Winston was sick of it.
Tired of the squabbling. Of the bass player who couldn’t remember which nights they practiced. Of the drummer who thought he had a voice. And so tired of the weddings. Brick House was a dynamite song. In 1977. When the Commodores performed it. And yeah, he loved playing it. The first three-hundred times.
If music becomes rote, is it still music? During the final set Saturday night, Winston forgot the lyrics to Uptown Funk. Mumbled his way through two verses. Nobody noticed.
On Sunday morning, he rose before the sun. Finished dressing and laced up his boots. 
Grabbed his trumpet case. Then cut through the mist and shook off the breezy cold.
On the bridge, as the sun fired its first shot of daylight over the horizon, Winston opened his case and belted out the first notes he’d played from his heart in years.
The first cop who showed up blocked the right lane of the road, brought down his windows, and never left the car. It was the third cop on the scene who finally made him quit. Winston, soaked in delicious sweat, climbed in the back seat.
He beamed like the sun the entire trip home. He was in love again.
JD Frain 
I loved this, John. So beautiful and so relatable. Fabulous writing. Eerily reminds me of the 1st chapter of my WIP. Only different and so your own. Lovely.
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Thank you, Elise. Never know what’ll hit you at 2 a.m., and this is my rare piece that I posted without editing. Yikes.
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Okay, I know you can write, this vignette proves it, but what was the song Winston belted out? Was it one of his favorites? One of his compositions? OR, was he just jamming, absorbed in his trumpet’s sweet sound, and allowing the music to flow as it may?
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He never did say.
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That’s one way of getting the passion back! Liked this.
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Thanks, Nick. I’m pulling for your launch, man!
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Beautifully written. As usual.
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Usually I look for beauty in the editing process cuz it never spills out in the first draft as beautiful as it is in my head. What happens between my head and my fingers?
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This makes me smile 🙂
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Music will do that, right? Keep that smile. You wear it well.
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😀
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