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COLIN

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“YOU AND I ARE PRISONERS,

Imprisoned by this curse.

We kept being fed by cruelty,

From this one-dimensional world.

Yet I don’t think it’s a sin,

Yeah, I don’t think it’s a sin,

To love you this as much baby...

'Cause you and I are just the same...”

My music flowed along with the rhythm of the piano keys as it softly ran through a series of notes with the bass thumping in the background. I let the vibrations wrapped me in a cocoon. The chords played continuously in a smooth fluid, filled with poetic nirvana. The lyrics run from my lips into the microphone as it vibrated a steady beat through the speakers. I soon got lost in a melodic episode of pleasure until I finally heard the last strum of strings ending in a short crisp cut.

I opened my then closed eyes and smiled in pure ecstasy because it felt perfect. The song was perfect. My band is perfect.

It was all just perfect.

“I can’t wait to hear this with the drums!”

‘Only that’, I told myself. And voicing my thoughts out, I turned to look at Samantha who was currently standing on my left with a Fender Precision Bass guitar dangling across her body. She was right. We really need to hear this with the drums.

“So when are we going to finally meet the fella behind the barrels?” I heard the piano guy, Steve, asked me from behind.

I turned to look at the faces of my bandmates and tried my best to give them an encouraging smile. “I’m on it. Soon. You’ll meet the guy. But for now, we will come up with our band’s name.”

“So this is really happening, right? We're really gonna sing out there? In front of the crowds?” Eric, my lead guitarist, said in a dreamy note as he let out a whistle of excitement that made the rest of us laugh at his comical remark. He might come off like some brainless psycho but he's one of the best guitarists I've met. He can channel Van Halen like it's nothing even when he acts like an idiot most of the time.

“Yeah,” I still replied back, just to reassure him with a grin. “It’s the first rule for a band to have a name of its own.”

“So you already got a name for us?” Eric asked again. But I tried not to answer it first as I looked at my other bandmates' faces.

“Whatever you want to call it, we’ll just go with it,” Steve said and the rest just agreed in chorus with him. I smiled at his words, feeling a bit pressured about how they could just simply put all their trust in me to manage the band.

To be honest, I was really reluctant to start this all up. When I first met these people, they weren't the kind I was hoping to have. I just didn't really expect them to meet my standards right away. But when we started playing together, I was shocked to hear how good we sounded as one. We just jived so well with each other. And the rhythm we’ve created was something that exceeded my expectations. I could not believe that I would even get the right kind of people in one place and put the music I've created into life with their colorful stability. Because of that, I felt more ambitious to dream higher for these people. And that's how I also came up with a name that will fit our band.

“Libra,” I told them. The word even sounded so right from my lips.

“Why that? 'Cause you're a Libra?” Eric anxiously asked from a distance.

“He's a Virgo,” Sam corrected him and that earned her a raised brow from me. She caught my reaction and only shrugged back, avoiding my gaze.

“It's a catchy name. But how does it fit with the band?” I heard Steve asked me.

I turned to him and smiled. Apparently, I was all more than ready to answer that question.

“It’s an analogous play of the term. I’ve figured since we just perfectly harmonized as one whenever we play together, I came up with a short yet impactful word that can describe us. I thought of the term 'harmony' at first. But then I thought it was a little bit too formal and soft for us. So, I looked up for a more unique name and I came across Libra. Libra actually means balance and I think it's the most ideal word to describe this band. Libra.”

“Got a nice ring to it,” Eric commented on my explanation and raised a thumbs-up at me, “I like it, man.”

“Thanks,” I replied to him with a smile.

“Me, too,” Steve agreed as well, “If that’s how you see us, then I totally give my vote to that.”

I turned to him and nodded my head as a form of gratitude. He nodded back. And like a simultaneous telepathic reaction, the three of us turned our heads to look at the only girl in the group.

“What? I ain't got nothing to say against it.” Sam retorted back in that usual dismissive sound of her voice and rolled her eyes at our expectant faces. “Go for it.”

And with that, the discussion ended in a peaceful unanimous decision. Well, I can't really say it was an entirely unanimous decision at all since they've all just agreed to what I have ended up choosing. But still, the mere fact that we've finally settled and came up with the name that we can officially call ourselves, our OWN, makes it more existent.

We are now the band "LIBRA".

And as this name played inside my head, I slowly imagined the sound of chants calling out our band from the noisy crowds we’ll gonna have. And my smile widened just at the thought. I really can’t wait to get our band called out there… I can’t wait to let our music be finally heard. And I can really feel it happening very soon. I will make sure of it. It will damn well be happening to us, REAL SOON.

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