Wish Upon a Song

Prologue

"Get the fuck up Nick!" roared my roommate as I jump and roll out of bed from shock falling flat on my face. I look at the clock noticing that it's already 5:30 a.m. and at once jump to get up and get ready. "Warn a guy when you're gonna jump around like that!" Jason cries out slamming my door. I look down to find why he's so angry only to realize that my comforter had pulled off my boxers in all the action.

"Sorry! I'm up and will get ready!" I laugh as I grab a towel cover up and run to the restroom to shower. It's the last weekend of March and it's Jason's brother's wedding tomorrow but we have to start our drive to Las Vegas in about forty five minutes. I live in a small town nicknamed Hellford in central valley California. It's a small town in the middle of the valley with nothing to do outside of driving for an hour to the bigger cities.

After my shower I freshen up with the usual shave and combing my hair. I'm a tall lanky guy. I'm six foot four inches tall and weigh about 160lbs soaking wet. Brown hair and eyes but otherwise a very unremarkable looking guy. Being 25 years old and single hasn't been easy in a town where everyone within three years of age at least knows your name and that your not originally from Hellford. Jason decided he's had enough of it and is damn well determined to get me into a strip club and buy me a lap dance regardless of how I feel about the subject, though I honestly only fight him about it as a pretense.

"Let's go! I'm not willing to start this six hour drive any later then we already have pushed it out." Jason says as he grabs his keys, more to his girlfriend Crystal than to me. I had been ready for about twenty minutes by then and Crystal was taking her sweet time. We all pile into Jason's little Nissan after throwing our gear in the trunk and start the drive. After about an hour of silence I pull out my 3DS and start playing a game only to get an angry growl from Jason, "Put that shit away! If I have to drive in boredom you get to sit there and do likewise."

"Tell that to your sleeping girlfriend asshat!" I argue but close the console and put it away not wanting to piss off Jason any further then his girlfriend already had that morning. "So what do you want me to do start masturbating in your passenger seat instead or did you want to talk?" I laugh as Jason poker faces then gives me a glare.

After about three hours of driving talking about the games we play together and the upcoming changes we decide to stop for some food. Jason quiets me with a finger over his lips as he rolls down the window closest to his sleeping girlfriend's head and after silently getting out and going to her window he roars into the window "Lunch time!" Crystal nearly jumps out of the window but slams into the ceiling making me and Jason burst out laughing. If you haven't noticed Jason is a bit of an ass but he's closer than family to me. I've lived with him and his mom till he bought the trailer that we live in together now. He's roughly five foot eleven with dark brown curly hair and usually sports a beard since he's to lazy to shave, today being an exception due to the wedding tomorrow.

"What the FUCK was that for!" Crystal yells punching Jason in the ribs, making me laugh even harder as I get out of the car, shortly there after having to dodge a punch from her myself and laugh as she stumbles and nearly falls. "Stand still so I can hit you!" she yells as she rights her self and comes after me again.

"Like hell am I gonna let you hit me for what Jason did." I laugh as the little lady misses another two punches before giving up. When I say little I'm not kidding, she's five foot even and I stand a full head and shoulder over her. long brown hair and a slightly rounder body, she won't admit it but instead of growing up she grew slightly outward instead, and no she isn't fat but she is no model either. At one point years ago I had dated her but it didn't work out and she eventually found her way to Jason and now they are together.

"so what's for lunch" she asks.

"Looks like burgers or subs." I laugh.

"Burgers." Jason states, "and since Randy is paying and I have his card it's my choice." Randy happens to be Jason's father and Jason swears that he is Satan's best friend but I find the guy fun and friendly...most of the time. Randy also happens to be paying for our entire trip outside of gambling money and souvenirs.

As we are eating I stare out the window watching the giant wind turbines spinning up on the foothills in silence. A few minutes later we are back on the road and the silence continues until I see the Stratosphere Hotel on the horizon. "Looks like the home stretch. There is the Stratosphere Hotel" I say stretching out and begin putting my shoes back on.

"It's about damn time!" Jason laughs as he finally starts to relax after driving for just under six hours. The last ten minutes go by quickly as we drive onto the strip and head for the Excalibur Hotel and Casino where we will be staying. Pulling into the casino's large parking area we grab our stuff and get stretched out as we begin walking into the giant medieval castle themed hotel.

"Randy decided that he's getting you a room to yourself Nick, he doesn't want you cock blocking me and crystal." Jason laughs as we enter the line for registration.

"Good cause I don't wanna have to rely on the do no disturb sign to know I can enter cause you both fall asleep after going at it, and I won't accidentally wake up to it either, the last thing I wanna see is your junk." I laugh as registration goes by quickly and we head up to our rooms that are right next door to each other.

"Rooms 18172 and 18170, give me the damn key so I can dump this shit and head to the floor, are we hanging out together or splitting up for the first day?" I ask as Jason hands me a key.

"Only planned thing is dinner at the Rio Casino at 6 p.m. I'll call you with where to meet me, Crystal and Randy for the ride over." Jason says before entering his room.

"Looks comfy enough." I say to myself as I enter my room looking at the queen size bed and drop off all my gear. I quickly throw the do not disturb sign up and sit down on the bed to watch some TV. Yes I know, I'm in Vegas and watching TV but I only got $100 to spend and I'm in no rush to lose it all on the first night of the three day trip. Around 3 p.m. I decide to head down to the floor and take a look around the casino. After about twenty minutes of wandering around I sit at the 25 cent slot machine I found that I had watched a guy lose constantly at for about ten minutes of my wandering hoping that it pays out the money he lost or at least some of it. Ten dollars later the machine lights up and as I hit the bonus mode and it draws a lot of attention from the people within the immediate area for a few seconds.

"Awesome shit!" Jason laughs from behind me startling me since I wasn't expecting him. "Looks like you're getting somewhere!"

"Well let's see my luck then" I laugh after calming down "Time to spin the wheel!" I laugh as I touch the screen and spin the wheel hoping for a decent pay out. about twenty seconds later the wheel stops spinning and the winner noise starts playing as the winnings are deposited into my credit pool a dollar every second.

"Well damn! That's a way to start the trip!" Jason says as he slaps my back as the machine stops ringing after depositing just shy of five hundred dollars.

"Indeed it is!" I laugh hitting the cash out button knowing that the machine is going to just eat the money back up from this point on. I walk over to the checking machine and get it all made into cash then head to where Jason was following Crystal around as she played since Jason doesn't gamble himself.

5:30 p.m. rolls around and Jason gets a call from Randy calling us over to the front of the casino to head to the buffet at the Rio. As we approach Randy is talking with the taxi driver. "What's the cost for four taxi's to the Rio casino I got sixteen people on their way here to get a ride?"

As Randy finishes up the family arrives, we head to the buffet and Randy pays out to get the party room and we all pile in. After everyone has picked their first plate of food from the buffet and has sat back down I stand and raise my champaign, "To Adam and June! May your marriage tomorrow be great and may it last for life!" I say to the quite room and very quickly every glass is raised to a loud cheer.

Dinner passes quickly and we head back to the hotel. By this time I'm tired beyond my normal from getting up so early and head to bed. The next morning I awake to my alarm and get everything together and get dressed for the wedding. I meet up with Jason and Crystal an hour later as we are heading to the Excalibur's chapel. "Has a miracle occurred?" I ask.

"Apparently!" Jason also laughs looking at Crystal. In the nine years that I have known Crystal I had never seen here in a dress, she just flat out refuses to wear them but apparently a wedding is enough to force her hand. She looked beautiful in her red and black dress though I would never say it in fear of the rebuke I know I would get from her. Although Jason said as much and still got a very cross look but nothing more, I wouldn't be so lucky.

The wedding went by but put me in a bad mood, I'll admit that I was very jealous, everyone I know is now either married or has a girlfriend or boyfriend except myself and one other friend. I have been a hopeless romantic for a long time and have been hating myself for a very long time due to the fact that I just can't seem to find a woman. I was happy for them to be married but my jealousy had won out on the battle and I went off to the casino to waste time until the dinner at the joust show.

The show was amazing! I was seated in the Austrian seating which was unfortunate because Austria's "Emperor" lost out in the second round to Spain after beating Hungary. But the show went on and was amazing. At one point the actor playing Merlin came up to our section and sat next to me on the stairs.

"Young man you look depressed even though you are having fun how is this so?" Merlin asked me as I sat there eating.

"It's my brother's wedding day and I have let jealousy of their love take hold, I truly wish I could have a love like that one day, but who am I to wreck their day, I'll smile and move on." I respond to him and see a weird twinkle in his eye. I get a very weird feeling something is out of the ordinary as I turn to eat more food.

"A wish like that can't be ignored." I hear but when I turn to look at Merlin he's gone and just a small brass instrument that looks a lot like a trumpet is sitting there and when I look up Merlin is on the far side of the jousting arena. Turning back to the instrument I get this feeling as though I must have it and play it. I pick up the instrument but think better of playing it here at the event.

As the dinner and event continue on I find it hard to remember how the instrument had got on the stair or who I had talked to since I had sat down other than those at the table with me. I dismiss the weird feeling then and continue to eat and enjoy the remainder of the show, my feelings of jealousy having disappeared along with the appearance of the instrument.

When dinner comes to a close I once again give a toast to the married couple before everyone dissipates and with the cheers and jibes of the group the couple is forced to kiss before we let them out of the circle.

"Well I guess I'll go drop stuff off at the room then hit the craps tables." I say as I go to leave bringing the instrument and the light up scepter I bought with me. As I get to my room I once again get the feeling that I want to play the instrument but I decide I'll wait for when I retire for the night to test it out. Heading back down to the casino floor I head straight to the craps tables to find Randy and two others from the group there playing. "Five hundred in chips please!" I have to yell to be heard over the table noise.

"Making your first ever craps throw with me at the table?" Randy laughs as the dice are finally brought in front of me to pick the two I'll use as I place my bet on the table. By this point my luck had gone sour along with Randy's and I had to put my last chip on the table.

"Well it may not be my first time betting but it is my first time throwing" I laugh and suddenly the table goes quiet before a very large sum of bets go onto the table. Other than my one five dollar bet nearly a thousand dollars had hit the table. All eyes turned to me as I grabbed the two dice. "Anyone else before I make my first throw?" I laugh at the silent table. When no one answers I throw the two dice and a moment later a huge cheer sweeps the table as an eleven turns up when the button is off giving everyone a win. "Well damn!" I laugh as everyone finishes cheering and the house finished paying everyone. I add the money I won to my original bet but many others removes a lot of there original bets to reduce the bets at this point.

"Keep up the good rolls!" Randy laughs as he looks at me as I grab the dice for the second throw.

"Hard Eight!" the dealer calls and betting began again as the numbers filled with bets. Twenty five minutes later I still hadn't thrown another eight so my money never increased but everyone else was cheering as they were all well over nine hundred dollars richer on the lower end of the betters. Wishing I had more money to bet I decide to just help everyone else win.

"Boo!" everyone cheers as I finally throw the craps at the thirty five minute mark. Almost three thousand dollars left the table from all fourteen betters but they had made well over the amount they lost from my long streak of good rolls. Being out of money and not willing to spend anymore at this point I head upstairs and back to my room where I sit down and start watching TV before heading to bed.

"I still can't remember how I got you." I mumble as I hold the small brass wind instrument. "It looks like you would play just like my old trumpet if I were to try." I say as I rest my hand on it. "Last thing I want to do is cause an issue with the neighbors here so I think I'll wait to try you until I get home." I state to myself putting it down on the floor beside me and turning back to the TV about an hour later I look to my left and the instrument is sitting on the bed and I stare at it for a second trying to remember if I had put it there. I decide to give it another once over.

The instrument is definitely made of brass and has many little engravings on it. Many that look like an ancient form of foreign writing, as well as many that look like women dancing. On the bell of the instrument is appears to have engravings that tell a story about a women and a man dancing at a ball before a sword is thrust through her. The little engraving story having weirded me out for the night I once again place the instrument on the ground beside me just on a pillow this time now that I realize just how beautiful of an instrument it is.

The next morning I wake up to a fogged mind and a throbbing pain in my head like something had been banging on it all night, after taking some medicine for the headache I pack my bags since we are heading home today. I meet up with Jason and Crystal and checkout then head for the car. We drop off our stuff head back inside to do some last minute shopping and end up with a set of fairy and dragon figurines to place within my room.

We pile into the car and drive home talking about all the events that had occurred on our trip, though I don't mention the instrument. After a while I notice Jason's eyes occasionally stare at me. "Is there something wrong?" I ask giving him a look.

"You seem...Different. What happened in Vegas, I know we never got to go to the strip club because of things that happened, that's probably what it is! You won that little argument and now you are being smug about it!" Jason accuses me.

"Like hell that's the reason I don't know what's going on. And to be honest I was looking forward to that no matter how much protesting I did." I laugh giving him a shit eating grin.

"Meh, whatever it is, it's doing you some good, you look less stressed than before the trip so don't let this feeling go. But Crystal and I will be leaving for Reno to meet Randy after we drop you off and get repacked for that week long trip." He shudders then continues in a mumble, "Another long trip."

"Well enjoy yourselves, hopefully you two get some alone time while your up there with your old man, even though I know you would rather be as far away from that man as possible since you work for him, but at least it's a week long all expense paid trip for you two." I say before the trip once again takes on a silent tone.

We arrive home four hours later and then Jason and Crystal leave once again for their new week long trip and long drive up there. I sit down in the house and immediately pull out the little instrument and set it down on the table in front of me. The urge to play it comes to me again and I pick the instrument up and place my lips to the mouth piece and buzz my lips crating a long deep note from the instrument.

"So you do play just like a trumpet!" I laugh and place my fingers on the note keys "Here goes nothing" I laugh as I begin to play some basic notes to hear what the instrument sounds like. After getting used to the sounds and the pitches I quickly switch from random notes to playing a song I had wrote for the trumpet. The song plays much like a romance with low long notes and a sultry sounding tone before jumping into a strong happy chorus that sounds like the culmination of a lovers night gone right.

As the song finishes a loud crack sounds and the instrument vibrates violently and I see that the cracking noise had come from the bell of the Instrument. I drop the instrument and jump back from it as a purple gas begins to flow out of the instrument.

"For the love of Leeroy is this actually happening!?" I cry out as the gas forms into a large cloud in front of me. "After all the stories I have read on the internet it's actually happening. Now I have seen everything!" I cry out in astonishment as the cloud begins to form into a solid, but at that moment I remember what always happens and my sight goes black as I pass out falling onto the couch.