn’t returned yet, and I remarked to Mahya, “I hope he shows up by the time we have to leave.”

  “If needed, we always find him by sehe Castro is not that big.”

  “True.”

  The following day, we visited the Aquarium of the Bay. Rue found all the fish fasating arying to reach them. Every time he tried, his nose bahe gss, and he yelled in our minds, “Ouch!” But in a minute, he tried once more. By the time we fihe aquarium tour, my and Mahya’s sides hurt from ughing, and Rue’s nose looked swollen, even after I cast Healing Touch several times. At least he wasn’t stressed that the fish were in captivity.

  We sensed Al and followed the feeling on our way to the apartment. We found him in a cafe, sitting on the p of a huge bck guy.

  I sent him a mental message, “Be in touch every day or two, to know when we o leave.”

  He nodded slightly. “I will.”

  “I think we’re traveling with a slut,” Mahya remarked.

  “Nah, I think he’s just cutting loose after beiricted for so long. He’ll calm down at some point.”

  She didn’t look vinced, but let it go.

  Wheuro the building, the lobby was full of boxes with the Amazon logo. The cierge was giving us murderous looks as we entered. He tightly crossed his arms and gred daggers at us.

  “What is the meaning of this? This is uable!” he shouted, tapping his foot impatiently.

  I felt sheepish and avoided making eye tact. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry about the mess. More shipments of my online ot delivered than I was expeg.”

  The cierge’s scowl deepened. “Well, it’s causing a huge obstru. This ’t keep happening.”

  I quickly reached into my wallet to diffuse the situation. “Please, let me make it up to you.” I handed him 200. “That’s for your troubles. There are some more deliveries on the way that will arrive in the following days.”

  His expression softened slightly as he uncrossed his arms, though he still looked mildly annoyed. “I...well, I appreciate the tip. But you should know I’m not the only cierge here.”

  I nodded quickly. “Of course, of course. I’ll leave tips for the others, too, then. I wouldn’t want any of my packages getting ‘mispced.”

  The cierge smirked ever so slightly. “Yes, that would be wise. We’ll keep a for your shipments then.”

  I gave an unfortable chuckle, relieved to have avoided his wrath but making a mental o stay on good terms with the entire cierge staff from now on.

  Regrettably, it was not possible for us to store the boxes in front of the cierge or take the ce of a neighbor seeing us, so we had to go up and dowairs with the boxes over thirty times until everything was in the apartment and we could store them. When we were done, I was sweating like crazy, and my feet were in agony.

  “Magic makes life so much easier,” I eo Mahya.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “I’m too tired to start telling you stories.”

  She ughed, and I headed to make dinner—we were both starving after the exercise.

  The following m, I bribed the new cierge and expihe packages, and Mahya and I set out to explore. I wao visit Alcatraz, but Mahya wrinkled her nose and firmly informed me she had no iion of visiting a prison because it was depressing. Instead, we visited atown, did a lot of shopping, and then toured the Mission Distrid looked at the murals and street art. Wheurned in the evening, tens of boxes were waiting for us again. At least it was the same cierge from the night before, so I didn’t have to pay again.

  The day, we visited the Haight-Ashbury, and Mahya told me she found a pce that held open miights and signed me up for that night. That was a great idea! Maybe the Guidance will finally offer me the Bard css for free.

  In the evening, we went to Neck of the Woods o Street, and the person in charge of the shows informed me I was going on stage in forty minutes. I decided not to perform the song Sea & Sky because it was too personal, a him know I would perform three songs with an acoustic guitar. It turned out Mahya coordinated backup musis in advance—a keyboardist, electric guitarist, and drummer. We went to a rehearsal room and rehearsed the songs.

  When it was my turn to hit that stage, I was utterly rexed—not a siterfly fluttering around in my stomach. Maybe it was because being a famous singer wasn’t my goal. I just wao get the Bard css for free and share the songs I’d written about our incredible adventure.

  Standing at the mic, I sehe warm glow of the stage lights casg over me. I fshed a big, eager smile at the crowd gathered before me. “Good evening, folks! Name’s John, and a couple of friends and I retly sailed from Shanghai to San Franaking fun stops at lovely little isnds along the way.” I could see some intrigued looks and smiles from the audience as I set the se.

  “That voyage was very inspirational, so I wrote up some songs about it, and I’m stoked to share them with you tonight!” I gave them a pyful wink, earning a few cheers of encement and whistles. The tagious positive energy increased my excitement even more.

  I kicked things off nid mellow with "Waves of Wanderlust," lilting chords sailing smoothly over the gentle, breezy melody. As I sang the breezy, nostalgic lyrics about crystal waters aiful skies, I noticed a few people whistling and g along spontaneously. An older couple towards the front started swaying together in a dance. When I strummed the final wistful chord, appuse broke out across the room, much louder and more enthusiastic than expected. Alright, looking good so far!

  Feeding off that energy, I transitioned into "Joy of the Sea." From the very first strums, I could see folks nod their heads vigorously and tap their feet to the beat. A few brave souls he front stood up and started dang. As the song picked up power, more bodies joined in, dang wherever they could find space. The cheers and hged me on, my pulse rag with exhiration. By the clusion, the entire room was dang and cheering loudly, appuse thundering in my ears. It was absolutely electric!

  “Okay, one more for you all!” I shouted over the joyous rrinning untrolbly. “But first, Mahya, you please stand up?” Mahya rose from her seat amid whistles and cheers, looking slightly flustered but wearing a massive smile. “Mahya was with me on that glorious trip, and she’s the genius who created the beat for this song. She will cp it out for us, and I want you to join in, okay?”

  Mahya id down the beat, which was nid simple, g with perfect timing and rhythm. To my surprise, the crowd swiftly joined in, synizing their g perfectly to her rhythm. The sense of unified energy alpable. I joined in on guitar and unched into the opening chords of "Whispers of the Pacific," the crowd’s unified g providing the thunderous backbeat.

  From the very first verse, the atmosphere was electrifying! People were dang wherever they could find space, uninhibited and carefree. As I bellowed the words, I heard the crowd ting and singing along to the words they picked up on, their voices joining with mine in a mighty swell. The energy just kept building to a fever pitch.

  By the final harmonic chorus, the whole pce was a raucous, breathless party. Everybody was on their feet, g, singing, dang, and cheering with maximum energy and volume. I was s, pying my heart out up there, sweat beading on my brow as I gave every ounce of spirit to the music. I had never experienced a high like that—a pure, unbridled euphoria and blissful e.

  As I strummed those st resonant chords, the room detonated in thunderous cheers, appuse, and roars of approval. All I could do was beam from ear to ear, overwhelmed and delirious with urained joy and adrenaline. My body swayed, my heart pounded, and my face flushed up. On that stage, it felt like I was walking on clouds, flying over the Pacifice more. It was an indescribable, transdent experience!

  No matter what came , in that eternal moment, I was the happiest and most fulfilled person in the universe. It was a memory I would forever cherish and hold sacred. This was what music was all about.

  Unfortunately, I quickly came back down to earth.

  Why?

  Because there was no fshing red light anywhere.

  “e on!” I pined in my head. “That’s not fair. If that’s not wetting the css for free, I don’t know what is.”

  Of course, I didn’t get an answer. What else is new?

  Wheuro the apartment, Rue watched The Expendables at deafening volume as the gunshots and explosions rattled the windows. I couldn’t uand it. Dogs’ ears were sensitive. How oh did he deal with sue?

  Oable was a note from Al with a phone number and a request to send an SMS when it was time to leave.

  “Look who has advao using teology,” I told Mahya.

  “About time.”

  The day, we visited City Lights Bookstore to see if there was anything that didn’t catch our eye on Amazon. We bought so many books we had to order a delivery. At least I bribed the cierges so it wouldn’t be a problem.

  I searched online and found a rec studio that offered walk-in recs. When I called to schedule an appoi, they informed me I could e immediately, so we made our way to Hyde Street Studios. I recorded the songs with a digital beat and some digital instruments to enrich the sound, and in the evening, I uploaded the songs to YouTube and Spotify. Perhaps it would help progress the css. Besides that, I was out of ideas.

  The following day, the traveler finally messaged me, saying he was getting on a train to Chicago. I sent an SMS to Al and informed him that today was his st day iy.

  Our inal pn was to visit the Exploratorium, but the cierge told us that the Treasure Isnd Flea Market took p that day, whily happens once a month. That sounded great. Based on previous experieh flea markets, I prepared the bike with the trailer in advand reehat Mahya also purchase a trailer. We found rge trailers at a nearby bike shop, both for her and me, for Rue. He didn’t want to join us and preferred to stay home to watch the movie Dredd. I felt sorry for the neighbors and was thrilled we wouldn’t be home all day. The Treasure Isnd Flea Market was fabulous, and we bought so many things we had to find ay spot five times to empty the trailers again and again.

  In the evening, Al was finally back. I gave him all the books I bought for him, and he was very appreciative. We po rent a car and find out where to take off on a balloon the following day.