Ain't No Sunshine ¦Maylor

1.

„I may be on the side of angels but don't think for one second that I am one of them.”
- Sherlock Holmes

Woodstock 1969 was a crazy festival.

All the hippies, teenagers, music fanatics and extroverts were there.

So was Roger Taylor, twenty years old man at that time.

When he heard about the festival, it began occupying his mind every minute of every day for a few months. He started saving money for the flight to USA. The ticket was all he needed. What will happen when he gets to America - he didn't care.

He had it all settled, so when the big day came, it was impossible for him to describe what did he feel. Roger's only baggage was a backpack with a few outfits, toothbrush, hairbrush and some pennys.

He was lucky when a group of people offered him to sleep in their van, as the young man forgot to take a tent with him. Those people were great, Roger could feel it since he first saw them. Two girls and four guys called themselves 'The Band'. The Band traveled from one festival to the other, recruiting fellow pacifists to their gang. Much to their displeasure, Roger refused to join.

Charlie, the chef of The Band, always had a stack with him. Nobody ever turned his offer down. Roger will remember the little sessions until the end of his life. He wasn't exactly interested in any kind of drugs or weed, but what the hell, he thought. He will probably never meet these awesome people again, so it was only right to enjoy the time they were given as much as possible.

After coming back to England, Roger couldn't bring himself to tell anyone how was the concert. Those memories felt like his little secrets, so great, so worthwhile. Spoken out loud would loose their magic.

So he never did, never mentioned his trip and when asked, he would always think of some casual sentence you'd describe normal day at school.

Six years later, in 1975, he recalled all the sweet memories from meeting The Band standing with his hands propped at the sink, staring into the mirror in one of the locker room's bathroom at the swimming pool. Roger traced his eyes along his features in the mirror. He's changed so much since 1969. He looked more manly, even though his eyes still being the same as in his teen years. But now more wrinkles appeared under them. Roger scoffed at that thought. He was still young, stuffing his mind with pictures of wrinkles wasn't making any sense.

He ran his hand through his blond, not short, like they used to be, hair. After all he was glad for his new looks, long hair drew observators' attention from the weight he gained. Roger looked down at his thighs. They were squzeed by the swimming trunks, then curved slightly from the place where trunks' legs ended. The fat was visible, but Roger didn't care much. He didn't have anyone he had to be pretty for and he himself loved his body. It was one of the things he learned from The Band.

His head snapped forward as he sneezed. Roger felt like the sound of sneeze echoed through the whole building. No wonder he was alone in there, it was 6am after all. Grandmas are coming at 8.

Why the pool had so early opening time was a mystery for Roger, but he was glad it was that way. His shift at the butcher's shop started at 10am and out of boredom he decided to create a good morning routine of visiting the pool for some healthy swim. He was also very glad that the hour from 6am to 7am was for free. That was one of the reasons he decided to start his day so early.

Roger got out of the stream of warm water and passed the little pool with cold water. He opened the door to the main hall with the sport pool.

The water surface was so smooth and calm it looked almost unrealistic. Nobody's swum yet. At first Roger thought he was alone in that huge amount of space, but then noticed the red dressed person sitting on the short stool in the canteen.