A Christmas Contract

                     A Christmas Contract

               A short ghost story by Ian Duquemin

      

                          In memory of Lux Interior

                           A true Rock n Roll legend

                                    1946 – 2009

                                            R.I.P

I wanna leave a happy memory when I go, I wanna leave something to let the whole world know,
that the rock in roll daddy has a done passed on, but my bones will keep a-rockin’ long after I've gone

                            

(Jack Rhodes - Don Carter - Dub Nalls)
RONNIE DAWSON (Rockin' Records #1, 1959)

 Verse I = the death

Verse II = Zak’s Ghost

Verse III = the first of the three spirits                          

Verse IV = the second of the three spirits

Verse V = the third of the three spirits

Verse VI = the spirit of Christmas

Verse VII = the end of it

                                   Verse I = the death

   “Yes... that’s Zak alright... as dead as disco” a voice confirmed. It was Zak... although the white puffy skin and agonized expression on the death mask his friend was wearing, didn’t quite suit him. He was certain that Zak would have been horrified if he had known that death would have left him in such an ugly, unattractive state... But here he was... Ugly and unattractive, lying on a trolley staring at nothing through lifeless eyes “How did it happen?”

   Two steady hands pulled the clinical sheet over the dead man’s face. And the doctor in the immaculate white coat gave his medical opinion “We are not yet one hundred per cent sure of course! But judging by the marks on his arm, I am guessing it is an overdose of some kind... Do you know what drugs he was using?”

   The doctor gave a serious glance towards the dead man’s friend, and above the thin wiry glasses perched on his crooked nose, piercing blue eyes fixed on the young man’s deep brown eyes. The doctor noticed the smaller than normal pupils that looked into his, before the young man broke the gaze and turned towards the trolley that his friend lay upon “I couldn’t tell you... I didn’t know he used any drugs” the dead man’s friend lied “Alcohol yes! Zak liked a drink”  The doctor raised a finger to his nose, gently pushed the glasses towards his brow, and then turned and walked slowly to the large swinging doors. He held out an arm and his fingers motioned a 'let’s go' gesture. The young man hung his head, and left the cold disinfected room “You will know as soon as we do” the doctor said shaking the man’s clammy hand “Thanks for coming to identify the body... Oh, and a happy Christmas” The young man looked at the doctor for a moment, and in his head he silently replied “Christmas... Bollocks!”

    As the door swung shut, Johnny Rox made his way down the long corridors following the arrow exit signs. Christmas hymns played from hidden speakers along the hallways.  Johnny was sure that all eyes were on him as he passed patients and visitors and nurses. Being a rock star this was bound to happen. It was the price of increasing fame... And it was something that he could live with.

    A smirk crossed his mouth as his thoughts turned quickly to the headlines that would grace the pages of newspapers in a day or two “Contraband guitarist found dead” This of course would attract new inquisitive fans, promote cd sales, and no doubt, money would soon be rolling in. Johnny licked at his dry lips.

   Zak had only been dead for a few hours, yet a replacement was already in the singers mind. Johnny stopped at a water dispenser, pressed the ice cold button, took out the plastic filled cup, and then raised it into the air “Cheers Zak” he said with a grin, before he took it to his lips and drank it down in one. Johnny cringed as he swallowed, how could something that looked like Vodka taste so bland?  As he poured another tasteless drink from the dispenser, he thought about Zak laying stone cold stiff on the trolley, and again he gave a grin “This is rock and roll” he told himself aloud “This is where it all Begins... On this very Christmas Eve”

    Johnny crushed the empty plastic cup in one clenched hand, whist he flicked back his long blonde hair with the fingers of the other. He then strutted down the corridor and out of the hospital to inform the rest of the band... And to plan on how he could use Zak’s death as a way of making himself very rich, and extremely famous.

   Johnny was right. The papers published a story about the death of Zak a week later, stating that the up and coming rock band had lost their guitarist due to a heroin overdose. Johnny had been interviewed by the police, but had denied knowing anything about Zak’s habit... Or where the lethal drug had come from. Sat on his large red leather sofa, Johnny held up the paper and looked at the small picture of his band mates... He then smiled at the bigger picture of himself below it. He traced a finger over his profile, and marvelled at how cool and handsome he looked in the photograph. He then he read the article that had been added during an interview from a few months previous “Contraband are going to be the biggest group in the world” he had boasted “We are new and exciting. We are what rock and roll is about. It's time to show the old rock and rollers of the past that they had no clue. Rock and roll starts here, with Contraband. The old groups are boring and tedious and its time for these old guys to move aside... Contraband is here now... And Johnny Rox is here... So move aside you old hippies and **** off... You are redundant”  This particular interview had caused quite a sensation on its release. There had been much retaliation in the letter pages of many music magazines, but why it was in Zak’s death news article Johnny didn't understand. He threw the paper onto a table, and then unscrewed the top from a bottle of whiskey that he had started the night before. And whilst still staring at the photograph of himself, he swallowed a mouthful of the golden fiery liquid.

   As he drank, the only sound that could be heard was the ticking of a clock. He turned his gaze from the newspaper spread for a moment, and watched as the clock ticked slowly towards ten... It was only mid morning. He took another drink, and then his eyes returned to his picture.

     After a few weeks Contraband were in rehearsals once again, and Zak’s replacement thrashed away on his red and white guitar. Johnny watched as Ray’s fingers zipped up and down the strings with ease. He was a good guitarist, and had tried out with the band in their beginnings. But due to not having the looks or the brain for such a group, he was rejected by Johnny on these grounds alone. Ray was dim and unattractive... But he was a hell of a guitar player.

   When Zak had turned up to try out for Contraband, he was nowhere near as good a player as Ray, but he looked the part, and in Johnny’s eyes... Looks were far more important, as it was the looks that got the girls. But Zak was dead and cremated now... So Ray would do just fine, until someone better looking came along.

   Zak’s death brought much interest in Contraband, and the debut album rocketed in sales. Money was pouring in, and a tour was due to start in the coming months... A plan that Johnny had come up with to cash in on the increasing morbid interest in Contraband, that was brought on by Zak’s passing.

   Jodie was Johnny’s long term girlfriend, she adored him even though she knew that he loved himself more than he had ever loved her. As she climbed the stairs to the rehearsal room, she could hear Johnny shouting at the band. She stood outside the closed door for a moment and listened in “What the fuck is wrong JP? Cant you keep up with Ray?” he screamed to the man behind the drum kit. “For fucks sake... We're hitting the big time and you can’t even hit a fucking beat”  JP crashed loudly on a cymbal, and then finished a can of beer. When empty he crushed the can in his palm, and threw it in Johnny’s direction “Lets fuckin’ do this” he shouted across the room, before attacking his drums in frenzy. Soon, he was followed by Simon on bass, before Ray joined in “That’s more like it” Johnny growled into his microphone. Johnny joined in on his guitar, and then right on cue, he began to sing in his deep husky voice.

   On the other side of the door Jodie listened to the new song that Johnny had not long finished writing. The words were pretty meaningless, but with the thrashing guitars, rumbling bass and drums, it sounded pretty damn good she thought. On the final drum beat, Jodie opened the door and walked into the room. The band members turned towards her and smiled as she raised a six pack of beer into the air “Drink anyone?” she called out.  Johnny snatched the cans from her hand and tossed one to each member “You sounded great from outside” Jodie praised, meaning the bands performance as a whole.  Johnny moved his head next to hers, and placed his lips to her ear “I always sound great babe!” he replied in a deep whisper, before nibbling on her lobe with his teeth. A hiss and the sound of laughter turned Johnny’s head away from Jodie’s ear, as a fountain of spray burst from JP’s can “Here’s to fame and fortune!” the drummer called out. JP, Simon and Ray, then crashed their cans together in boyish celebration, before knocking back their drinks in drunken laughter. Johnny raised his can in the air, he noticed his reflection in a nearby window. He smiled at himself, and then toasted the good looking man smiling back at him “To fame and fortune” he said with a grin.

                                                               

                           

                              Verse II = Zak’s Ghost

                                 Two Years Later

   The tour ended in their home town on Christmas Eve. And when the final song had finished, Contraband left the stage in silence. As the band members walked towards the changing room, Johnny stopped and kicked at a door so hard, that his boot crashed through the wood “How dare they fuckin’ boo me” he growled to himself “I’m Johnny fuckin Rox and they boo me! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he screamed with another three kicks at the door. JP placed a hand on the singers shoulder to comfort his front man, and Johnny whipped his head around and stared at the drummer for a moment. It was then that JP noticed for the first time that Johnny had aged considerably over the past two years. Lines had appeared on his face, and dark shadows circled his eyes. Alcohol and drugs had tainted his once pretty boy looks. Fame and fortune had brought with it not only wealth... But habits and downfall. Contraband had hit the heights after Zak had died. And as Johnny had predicted, they had become relatively famous due to their on and off stage performances. But as the band got bigger... Johnny’s decline had began. Not because of his abilities as a guitar player or singer, but due to his big ego and even bigger mouth. Whenever Contraband was interviewed he would slate over groups as has-beens, or not on the same level as his band... And his band is what Contraband had become... They were the group that backed “his” performance. “Were just burnt out Johnny” JP smiled “We can take it easy for awhile now”  Johnny seemed to stare right through JP, as if in some kind of trance. So the drummer gave the singer a gentle slap on the cheek “Did you hear me Johnny?” JP asked. Johnny snapped out of his gaze, and gave his friend a wink “I hear you JP” he replied “Hey! It’s Zak’s anniversary today...Let’s get smashed”

   In the dressing room, a party had begun. Laughter, and the chink of glasses filled the large smoke filled room. Friends had come back stage, and groupies had managed to slip passed the security.

   Johnny wasted no time, and soon two girls were sat on his lap, kissing his neck and chest as he sipped from a bottle of whiskey. The more he drank, the better he felt. And soon the topless girls had put a smile back on his angered face.

    When the party was in full swing, Jodie entered the room to give Johnny the surprise that she had been keeping for him on this final night of the tour. She looked around the packed room, but could not see her man anywhere. She pushed through the crowd, and then came to a door. Before she turned the handle she saw JP looking at her. He wasn’t smiling his usual warming smile. JP just looked at her wearing a sad look on his face, whilst shaking his head. Jodie gave the drummer a little wave, and then lowered the handle and opened the door.

   For a moment Jodie stood frozen on the spot. The shower room was hot and humid due to the warm steam that filled the smaller room. As the steam made its exit into the adjoining room ,she saw Johnny half naked on a pile of towels scattered on the wet floor, where two soaking wet girls lay beside him kissing each other with hands everywhere. Johnny looked up at Jodie, and gave her a wink “This is rock and roll baby” he said in a slurred arrogant tone “You bastard!” Jodie shrieked “You complete fucking bastard!”  She threw the piece of paper she had held in her hand towards him, and as she slammed the door shut, the paper spiralled through the remaining steam and landed face down in a puddle of water. The two girls giggled to one another, and then returned their attention to the singer on the floor “Fuck her” he said to the girls “Let me show you how Johnny Rocks!”

   After he had finished with the girls, Johnny stood up and got dressed as they watched him slip on his clothes “Are you going already baby?” one girl asked, placing a finger in her mouth seductively whist grinning at him. Johnny looked down at her and gave no reply. The other girl wrapped an arm around her new friend “We don’t need him to have a happy Christmas” she said with a giggle. As Johnny stepped on the wet piece of paper that Jodie had tossed at him, it turned to a soggy pulp beneath his boot. And without the slightest glance at the two naked girls on the shower room floor, he opened the door and returned to the party.

    It was still early. Christmas day had not yet begun, but the alcohol and pills he had taken made the room start to spin and swirl before him. Johnny felt sick, and headed for the door. He needed fresh air, so he descended the stairs and went outside. The cold winter air froze the sweat on his body, and he let out a shiver as a mist puffed from his breath.  Johnny pulled his coat around him, and blew into his hands as a taxi was passing by “Stop!” he called out, and the black cab came to a stand still. He jogged towards the car, opened the door and then climbed into the warm cab, pulling the door shut behind him. He then gave his address to the driver, before lying back on the seat. His eyes became heavy, and Johnny quickly drifted into a deep drunken sleep. In what seemed like seconds, the driver was calling out to him “That will be eight pounds forty please sir!” Johnny jumped, not knowing where he was for a moment. He looked at the man in the peaked cloth cap in confusion “Eight pounds forty please sir” the driver repeated. Johnny opened his wallet, took out the eight pounds, and then fumbled in his trouser pocket for the forty pence, which he handed to the driver “Keep the change!” he said to the cabbie that looked at the correct amount in his palm. As Johnny stepped out of the cab the driver called out “I know who you are you tight bastard... You’re Johnny Rox!” the cabbie let out a laugh “Johnny Rox... Johnny Cox more like...Happy bloody Christmas”  As Johnny slammed the cab door shut, he raised his foot to kick at the car. But before he made contact, the driver sped off into the darkness. Johnny watched as the red tail lights disappeared out of view “Bollocks!” he shouted.

   Johnny pulled the house key from his coat pocket, and then stumbled towards the painted black door. As he approached his door, he climbed the three steps and stood for a moment beneath the porch light that shone down on the shinning chrome door knocker. He looked at his reflection in the knocker as he tried to insert the key into the lock. Due to admiring himself, the key slipped from his fingers and landed at his feet with a metallic chink. Johnny bent down to retrieve his key, but he could not see it as his body blocked out the light above. His fingers traced the darkened steps until he found it. He picked the key up, stood upright and then turned towards the door.

    As Johnny turned, his heartbeat came to a stand still for a moment. His eyes widened, and the city went into a deadly silence as the porch light sparked electric blue lightning, which zigzagged and crackled towards him. The door knocker no longer glistened beneath the light of the porch... Instead a ghostly face hung eerily in its place, with the knocker handle pierced through its cheeks. Long limp hair blew in the night’s breeze, and beneath the matted hair, piercing white eyes stared straight into Johnny’s soul. Johnny rubbed at his eyes in disbelief, and then opened them again... But the creepy familiar face was still there... Staring at him. All of a sudden the face opened its mouth and let out a shriek.  Johnny jumped, and took a step back. His foot gave way on the top step which caused him to fall to the path below, where he landed on his backside. He quickly got up on his feet, and then looked back at his door. The face had gone, and the knocker glistened from the warm glowing light above once more “Bollocks!” he said aloud “I’m drunker than I thought I was” Johnny looked closer at the knocker. He gave it a tap, and then inserted the key in the lock.

    Johnny entered his unusually cold dark house. He turned on the lights, and although his home was filled with items he had bought over the last couple of years, tonight it seemed very empty... Like something was missing. He stumbled past an amplifier and tripped over a guitar on the floor, which he picked up and placed against a wall. He then took off his coat, which he threw on top of the amp.

   With the flick of a switch, the coal effect fire burst into life, giving the room a warm comforting glow. Johnny collapsed onto the sofa, and put his feet up on the arm rest and kicked off his boots. He looked around the room, glancing at the shining framed discs that highlighted the walls. An empty whiskey bottle lay on the wooden flooring, and above the fire place, a large photograph of Johnny Rox smiled a boyish smile at him.

   In the silence, Johnny could hear the ticking of the clock and looked up to see what time it was “Eleven o’clock... You gotta be fuckin’kidding me!” he said out loud to himself. Johnny stood up and looked closer at the clock. The clock was ticking, but the second hand was not moving. He gave it a tap with his knuckles, and the minute hand moved rapidly around the face, at an unusually fast speed, before stopping on the nine. The second hand then began to tic on its tedious journey once again “What the...” Before he could finish what he was about to say, a bolt of blue lightning crackled from the clock, which made him jump so much that he fell backwards, falling over the coffee table behind him. As he fell, he banged his head on its corner with a hefty sickening thump. He pulled himself up onto the sofa, and rubbed his aching head “Fuck it” he shouted aloud. Again, a bolt of light zapped across the room from the clock “What the fuck is going on?” Johnny began to panic, when he suddenly noticed a cloud of smoke drift from under a door, which soon covered the living room floor. He tried to stand, but found that he was unable to move. It felt as if something was pushing him back down on the red leather sofa. Chills ran down his spine when he heard loud metallic rattling sounds coming from the other side of the door. Being unable to move, his eyes focused on the door handle as it began to lower... And then the door creaked slowly open. Johnny sat frozen and could see nothing at the now open door... Only complete darkness. Again he tried to sit up, but what seemed like a hand on his chest pushed him back down on the sofa. For a moment Johnny just stared in silence... At nothing.

   Suddenly a long heavy chain came crashing out of the darkness, and landed at his feet. Johnny followed the links with his eyes, and from the darkness of the open door the ghostly figure from the knocker outside dragged itself closer and closer, one link at a time, towards the now cowering rock god quivering on the sofa “What are you... who are you?” Johnny squealed. The apparition hovered in front of him for a moment, and then raised his hands to his throat, as if trying to loosen the heavy chain wrapped around his neck “Do you not recognize me Johnny? Do your eyes not let you see me?”  the apparition moaned “I see you spirit, but I do not know you... What do you want from me?”  Again the spirit tugged at the chain around his neck, but it would not release “In another life... I was your friend Johnny. Look at me closer... Do you not see your friend Zak?” Johnny gazed up at the figure floating before him “Zak! You look nothing like Zak... It can’t be you!” The spirit let out a piercing shriek “Why do your senses disbelieve what is right in front of you?” Johnny sat up, and then answered the spirit before him “You could be a hallucination. I’ve taken pills tonight... Or maybe a spiked glass of whiskey... Or even concussion, seeing as I’ve just smashed my head on the fucking table” The ghost screamed so loud, that the glass in the picture frames cracked as if they had been punched. Johnny cowered back into his seat. Looking past the ugliness of the ghoul before him, Johnny began to recognize his once good looking friend “It is you Zak. I see you now... You look fucking awful mate, if you don’t mind me saying so!” Zak screamed once again, and held his hands to his face before floating towards Johnny on the sofa. When he removed his hands, the spirit hovered over Johnny... Looking down upon him “I have come to give you a warning Johnny. So that you will not be cursed with the same fate bestowed upon me. These chains anchor me to this world, they prevent me from moving on to the spirit world... I can not enter, so my body rots and wrinkles... Oh woe is me!” The spectre swooped down closer to Johnny’s face, and Johnny smelled the stench of rotting stinking flesh. Johnny discretely covered his nose to prevent himself from gagging “My vanity in my earth life has cursed me with the fate of this trial... And still, it is so hard to bear. I am now doomed to become ugly and putrid... doomed and cursed Johnny... But you still stand a chance! I have seen your chain... It will be wound so tightly around your throat, that no matter how many links are removed in good faith... You will never breathe again. You will never move on to the spirit world Johnny... Never”  Johnny put his hands over his face, and then peeked through open fingers, trying not to look at his rotten friend “Could you have not come with more joyful news Zak?... Something a little less morbid” he asked the ugly ghoul. Zak let out a tortured wail “With this warning, you still have time to sign the contract... Something I was not given the chance to do. I died before my time... Thanks to you. With this visit I may at least lose a link from this chain, so that I can breathe once more without choking on my own self-righteousness” Zak clawed at the chain that sunk into his throat and then continued “If you sign the contract, I would even forgive you for giving me that fatal shot of heroin. To have just one link removed, I would even waver the fact that you left me on that very night to die” Johnny lowered his hands “Contract... What contract?” he inquired “Are you not the self titled rock and roll god Johnny? Are you not the greatest rock and roll star that ever was?” Zak groaned. Johnny watched as the chain around Zak’s neck tightened, as though being yanked back behind him, pulling him towards the darkness of the door he had entered from. The smoke on which he rode in upon, spiralled and drifted into the darkened void with him. As Zak was dragged slowly towards the open door, he cried out his warning in a rasp, tearing at the chain wrapped around his throat “I have run out of time Johnny, I must leave you now, but be warned... You will be visited three times tonight... By three different spirits. When the clock strikes twelve, your trial begins. Sign the contract Johnny... Please, release these chains that hold me here” Zak’s chain was then pulled with such force, that the entity vanished in an instant... And the door slammed shut behind it.

   Johnny fell back into the sofa... Exhausted. He placed his hands on his head, trying to make sense of what he thought he had just witnessed. As he ran his fingers through his hair, he let out a yelp... the bump on his head was swollen and sore. That’s what had happened he thought to himself "I knocked myself out" he said aloud. Johnny even managed a chuckle, although his head fucking hurt. He got up and tiptoed across the room, stopping at the door that his repulsive friend had entered and departed from. He opened it cautiously, and saw nothing there “Hello!” he called out into the shadows... There was no reply.

    Johnny hurried over to a cupboard, and took out a fresh bottle of whiskey. He then put a hand in his pocket, and from a small pill box studded with the words Super Star, he took out two blue pills and threw them onto his tongue, before lifting the bottle to his lips and filling his mouth with the alcohol he needed to take away his increasingly throbbing headache. He swallowed, looked at the clock once again, which still read eleven forty five, mumbled aloud “Fuck it!” and then staggered up the stairs to his bedroom. Without taking off his clothes, he collapsed onto the bed in a heap. And as the whiskey bottle in his hand began to tilt and its contents trickled onto the bed covers... Johnny fell into a deep disturbed sleep.

   Downstairs the clock hands began to move once more, and as the hour hand approached the twelve, a storm began to rip across the night sky. And on this storm, a rider had arrived.  Christmas day had begun.

                                               

                          Verse III = the first of the three spirits

   Johnny opened his drugged, drunken heavy eyes in a daze. He was woken by what sounded like the drums and chants of an Indian rain dance... Something, or somebody, had entered his house. In the darkness of the room he sat up quickly, and fumbled for the bedside light switch, which he found and then nervously flicked on... The chanting stopped on the click of the switch, and his vision was met with an array of colours. His eyes were giving the impression that a kaleidoscope had been inserted into each of his eye sockets... Or the effect that LSD had shown him a few times in the past. Johnny rubbed at his eyes, but on release, the room only became more surreal, swirling and twisting in and out of focus, like a very bad trip. 

   All of a sudden a voice whispered in his left ear “Is anybody in?”  Johnny spun his head to the left but nobody was there, even though he had actually felt the breath on his ear. Then in his right ear the voice repeated “Is anybody in?” Again Johnny turned his head, this time to the right... Still nothing, just the kaleidoscope of colours turning and moving with every panicked breath that he breathed. Johnny looked around the room, and as his vision adjusted to the whirling revolving mess of colour, he saw a figure appear, blended in with the multi-coloured surrounding like a chameleon. He could not make out the figure, but it was definitely a man, who now leaned over the bed and spoke in a whisper “The ceremony is about to begin!” 

   “Who are you... and what do you want? Are you the first spirit that I was warned about?” Johnny panted through heavy breath. The spirit seemed to move in motions that were sped up; it would come to a sudden stand still, and then flash across to another part of the bedroom in the blink of an eye “Speak up... do you hear me... Who are you?” The spirit raised its arms into the air like an Indian shaman, and looked down upon Johnny “I am the lizard king” the ghostly presence revealed “What are you... and what do you want from me?” Johnny cowered “What am I?” the spirit paused for a moment, and silence filled the room “I am many things... but you could say that I am... A collage. I am the pieces of your life that are draining the very life that you so crave” The spirit would be in Johnny’s vision one moment, and then standing in another part of the room in an instant, mixed in with the colours surrounding him. The atmosphere in the bedroom felt heavy and dark... Almost suffocating, and claustrophobic. Although Johnny had no idea who the spirit was... it seemed very powerful “I do not understand you spirit... Explain, as you make no sense to me”

   The figure approached the bed. He crawled towards Johnny on his hands and knees across the floor like an animal, and with each movement forward he spoke aloud “I am fame... I am fortune... I am beauty... I am poetry. But I am also pain and suffering... I am sacrifice... I am death... I am everything that you ever craved. All the things that you so desperately wish for” Johnny looked confused “Pain... Suffering... Death? I have never wished for any of these things... I don’t understand!”

   The spirit came into focus for a second, just enough time for Johnny to see the figure standing before him. He was the most beautiful man that he had ever set eyes on. Thick wavy hair hung over his bare shoulders. He wore a thin beaded necklace around his neck, that swayed from side to side with each movement. His trousers seemed to be made from some kind of snakeskin... And he moved with the grace of a god “You must come with me Johnny... There are things that I need to show you... To open your eyes” The spirit held out his hand, and helped Johnny to his feet “What do you want to show me?” the inferior man asked worryingly “I need to show you what you have become Johnny... But first, you must trust me... Do not be afraid” Once again the spirit raised his arms into the air. Beneath his breath, he whispered words Johnny had no understanding of... But he could tell that it was a summoning of some kind, as the words were repeated over and over again in steady rhythm. Soon there was movement that twisted slowly around the room. It was hard to make out what it was through malfunctioning eyes... But it hissed and rattled as it circled the bedroom. When it had filled the bedroom, the moving shape changed to the creature that was summoned... And Johnny was terrified as the giant snake weaved its body around the spirit and himself “Ride the snake with me Johnny... Don’t be afraid!” The spirit climbed onto the snakes back, and then held out his hand once more. Johnny straddled the snake, and held tightly onto the spirits waist. The bedroom windows crashed open, and the snake let out a menacing hiss before diving out of the window into the multi-coloured sky. Johnny was too petrified to open his eyes, he gripped on for dear life as the storm howled and moaned its pitiful song around them.

    When the frantic ride came to a stand still, the spirit climbed from the snakes back. Johnny fell to the ground as the spirit thanked the serpent, whist gently stroking its head. He then turned towards Johnny and helped him to his feet “That was a hell of a trip wasn’t it?”

  Johnny scrambled to his feet and looked around the freaky surroundings, the twisting constantly moving colour starting to make him feel sick in the pit of his stomach “Do you recognize this place Johnny?” the spirit asked as he turned to face the man following behind him. The confusion on Johnny’s face was apparent, and the spirit gave a smile “Of course you don’t... In these times you saw through different eyes” The spirit held out a hand, and asked Johnny to open his mouth “What is it?” Johnny queried. The spirit laughed “It’s just a pill Johnny... It will do the reverse of what you expect from a pill. Let’s call it... A good trip. It will help you to see as you were born to see” Johnny accepted the pill onto his tongue, and he swallowed it. In just a few seconds the drug began to take effect, and the surreal surroundings began to look normal again. The bright colours subsided to natural, and it felt good to be back in the colourless world once again. Johnny looked at the spirit in awe, who had now also transformed into his physical form. The tall god like man before him oozed charisma, and Johnny, for the first time in his life... Felt small and not good looking at all.

  Standing outside a run down looking house, the spirit waved Johnny over to the dirty window that he now stood by “Here” he said “Take a look at this!” Johnny approached the window, and looked into the room inside. A beautiful young woman held her baby to her breast. She stroked at his hair, and then kissed him gently on the forehead. When the infant fell to sleep the mother carefully placed him in a rickety cot, covered him in a blanket and then she sat by an empty fireplace. She took a newspaper and scrunched pages into small balls before setting light to them with a match. Flames burst into life for a short time, and whilst they flickered and leaped up the chimney, she held her hands close to the flames to warm herself up. Once the warming flames had turned to a small trail of cold black smoke, the woman sat on a tatty armchair, pulled a blanket over herself and then gazed directly towards the window where the man and the spirit observed “Your mother had a hard time raising you Johnny! It’s a tough life bringing up a child all alone” The spirit paused for a moment before continuing “You didn’t know your father did you? But let me tell you... You are very much like him... Only he was a drummer in a rock band. When he found out about you, he couldn’t get away fast enough... Broke your mother’s heart into a million pieces... But here... I wanna show you something else!”

   The spirit turned, and gracefully strolled to another window in the house. He rubbed at the dirty glass, and beckoned Johnny to take a look. This window showed the same couple sharing a joyful moment that Johnny remembered vividly. As his mother handed the young boy a large wrapped box, she clapped her hands with excitement “Happy Christmas Johnny” The boy ripped off the paper and opened up the box, he then peered inside and a smile beamed across his face “A guitar” he screeched in a thrilled high pitched voice, before jumping to his feet and throwing his arms around his mother’s neck. The boy then returned to the instrument, held it on his lap and strummed a cordless tune that to him... Was music itself. The spirit turned to face Johnny, and the handsome figure smiled “Even though she had nothing, she always saw you right Johnny” The spirit walked back to the first window they had looked into “Over here!” he called out, and Johnny approached. In the familiar room, a teenage boy sat cross legged on the floor, running his fingers up and down the strings of his beaten up guitar. Beside him, a bottle of wine and a small stack of pills sat on the carpet. He hit the strings in a steady rhythm, staring ahead through glazed pin pricked eyes, as if playing to an imaginary audience, snarling and smirking at them. His fantasy was interrupted as the door opened, and his mother walked in. She looked down at her son, and saw the pills on the floor at his side “What the hell are you doing?” she bent down and picked up the tablets “What is this shit?” Johnny ignored her and returned to his private gig, hitting the strings of his guitar once again, before he began singing to the invisible crowd “We agreed no drugs Johnny. You promised me no fucking drugs! You will end up being a nobody like your father if you start taking this shit”    

   The strumming came to an abrupt stop, and Johnny stood up and faced his mother “What was that?” he said as he paced towards her “A nobody!  A fucking nobody... Like you ya mean?” he spat the words from his mouth like poison. His mother slapped him hard across his left cheek, and stood facing her son with a sense of hatred for a moment. Johnny turned his head to face her, and brushed away the hair that had covered his good looks. She didn’t see it coming... or would ever have expected it to happen, but before she knew it, her son had his hand tightly around her throat and he pushed her against the wall with force. A framed photograph of mother and child crashed to the floor as he held her tightly “A fuckin nobody!” he said through clenched teeth “I’m gonna be a rock god you stupid bitch... Do you hear me?” His mother shook through fear of her son “Do you hear me?” Johnny repeated, increasing his grip. She nodded her head as he humiliated her more “Say it... Let me hear it!” he growled in her ear “You are going to be a rock god” she rasped. Johnny spat in her face, and released her. He then picked up his guitar from the floor and smashed it against the wall near her head. As he stormed towards the door for the last time, his mother heard him mumble “I’m Johnny Rox… And I’m gonna be famous!” he said before the door slammed shut behind him. Johnny watched as his mother slid down the wall, and sat on the floor. With her arms wrapped around her legs, she rested her head on her knees and cried her heart out.

   When the spirit looked at Johnny for a reaction, he noticed the tear run down the man’s cheek. He reached out, and caught it with his finger. He then held the tear out in front of him “You see this tiny little tear on my fingertip Johnny?” he asked in a quiet tone “You have caused enough of these to be able to drown yourself in... Open your mouth for me Johnny” the spirit demanded. The spirit placed the tear on Johnny’s tongue “This is the taste of pain and hurt” he said. The tear was bitter, and Johnny found it hard to swallow. The spirit tilted his head and smiled “The sweeter ones are tears of joy”

   The spirit walked back toward the snake that coiled and hissed on his return “You are not ready to sign the contract yet Johnny. Come... We must leave this place”

   The spirit climbed back onto the snakes back, and then gestured Johnny to join him. Johnny mounted and clung to the spirits waist once more “We're going to get high now Johnny... You like getting high don’t you?” Johnny sheepishly nodded his reply “Well I’m going to take you higher than you have ever dreamed” The snake un-coiled its twisted body, and rose into the air like a wild stallion. Johnny held on tightly as at an impossible speed, they flew up into a kaleidoscope of colours that turned and spiralled into the sky at a sickening pace. As they got higher and higher, Johnny could take no more “I want to get off spirit” he shouted in fear “Please, let me get off” The spirit turned towards the frantically clinging man behind him and shouted “With every high... There is always a down. Goodbye Johnny”

    Johnny lost his grip from the spirits waist and began to slide down the snakes back. He tied to hold on desperately, but the scaled skin was slippery, and the spirit became further and further away. Soon, Johnny reached the serpents tail and he held onto it for dear life. But with a menacing rattle, and a violent shake Johnny was free to fall as the spirit rider disappeared into the kaleidoscope above. When they had gone from view, so with them did the colours.  Johnny fell from never ending heights in complete darkness. He screamed and he screamed on his descent, into a void of black.

   Johnny’s head hit the bedroom floor with a thump, and he opened his eyes in complete fear. A near empty bottle of whiskey rolled slowly towards his face, and then came to a stand still. The remaining alcohol rocked in the bottle like a stormy sea before stilling and glistening in the light.

   Johnny quickly sat up on the floor and looked around his bedroom... Nothing “It must have been a dream!” he tried to convinced himself... But it felt so fucking real. Rubbing his aching head, his fingertips traced over the bump from earlier that evening. He pulled himself up onto his feet, and sat perched on the bed. He reached down to the bottle on the floor, and lifted it to his mouth. After he had drank the remaining whiskey, he then collapsed back on his pillow, trying to make sense of what had happened in his nightmarish dreams.

Down stairs the clock struck one.

                                      

                 Verse IV = the second of the three spirits

   Johnny lay on his bed with his hands covering his face. He rubbed at his weary eyes, and then felt the prickly stubble on his chin grate across his palms. He heard a noise, and sat up straight... Listening.  At first he thought the sound was a cat wailing its sad song from outside in the cold dark night... But then the sound pitch changed, and the cry became a howl that was from no creature in this world. The bedside light began to flicker on and off. It then began to glow brighter and brighter. Johnny held up his hands to shield his eyes from the blinding white light. It shone so brightly, that nothing else could be seen in the room.

   As the light began to dim it changed to the colour of purple, and once again a mist appeared from under the door causing a purple haze to fill the large room.  Johnny sat and watched as the haze swirled around the room “Who are you?” Johnny called out “Show yourself spirit!”

   As Johnny spoke a bedroom wall disappeared before his very eyes, and he jumped up in disbelief. Then another wall vanished... Followed by the remaining two in quick succession. Johnny peaked over the bed at the floor, and that too had also gone. His bed seemed to be floating on the purple haze, and only blackness surrounded him “What’s happening... Show yourself?” Johnny cried out.

   Suddenly at the foot of his bed flames appeared from out of the darkness. The inferno licked its way up into the darkness above, and the purple haze surrounding the flames made an eerie sight.

   A screaming piercing sound... Like a banshee, howled all around, and Johnny covered his ears with his hands “Show yourself spirit... I beg of you!” he called out. From the flames a figure appeared. A figure of smoke and fire rose fiercely above Johnny’s bed, and the spirit  wailed and howled the most ferocious call. Johnny was terrified, and his eyes were transfixed on the presence before him “Who are you?” he asked again. The spirit gave one more howl and the flames began to soften. Amidst the flames, a tall dark apparition... Half man... Half smoke, clutched at a golden guitar. Johnny noticed that the guitar was held the wrong way, and asked one more time “Who are you spirit?”

   The spirit spoke in a soft quiet tone “I am the voodoo child” he answered.

   Johnny could only stare at this idol like figure before him, and sat dumbfounded for a moment. The spirit wasted no time, and raised a hand to Johnny’s head “This may hurt a little” he said with a sigh. In the spirits hand was a guitar lead. He held the plug from the lead, and he pushed into Johnny’s right ear. Johnny screamed in agony, the pain was excruciating “What are you doing?” he cried out. The spirit smiled as he plugged the other end of the lead into his guitar “I am here to play your life’s symphony... And to teach you a thing or two about music. This is the only way that you will be able to truly feel and appreciate it”

   The spirit tied a scarf around his head, and then stroked his guitar with his palm as though it was alive “Are you ready man?” Between his fingers a pick brushed against a string, and it sent electricity coursing through Johnny’s nerves. He gripped the blanket on his bed as if squeezing the armrests of an electric chair. The currents tore through his body as it would with the pull of a lever. When the spirit began to play chords, images of Johnny’s present and past was shown like a movie on the black surrounding screen. As strings were bent they played the notes of Johnny’s life... Sad... Painful... Meaningless notes. With each note played, an act of selfishness and hurt that he had caused, was re-shown in graphic images before him. With each mind shattering trash the tunes matched the anger and hatred that he had inflicted on others. And when the spirit played the most saddened melody, a tear fell on every note... The very tears he had caused so many to cry.

  When the music had finished the images seized to be shown, and the spirit pulled the plug from Johnny’s ear “Music is a powerful thing man! There is a tune for every emotion... Whether it is hate... Or love.  Your life’s tune plays out like nothing I have ever played Johnny! How can something as beautiful as music be played so ugly?” Johnny looked up at the spirit, and the spirit noticed a hint of remorse deep inside the man’s brown eyes. 

   The spirit had not finished with Johnny yet, and he raised his arms slowly into the air. As his arms lifted two enormous speakers rose out of the purple haze surrounding him. The spirit plugged his guitar into one of the speakers as Johnny watched mesmerized.  As he looked at the speakers, Johnny noticed some small bleeding fingers sticking out of the grill on the front of the right unit. He turned to the other and again, tiny fingers moved from behind the mesh. Johnny pointed at the fingers and spoke out to the spirit “What is inside the speaker’s spirit? Do you intend to unleash some horror upon me?” The spirit smiled down at Johnny, and answered “Let me introduce you to two friends of mine” Johnny backed off cowardly, expecting some horrific apparition to come bursting from the cabinets as the spirit pried off the front meshed grills of the speakers. But to his amazement, in the right hand unit, a little black boy sat curled up inside. Johnny turned to the left speaker and inside this one a little black girl sat. Both children wore the saddest of expressions “Who are these children?” Johnny spoke in what came out as a heart felt whisper. The spirit stroked the little boys head “This Johnny... Is my old friend the blues” The spirit then turned to the little girl, and raised her face with a finger under her chin “And this, my friend... This is soul” The spirit looked over at Johnny, and spoke sternly to the man on the bed “As musicians, we are indebted to these two. Without them our rock and roll music would never have existed.  These “Has-Beens” as you have called them, gave you your music... As well as your wealth. Without them you would be nothing!” The spirit moved forward “Here... Let me show you something man” The spirit un-plugged the guitar lead from the speaker, and once again inserted it painfully into Johnny’s ear. Whist he began to play the most soulful blues melody, an image appeared again on the big black nothing. The image showed a young boy learning to play his new instrument. Young Johnny sat practicing, and he tried over and over again to learn the chords. His fingers became sore, yet he did not give up until he had learnt enough to play the simplest of tunes.

    When the music stopped the image faded, and Johnny realized that as well as having a tear in his eye... He also had a smile on his face. He looked up at the spirit, and nodded his head “Blues and soul is a part of the passion of learning to play, isn’t it?” he asked the spirit. The spirit nodded and grinned “Back then you had the passion man. Your fingers bled you practiced so much... Like my friend blues here! When he first picked up an unknown instrument, and after hour upon hour strumming on those strings so that he could eventually get that piece of hollowed out wood to sing... That is how the blues began man... And that’s what you were doing! It was all that your heart desired. That is where my other friend here comes in” he said smiling at the little girl “Music comes from one place only man... And that’s your soul! But for the price of fame you threw that all away. Your vanity to be beautiful to your adoring fans turned you into an ugly person that people began to dislike. You lost the two main ingredients of rock and roll through vanity and greed!”

    The spirit replaced the covers back on the speakers, and with his back to Johnny he spoke out loudly “I have one more test for you before you sign your contract Johnny. I am going to play for you!  I want you to close your eyes and tell me what you see and feel through the music... And then my time with you is complete”  Johnny lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes as the spirit began to play on his golden guitar. The tune that soared through his body sent shivers down Johnny’s spine. He had never heard a guitar play such heavenly music in his life. Pictures began to flick through his mind, and he told of what he saw and of how he felt “I see my mother, crying at losing her son... I see the girls I have used and abused...I feel the pain I have caused to my family and friends and... I feel the hurt I have caused my girlfriend Jodie, and so many others”

   A voice whispered in Johnny’s ear as he reflected on his wrong doings “For the first time... You are not thinking about yourself... Don't sign the contract... Goodbye Johnny”

   Johnny was still thinking about Jodie minutes after the spirit had gone. So much so that he did not hear the spirits farewell. For once he was thinking about somebody else other than himself. He longed to have Jodie in his arms at that moment. She had always been there when he needed her. In his thoughts he could hear her crying. Her tears dripped onto the floor which as they landed, became louder and louder with every drop. Jodie cried so much that he imagined himself drowning in her tears. He was suffocating and choking on the teardrops that poured down his throat.

   Johnny sat up in his bed in a panic, and spluttered as whiskey tasting vomit dribbled from his mouth onto his chest. He really had been choking, and he eagerly breathed in a lungful of air. He searched the bedroom with his eyes looking for any sign of spirit activity, but there was none “What the fuck is going on?” he called out to himself “Am I dying? ... What have I done?”  Johnny began to cry. Great sobbing tears began to stream down his cheeks, and for the first time in his life, he felt lonely. He had pushed away every person that had ever loved him, and right now he would give up all the fame and fortune that he had acquired over the last couple of years, for just one comforting hug from his mother and Jodie.

   Johnny could not stop the tears. He had never felt such sadness in his whole life. Sorrow filled his bedroom. Loneliness and sadness surrounded him as the clock on the wall in the living room downstairs ticked past the Two. The emotional feelings that were suffocating Johnny...  Arrived in magnitude with the next spirit.

             

                    Verse V = the third of the three spirits

   Sorrow had arrived in abundance at Johnny’s house... And with it, came the third spirit as predicted by Zak. Johnny felt the presence though he could not see anything... This spirit, was different from the others. This soul was not alone, and with it... It brought a million mourners.

   Deep in his heart, he could feel the despair that this last visitor carried. Sobbing echoed around Johnny’s bedroom in distant mingled tones. The anticipation and the intense waiting for the spirit to appear, were becoming increasingly unbearable.  Johnny nervously called out to whoever was there “I know you are here spirit... I can feel you, though I can not see you!” Shadows flew around the walls like frantic ghouls trying to get close to the spirit... Not wanting to be far from its side.

    Johnny grabbed his pillow and held it to his chest, hugging and squeezing it as though it may protect him “Please show yourself spirit. If you have come to show me my future... Then it is you that I fear the most!” Screams and cries filled Johnny’s head. He put his hands to his ears to try and block out the mournful wailing... But to no avail “Reveal yourself!” he screamed aloud... The cries stopped... And silence took over.

   Johnny removed his hands from his ears and raised his head from the pillow. He was no longer in his bedroom or sitting on his bed, but sat alone on a large empty stage “Who are you spirit?” Johnny called out “Where am I?” Voices screamed from the old dusty empty venue before him, as though it was filled with people... And yet nobody was there. Johnny tried to make sense of the screaming , and he listened carefully for a moment. Amidst the screams he heard the words... The King. Johnny lifted his head and spoke out loudly “If you truly are the king of rock and roll, why do you bring such sorrow? Did you not have all the money in the world, and all the fame that you longed for?” The arena became pitch black as the lights were turned off... And then the screaming stopped abruptly. Johnny cowered on the stage in the silent darkness for what seemed a lifetime. He was about to scream due the intense solitude, when a spotlight suddenly beamed down upon him... With not a sound to be heard. Johnny sat up, and could not see a thing outside of the light “What does this mean? Why have you brought me to this place?” he shouted. His voice echoed around the large empty arena.

    As he sat in the spotlight, he heard footsteps moving slowly across the stage towards him...But in the darkness, Johnny could see nothing.

   Suddenly, another spot light shone down on the stage. The footsteps moved towards the light, and the shadow of a tall slim man filled the void on the stage. His arms hanged limp at his side, like a gun slinging cowboy ready to draw out his pistol in a duel. With legs slightly apart the shadow spirit lifted an arm, and with an out stretched finger, he pointed across the stage in the beam of light. Johnny turned and followed the shadowed finger that was nearly as big as him. Yet another spotlight came on, and Johnny’s mother lay in a bed in its glow. She looked very ill and the covers were pulled up around her neck as she shivered and cried. She was alone and dying. She had lost everything that she had loved “Is my mother going to die?” Johnny asked in a quiet voice “What is wrong with her spirit? I have not seen her in many years!” For the first time the spirit spoke out “Your mama is the most important person in the world Johnny. She is the person that brought you into this life. She is the first person to hold you in her arms and to look into your face and fall in love with you in an instant. Your mama went without for many years to raise you alone Johnny... And look how you repaid her man!” A young man then jumped onto the bed, and wrapped his hands around her neck. Johnny stood up to see the vision he was witnessing, but then realized that the man on the bed was him “I’m gonna be a rock god you stupid bitch, do you hear me?” the man chocking his mother shouted. Johnny could not watch, and he turned his head in shame “Even a rock god needs his mama Johnny” the voice sadly spoke. Johnny turned his head in the direction of the shadow spirit, and repeated his question “Is my mother going to die?” “Sometimes... When a soul loses everything that they ever loved... It gives up in the end. She lost the only thing that she loved!” “But I can make it up to her... Can’t I?  I have seen the errors that I have made. Tell me I’m not too late to repair the damage I have caused!” “I see an empty bed and an empty cold house in the very near future!” the spirit answered. The light on his mother faded, until it was dark once more.

    The shadow of the spirit raised his arm again and pointed to another part of the stage. Once again a beam of light appeared where the finger shadow was aimed. This time a solitary door stood alone in front of Johnny “What is this spirit?” Johnny asked “Watch man!” the spirit replied. As Johnny gazed at the door  as it opened, and Jodie walked in. She looked down towards the floor, and although nobody was there she shouted aloud “You bastard...You complete fucking bastard!” Johnny watched as she threw a piece of paper into the air, before she stormed back out of the door. The paper spiralled to the floor in slow motion. He had not noticed her do this when she had caught him with the girls at the party.  Johnny reached out, and picked the paper up from the stage floor. As he read the writing in a whisper a tear rolled down his cheek “To my darling Johnny, my lover, my best friend and the soon to be father of our first child. I love you. Yours always... Jodie x” Johnny held the note to his heart, and made no attempt to hold back the tears. He sobbed on the stage as the door vanished before his tear filled eyes “I can not take anymore spirit. Please tell me that there is hope for me yet? Tell me that I can change these visions if I change into a better man...Please say that I can make all my wrongs right again!” The spirit did not answer Johnny.

   The long pointing shadowed arm rose to a lonely corner of the stage, and Johnny’s glazed eyes followed its direction. A light shone down on a dirty grave stone stood alone in the darkened corner.

   A young boy walked into the light, and his mother stood at his side. Jodie looked beautiful, and the boy looked like him “Whose grave is this spirit? Please tell me I am not too late to alter my life for the better!” The boy took out a cloth as Johnny observed, and began to rub at the dirty headstone “Johnny Rox” the little boy said in the sweetest of voices “No spirit please, I beg of you... Remove this vision. I have learnt what I must do to make things right!” As Johnny pleaded, the boy continued “Died on Christmas day” the boy read as he rubbed at the writing on the stone “2...0...1...” Johnny’s heart banged in his chest as though it would explode on that lonely stage at that very moment, when all of a sudden... The light above his gravestone turned off, and the vision was gone. Johnny leaned over on his hands and knees exhausted, and placed his forehead on the stage floor “Thank you, thank you, thank you” he repeated to himself.

   A hand touched Johnny on the shoulder, and Johnny lifted his eyes from the floor. He saw a pair of black and white shoes stood next to him. He lifted his gaze slowly upwards passed the black slack trousers, and was then dazzled as light shone on the shining gold jacket that the figure towering above him looked so magnificent in. The man wore slicked back, jet black hair and side burns and gave a grin. He handed Johnny a piece of paper and a diamond encrusted pen “Are you sure you want to sell your soul to Rock n’ Roll Johnny?” The coolest looking man that Johnny had ever seen smiled a white dazzling smile “You just have to sign this contract right here man... And all that comes with fame is all yours!” Johnny wrapped his arms around the spirits legs and begged not to have to sign the contract “Please, I don’t want to be rich and famous... I know I am not worthy... I just want my friends and my family... Please don’t make me sign it!”

 The spotlight turned off, and in an instant... The spirit King, had left the building.

                        Verse VI = the spirit of Christmas

  

    Johnny woke up in a sweat clutching at his pillow whist rocking from side to side “Please don’t make me sign it... Please don’t make me sign it!” he called out hysterically. He sat up straight in his bed... And let out a deep sigh of relief when he realized where he was. Johnny looked around his bedroom, and was delighted to see the familiar walls and decor.

   The sun burst through the window and he leapt out of bed. He looked in the mirror and pinched at his face “It’s me!” he said in a giddy voice “I am still here”

  Johnny excitedly and childishly skipped across the room waving his arms back and fourth, touching and tapping on furnishings to make certain that they were real. He then ran to the window and opened it wide, and breathed in the cold crisp morning air. Snow had begun to fall, and floated graciously to the ground. Johnny looked down and saw a young boy forming a snow ball in his scoping hands “Hey kid!” he called down “What day is it?” “What day is it?” the boy repeated “Are you mad?” “Am I mad?” Johnny giggled “Funny boy”  The boy began to walk away so Johnny called out again “Maybe I am mad! Mad enough to throw you down ten pounds... No, make that... Twenty pounds if you can tell me what day it is!” “Chuck it down here then and I will tell you” the boy yelled. Johnny opened his wallet and took out a twenty pound note “Here... Catch!” he said with a chuckle. The note spiralled downwards and the boy watched as it span into his open hands “Now... What day is it kid?” “Why... Its Christmas day of course!” the boy answered, before he stuffed the money into his coat pocket and ran away excitedly.

    Johnny shut the window, and then rushed to a cupboard. He pulled out some fresh clothes and then jumped into the shower. As the water splashed down on his face... Johnny gazed at the droplets of water “I have many bitter tear drops that I must turn into sweet” he told himself.

    After he had washed and shaved, Johnny got dressed before grabbing his coat and heading outside into the cold bright day. He took in a large breath through his nose and the frosty air tickled his nostrils. He began to walk in the direction that his heart was directing him.

   Along the way he came across a large cardboard box. Johnny noticed two feet sticking out of the boxes end and gave a knock on the makeshift home. A voice called out “Who is it?” “Is anybody in?” Johnny answered in a comical ghostly voice, twitching his outstretched fingers in front of him. An old man pushed open a flap and looked up at Johnny “What do you want?” asked the homeless man. Johnny took out his wallet and pulled out some notes “Here...This is for you!” he put the notes in the man’s hand “Happy Christmas” Johnny smiled. The man looked up at Johnny and said “You’re Johnny Rox aren’t you?” Johnny thought for a moment and looked down on the man and grinned “No mate... You must be mistaken... Johnny Rox no longer exists”

    Johnny headed on his journey with a spring in his step, and soon he arrived at a familiar door. He gave the knocker a gentle tap and waited in anticipation on the door step, until he heard the turning of a catch on the inside of the door. Un-knowing of the reception he would get, the door slowly opened... The mother’s eyes lit up when she saw her son on her doorstep “Johnny!” she called out “Happy Christmas Mum” She opened the door and flung her arms around him. Johnny held her close and thought about what the king spirit had told him. He told his mother that he was sorry for all that he had done, and that he loved her very much. That was the best Christmas present that she could have wished for, and her heart began to beat a steady rhythm once again “Get yourself dolled up mum, I’m taking you out for dinner” he told her “But first, there is something that I have to do. I will be back at noon to pick you up” He kissed his mother gently on the cheek, and she smiled the most beautiful smile.

   Johnny headed towards Jodie’s flat, and once there his nerves stood on end as he knocked on the door. Jodie opened it, and stood on the step in a baggy pair of pyjamas. She looked at Johnny for a moment, deep into his eyes. She saw something she had never seen before in the man that stood before her. A tear spilled from her eye, and Johnny caught it on his finger. Jodie watched as he raised his hand to his mouth and placed the tear on his tongue. Johnny closed his eyes for a moment... He tasted the tear, and he smiled. The tear was sweet, and on this one gamble alone he held out his hand to the woman he loved. Jodie took his hand in hers as he knelt on one knee in the deepening snow “I don’t have a ring right now, but if you can forgive me for being a complete and utter twat... I promise you that we will be a family forever babe... I will be the man that you deserve” Another tear fell from Jodie’s eye as she gazed down at Johnny “I have never loved anyone as much as I love you” Johnny continued “Myself included”

   Jodie combed her fingers through his hair and pulled him to her stomach. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered to her tummy “And that goes for you too son” Jodie yanked Johnny up on his feet and kissed him hard on the lips “What makes you think it’s going to be a boy Johnny Rox?” she laughed “I don’t know” Johnny replied “I just have a very strong feeling”

    Johnny and Jodie entered the flat and shut the door behind them.

                                                

                       Verse VII = the end of it

  

   “Johnny kept to his promise... And he bought Jodie a ring as soon as the shops opened on Boxing Day. He moved Jodie and his Mother into his house, and within two months, Johnny at last got to sign his contract... A wedding contract that is... With me, JP, as his best man. Johnny left Contraband... But remained our biggest fan. He even found our replacement singer! He is no Johnny Rox, that arrogant git was long gone. Steve had a passion for music. He added a blues feel that was full of soul which led to us knocking out some belting rock and roll tunes.  The new Contraband never made the big time...But just playing our music is good enough for us. Johnny had found a new drug... Love was what he craved for now, and let me tell you... He is an absolute junkie. Nowadays though... He gives as much as he receives. His son is now coming up to his third birthday, and he looks just like his old man. Little Jimmy James Elvis Rox adores his dad... And you can’t get a bigger fan than that... Now can you!”

 “Love... Peace and a very Happy Christmas to you all”.

                The End