Flavoured Ice [ᴛʀᴀᴅʟᴇʏ]

O6

If I am being utterly honest, I had forgotten entirely about the reservations that Shawn and I had made in reference to the whole guitar lessons thing.

The conversation itself all seemed like a fuzzy memory, or theoretical chatter about how we could be great, but would never do anything to make it amount to something. People do that often I think: talk about big plans, but never do anything about them.

So, when (at promptly two-o'clock in the afternoon on a random Thursday) some hopeful little brunet lad by the name of Blake arrived on my doorstep, with a meek "My name is Blake...ah Richardson, and I'm here about the guitar lessons." I wrought havoc and unearthed the fires of hell.

Well, after first inviting him into my home and deciding that maybe he wanted some tea. And then, I rang Shawn in fury which he hadn't immediately taken so well until he burst into laughter. Which I hadn't immediately taken so well. So I hung up on him and did some calming breathing exercises in the safety of my kitchen as my kettle began to whistle.

When I crept into the foyer and had a peek out into the living room, I saw my guest sitting there perfect as a picture: arms folded in his lap, back straightened out, hairs still as neat as when he came.

I'd seen him around school I was sure, but I hadn't really thought much of him. He was an underclassmen, and for that reason alone, we didn't quite mix.

I handed him the tea as Shawn sashayed into my home and greeted the boy like he had done it a thousand times before.

I suppose that my anger wasn't as intense as it had previously been. The time to calm down had down me well. However, Shawn still greeted me with a nonchalant dude you need to chill out, a hint of disbelief that I disbelieved lacing his tone.

Did I really need to chill? As far as I had been concerned, Shawn was the one who had an issue; sending four year old lads with chipper attitudes and fresh faces to my home without first discussing it with me.

Well, Blake, Shawn and I discussed a lot of things: like what he knew about guitar and what he hoped to accomplish. And he told us that he didn't know what he hoped to accomplish, and we told him that he should always walk into things with a goal. So, he told us that he wanted to learn Stairway to Heaven by the end of the week, and we told him that maybe (while not completely unrealistic) he should tu shooting for a more well-rounded goal such as becoming quicker at chord transitions so as to play fast-paced music with ease or to master finger picking: something practical. So we told him never to put a time limit on perfection because it would lead to disappointment. I like to say he enjoyed that saying there.

I don't think that he really liked how honest we were at first, but he began to appreciate it when we got into the lesson which provided him with ample opportunity to see what we were about.

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Completed: 5/7/17
Published: 12/7/17