Shining Silhouette

A Questionable Career

BRRIIIINNGGGGGGGG! BRRIIIINNGGGGGGGG!

There’s no way it’s already 7 AM.

BRRIIIINNGGGGGGGG! BRRIIIINNGGGGGGGG!

UGH. I knew I shouldn’t have stayed up late watching Twilight.

BRRIIIINNGGGGGGGG! BRRIIIINNGGGGGGGG!

ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT I’M UP

BRRIIIIN—

Wayne Williams smacked his alarm clock, then groaned. It was a Monday. Fantastic. And it made sense, too. Only on a Monday could he feel so terrible.

Wayne haphazardly `rolled out of bed and walked into the kitchen to prepare his morning omelet. He was intercepted, however, by a sharp pain in his foot. He yelped and began to jump up and down, imitating a half-drunk teenaged monkey leaping in the air to grab a particularly high banana. 

“OWWWWWWW!” he yelled. It seemed he had stepped on a lego. He already knew that the world was out to get him, but he wasn’t pleased to have a stab wound in his left foot. 

Wayne stepped into his car, a little silvery-blue Toyota Corolla, and started it. He drove around the neighborhood, reading his route from a little pre-drawn map he had put together the previous night. It was time to begin.

Porch-pirating was a difficult career, but Wayne was quite talented. Surprised? A guy has to make a living somehow! Every day, Wayne went through the motions of a seasoned package thief, scanning house after house, searching for the perfect parcel to snatch. He never thought much about the moral implications of his actions, figuring that was something only people with real careers could do. He was just trying to survive.

Wayne had his sights set on a house in a quiet neighborhood called [Redacted]. As he approached the front porch and reached out to grab a package (just waiting there to be taken!), he heard a sound emanating from inside that stopped him in his tracks. It was the sound of a piano. Frozen, he glanced through the window.

He saw a dashing young man playing piano with such passion and spiciness that Wayne couldn't help but be mesmerized. He watched as the young man's fingers danced across the keys, creating beautiful melodies that Wayne had never heard before. 

Wayne realized right there and then that he had been wasting his life by stealing from others. He decided that he wanted to change his ways and become a musician like the young man he had just seen. He was determined to make it happen.

He turned, leaving the package untouched, and walked away. It was easier than he thought it would be. He knew it was time to start a new chapter in his life

It wasn't long before Wayne was performing and building a name for himself as “The Porch Pirate”. He was grateful for the young man he had seen playing piano that day and glad that he had had the opportunity to experience the spiciness that jazz has to offer.