&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; Dan said as he left the stage. It was yet another low turn out and he noticed the dirty look coming from the bar. He was packing up his gear and enjoying a beer when the server Ravyn came over. She was a sweet girl, even if the blue hair and the insistence that wearing big clunky boots was normal for a server. She came up to the foot of the little raised stage.<br /><br />&#8220;sorry Dino, it looks like Murray wants a word before you leave,&#8221; She said giving him a sad smile. They had talked a few times before and she knew how much making it as a musician meant to him. It wasn't just the piano lessons since he was 4, the singing lessons since he was 10, or even the failed degree in music. It was just a passion inside, something that just threatened to overwhelm his life at some point if he wasn't performing.<br /><br />He finished packing his keyboard, has it slung over his shoulder, and made his way over to the bar to talk to Mitch. The round face man had a perpetual sour look on his face. &#8220;13 people Dan! Your lousy arthouse, hippy, folk, whatever-the-hell that was brought in 13 goddamn people!! You promised me if we hired you a full-fuck-house, where is it? This was the last night you piece of....just leave&#8221; He said pressing a couple of damp $20s into Dan's hand<br /><br />It was a cold night and dark in the parking lot as Dan walked his way out to his beat-up Toyota Camry. He swore he wouldn't cry but the tears started burning his eyes. Through the frustration and anguish, he never saw the biker until it was too late. He struck Dan in the leg not hurting him but it sent his keyboard flying, right into the path of the semi flying down the street. He watched in pain as the tiny circuitry and plastic flew into pure entropy.<br /><br />It was more than he could bear, he sunk to his knees and just hung his head. That was it, he couldn't afford new equipment, he would have to take that call center job his cousin offered him. The one with the fluorescent lighting and dry air. The constant use of his voice would first wear it down and eventually leave him incapable of singing. It was the end of music for him.<br /><br />He was so numb he wasn't aware of the arms around him comforting him for the first couple of minutes. Small arms that probably only reached him because he was on the ground. It was Ravyn, she was hugging him from the side having rushed outside upon hearing the crash. &#8220;Oh Dino, I'm sorry, I know what that means for you. You are in shock, come on you're staying with me, we can come back and get your car in the morning, OK&#8221;<br /><br />Dan numbly nodded and let her lead him to a car, it seemed far too nice for a waitress to have, but he wasn't questioning anything at this point. He let himself be led into the house where eventually a warm mug of tea was pressed into his hand. &#8220;thanks,&#8221; He dryly said.<br /><br />Ravyn knelt on the sofa next to him. &#8220;So I'm guessing you can't replace it, huh,&#8221; She asked flatly. After he shook his head, she sighed, &#8220;Oh Dinosaur, I am sorry&#8221; she said calling him the nickname, that only she used. He had come to the first gig wearing a Japanese monster movie shirt and she had asked what kind of dinosaur it was. He had laughed and explained it, but she had called him Dinosaur, or Dino ever since.<br /><br />&#8220;Well get some rest and things will be better in the morning,&#8221; She said. She kissed him gently on the forehead and rubbed the mark her lipstick made off. &#8220;It will be ok I promise&#8221;. She left him alone in the living room.<br /><br />He looked around and was surprised to find a piano in the corner. It was a dark, old wood upright, but carved into the wood were inlays of Fae, pixies, and other mythical creatures. Dan walked over wondering why Ravyn had such an old, ornate piano. The immense sorrow he felt needed to be expunged. In his t-shirt and jeans, he sat down and began to play.<br /><br />He let the music flow, no real plan or song to play, just the emotional catharsis that he so desperately needed. The song was dark and low to start hitting some of the lowest keys and in a minor mode. He remembered the first time he touched a piano. He had been 3, it was his earliest memory. He had been in the sitting room when he walked over. He had tripped over the edge of the dress he was wearing several times climbing up to the bench. Her mommy had come in and tied his long dark hair back while he banged on the keys. She had giggled and sat next to her. Mommy would play a few notes then she would bang on the key. This went for a bit, time is weird to a child so could have been seconds or minutes but she knew she wanted to play just like.......Wait.....that didn't sound right. Why was he picturing a little girl remembering his first time playing.<br /><br />The emotion of it all made it quickly fade, but remembering the long dark hair. He shook his head that was now filled with healthy and shiny dark hair, with just a slight wave. The song got more complex at that point, jazzy even. No doubt inspired by the time he was in the musical in high school. She was so excited, her playing Sandy in Grease, and she was only a freshman. She had auditioned, just hoping to get in but when she had read the lines, the teachers couldn't deny this tiny little dynamo was the per-----No that was wrong wasn't it? He'd played in the chorus, one of the t-birds in grease. When she had to kiss the boy playing Danny her little heart had nearly......Why was this all wrong? He hadn't seen but some of the inlaid figures became to give off an amber glow, as his finger slimmed out with deep purple nail polish and his arm thinned down to almost twigs, his legs rounded out and became strong, muscled from hours and hours of dancing.<br /><br />Dan kept playing the music now becoming even more complex but higher, up near her natural soprano voice range. The range she loved singing in, she had been in the piano lab at college when Ravyn had come up to her and listened to her signing. The connection had been instant, within a week they were dating and had been now for 5 years. Ravyn thought she had hidden it well, but Danica knew she was going to ask her to be Ravyn's wife. Probably at the show tonight. She had booked a gig at probably the biggest stage in the area, an area being key, it was only a few hundred but Danica didn't know was that there was already a producer planning on attending and giving her a contract. Her clothes fell away leaving her just in a pair of lace panties. She was trying to draw her girlfriend out and this was the sexy surprise that awaited her. Ravyn did eventually come about 30 seconds after Danica's chest pushed out into firm breasts and her face became soft and feminine. Her whole frame shrank down just under 5 feet.<br /><br />She felt arms around her neck as her beloved hugged her from behind. She pulled up and hooked a necklace around Danica, when she looked down it was an amber-colored T-rex, her favorite dinosaur. &#8220;Just for luck babe&#8221; Ravyn whispered in her ear.<br /><br /><div>Danica turned around, &#8220;But babe, you're all the luck I need&#8221; and the smaller woman pounced off the piano bench into Ravyn's waiting arms &#8220;You're my real muse&#8221; and they kissed.</div><div><br /></div><div>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>I literally needed to write something wholesome after that last dark story, I went too much into the revenge there, this is more my style my manic pixie heart was aching I needed some romance and heart</div><div><br /></div><div>open sourced photo used in conjunction with site license <br /></div>