Harry’s Solo
[Writing Prompt] Video game music is played by a very small live band inside of the console. The player has been on this particular level for a very, very long time
Harry’s fingers hurt.
He had been plucking the same strings, the same chords, for almost three weeks.
Sure, there were some breaks, here and there. The big bastard had to sleep after all. But he sure worked hard to keep it at a minimum.
The “big bastard” in this case referred to the owner of the Super Adventure Console. Harry didn’t know the fellow’s name, but the big bastard was in the middle of playing the second entry in the Planet Killer Chronicles.
Level three of Planet Killers Part 2 is famous for two things; (1) its extraordinary difficulty; and (2) its awesome soundtrack.
The soundtrack consisted of an absolutely killer four minute, breakneck guitar solo. Played perfectly, level three should take two minutes at most. But in practice, it takes much longer, which means the solo has to play in a loop.
What does this have to do with Harry?
Harry is the guitar playing member of the tiny band that lived and worked inside the big bastard’s video game system.
For three weeks, in eight hour shifts, Harry has been stuck playing an extraordinarily difficult and taxing guitar solo as the big bastard tirelessly runs his avatar off of cliffs and into oncoming bullets and laser beams.
At first, Harry didn’t mind so much. It really was a rad solo, and Harry liked to play it. Plus it was a good opportunitt to impress his band mates – Jay on drums, Bob on bass, and Kerry on piano.
But eventually, Harry’s patience began to wear thin, as did the skin on the tips of his
Jay, Bob, and Kerry watched with rapt attention, each drinking diminutive beers and eating miniature finger foods. As Harry played, a large screen inside the studio showed the big bastard’s progress.
Old BB was nearly at the end of the level. The farthest he’d ever gotten by a long shot.
Bob chimed in. “Come on Hare, home stretch baby!”
Jay was less optimistic. “He’s not gonna do it.”
Kerry chimed in, his mouth full of mini, mini pizza rolls, “shut up Jay, he’ll do it. He has to do it, the big bastard. This can’t go on forever.”
Harry, for his part, could hardly hear his friends talking. Every note seared his fingertips at this point. The muscles in his forearms were beginning to cramp. Still, the very face of professionalism, Harry played on.
Finally the end of the level was in sight, the armored tank that would transport BB’s avatar to the next warzone waited on the far right of the screen. There were no more enemies, no more threats.
All the big bastard had to do was jump over a small gap in the floor. One small hop was all that stood between Harry and sweet relief.
The band held their breath. Kerry swallowed a mouthful of tiny pizza roll. Bob rubbed his hands together. Jay sat back on the couch.
The BB’s avatar walked up to the edge of the small gap, came to a near complete stop, and jumped – straight into it.
A string of curses filled the studio. Kerry shook his head remorsefully and stuffed another pizza roll into his mouth. Jay took a swig of beer.
“I told you he wouldn’t do it. The big bastard.”
Bob threw an empty beer can at him. “Shut up Jay.” Then he looked back at Harry, who was inspecting his bloodied fingers during the brief respite as the level reloaded. “You alright Harry?”
Harry looked down at his hands, then back up at his bandmates. As the level loaded, he felt a renewed sense of vigor. Wasn’t this why he signed up for this job in the first place? To rock on and rock hard? Hell, hadn’t he just played the hardest solo in video game history for three straight weeks?
Was he alright? Goddamn right he was.
Harry looked up at his friends, gave them a tired smile, and yelled. “I’ve got blisters on my blisters!”
Just then the level loaded up again and Henry tore into the solo with gusto.
CLICK A GENRE TO CONTINUE READING A RANDOM FLASH FICTION IN THAT GENRE
| Action | Apocalyptic | Dark |
| Established Universe | Fantasy | Funny |
| Misc | Science Fiction | Science Fantasy |
| WTF Is This? | Random Any Genre |
READ LONGER STORIES
| THE DEMON’S CANTOS | INCIDENTAL SUPERHERO |
| BENEATH | THE HUMANITY SAGA |
| THE TRAVELER | I, LYCANTHROPE |
If You Enjoyed This Story – Or Any Of The Hundreds Of Other Legends From The Multiverse – And Want To Give A Dollar To The Madman Behind The Curtain Who Writes Them All:
Subscribe to the RSS feed or leave a comment anywhere on the r/LFTM subreddit with “!subscribeme” or “subscribeme!”, and you’ll receive a notification whenever a new story or continuation is posted.