Inaugural Fanfic Writing Sprint: August 2008

[Cadmus]

"Missed Connections"

It was already a quarter past one in the morning, and I couldn't sleep. I just couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about the next day when I would be going to the music shop and get my hands on the brand new single from my favourite band ever. It's not every day that a legendary group reforms after years of silence and release fresh and never before heard material. I'm such a fan, I know.

My name's Andy - I wish I had a cooler name - and I'm nineteen years old. I have brown hair styled in a mop sort of thing (I can't be bothered trying something else) and brown eyes. I'm a fan of 'The Ketchup Soldiers'. Okay, I know the name sounds a bit ... you know ... different, but really, they're cool. Their music is the best there is. Period. They had a massive massive song when they first started called 'Good news, Paco' which was a song about victims of wars. The reviews were not really good though, but who cares about them anyway? And who cares if their album sales and following singles were not stellar? Doesn't make them any less legendary!

Since my mind was still on, I decided to grab my Ipod and listen to their first album. Their first and only. It's such a good album, I recommend it to everyone. Their songs take me to places I never thought I'd go to. And the lead singer has the best voice I've ever heard. I could talk about them all day, really. But unfortunately, not a lot of people like them in general. Or people don't remember who they are. At Uni, even those who labelled themselves as 'different' always smirked arrogantly if they heard me talk about The Ketchup Soldiers. So, in the end, I did what anybody would've done: I googled for Ketchup Soldiers forums. There was only one with a few members registered and even fewer posts. The group didn't have a website or a MySpace or anything. Hard to get any info really.

I kept searching and searching for anything related to Ketchup Soldiers everyday. I joined Ebay, and other websites. But nothing really stood out. Some people were selling the first album (which was now only available on Itunes) while others were selling the 3 posters made which I all own. But then, a few weeks ago, I came across a post on some website talking about 'releases nobody is going to care about' (that post title angered me, but at least the content calmed me down) and it said that the Ketchup Soldiers were releasing a new single which was an unreleased song (which was supposed to go on their second album but since that album got scrapped in the end ...). Needless to say that reading that post literally made me jump off my seat and dance like an idiot for a good few minutes.

I went to the music store and asked them if they were indeed going to be selling the Ketchup Soldiers new single. They looked at me funny and then searched in their database for any info. They were stunned and said that 'yes, we are going to be selling that album'. I was so happy I grinned and walked away feeling light and invincible. Weird feeling, but true. I went on the one and only forum about the legendary group that I love to see if anyone else had heard about that new release but there were no new posts. I shouldn't have been surprised, after all, the last post was dated from a year ago. Ever since that day though, I had been counting down the days until the release. And now that I was in my bed, I was glancing at the clock on my bedside table, counting down the hours and minutes ...

I woke up with a start. I looked at my clock. 8:54am. Crap. Shit. Fuck! I slept in. The store was going to open at 9 and it usually took me half an hour to get there. I got out of my bed quick, forgetting that I still had my Ipod on my chest. It fell to the ground and the screen went a bit weird. No time to check it. I took a moment to decide whether or not to have a shower. Decided it'd save me time to not have one. I sprayed some deodorant over my upper body, followed by the tshirt I grabbed randomly from my closet. I could feel my breath going faster as I jumped into my jeans and shoes (no time to put socks on!) and grabbed my wallet (hurting my hand in the process as I bumped it into the desk). I made an angry sound and then rushed out of my room. Down the stairs. Past the lounge room where Mom and Dad were. They shook their heads (they already knew where I was going and what the occasion was for the rush). They couldn't stand Ketchup Soldiers. But at least they allowed me to play it loud when I felt like it (unless if it was late at night, then I use earphones). I ran to the bus stop as fast as I could, and even faster, when I saw the bus I had to catch already stopped. But as I got closer (and so close on top of that!) the damn bus began moving away. I cursed and swore and made another angry sound as I waited for the next bus. My mouth was dry, my hair was a mess, I probably looked like a bum ...

The next bus arrived - fifteen minutes later. I glared at the driver as I paid for my fare and had to stand up all the way to where I had to get out as the damn bus was packed. And since it was hot, it didn't smell very nice in there. It felt stuffed too. But the worst thing happened after a few stops when I realized that Mom and Dad were home ... I could've asked them to take me to the store. I cursed myself under my breath and tightened my grip on the bar I was holding for balance. I think I made another angry sound as a little girl looked at me funny. She seemed a bit scared too. Geez, did I look that bad when I just got out of bed?

When finally the bus got to where I wanted to get out, I sighed of relief. The music store was now only a minute or so away on foot. But when I climbed down the bus, a bird in the sky chose that very moment to release its poo and it fell right on the front of my tshirt. I almost let out a scream but thought the better of it and rushed to a water fountain to wash the crap away. Another few minutes wasted and now I smelled like bird poo. Could that day be any worse? I immediately cursed myself for thinking that as a sudden fear got a hold of me. The new single! I rushed like a mad man to the music store, almost knocking over an old lady along the way (no joke!). I didn't apologize either, that would've cost me precious seconds. I did feel guilty afterwards, but I just couldn't waste any more time.

I got to the music store. I walked in, and they had a song playing. Rihanna. Ugh. Why do people like her? I don't have a fucking clue. People diss the legendary Ketchup Soldiers but praise Rihanna and listen to her songs. I came to that shop often, so I knew who was behind the counter that day. Whoever was behind the counter would be choosing the music and he was a big Rihanna fan. For that reason, I didn't like him at all. I thought it was a bad omen that he was there that day, but I took a deep breath and looked through the new singles section. No new single from Ketchup Soldiers !!! I clenched my fists and marched towards the counter. The guy, Kevin was his name (he had a name tag on his Rihanna shirt), was about my age. I glared at him and asked if he could give me the new Ketchup Soldiers single.

"Oh... I'm sorry," he said. "We actually sold every copy of that single."

I didn't look very happy. "Every ... copy? Are you kidding? Who the hell bought them? How many did you have?"

Kevin made a bit of a funny face and answered, "Erm... three copies. Three people came and bought the singles." The exact same number of people registered on the forum (except for me, I mean). The bastards!

"Are you okay?" Kevin added.

I didn't realize it but I was tearing up. I was clenching my fists so hard, I think I pierced my skin. I just shook my head.

"You sure you don't have any more left?" I asked. "Please?"

He walked over to a stall and checked through it but came back to the counter empty-handed. "I'm sorry... There's none left. I think they only released a few copies of it."

I looked at him and forced a smile when really I wanted to punch him. I turned around and was about to leave when ...

"Hold on," Kevin said. He went at the back and came back with something in his hands. "As I said, they only released a few copies of the new single, to test the waters, I think. But they also sent some of these to a few stores. One of those stores happens to be this one." He showed it to me ... a new album! A new Ketchup Soldiers album !!!

"Oh my fucking god!" I exclaimed.

"It's a promo only disc - which means no selling," he said. "But if you promise not to leak it, I'll give it to you."

"Why?" I asked, surprised as hell.

"Well, you look like you're as a fan of the Ketchup Soldiers as I am fan of RiRi. I'd be glad to help," he said, with a smile.

I smiled back, without the desire to punch him, and went back home to listen to the new album. I had my door closed and locked, curtains closed as well, and had my speakers on loud. I then listened to Missed Connections. I could go on and on about how awesome the album was but I think two words would be enough to describe it: fucking orgasmic.

I was so damn happy. That day started out so crappily and I almost thought I wasn't going to get any new music from my favourite legendary band. And from that day onwards, I didn't feel any anger whatsoever whenever I saw or heard something Rihanna-related. In fact ... I bought her last album (to the delight of Kevin the salesguy). Heh, I told him it wasn't as good as Ketchup Soldiers, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.