BLOOM • awsten knight

2

FEBRUARY 2018

Awsten thought going for a walk might clear his hear, which would hopefully allow him to sleep a little better once he returns home; but jet lag was really taking its toll on him.

He seemed to be coping pretty well with the time difference, during the band's short Australian tour, but the fact that his body clock has lost a whole day, seems to be catching up to him.

The street is fairly quiet, since most people are at work by this time, as Awsten wanders past some independent stores aimlessly. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, glancing at the time; it reads 11:11am and he shoves it back in his pocket.

The last instance where he looked to see the time to be 11:11, was when he was at Target, right before he laid eyes on the girl he hasn't stopped thinking about for the last month; she's been on his mind so much, that she became a frequent topic for conversation during Awsten's time in Australia with his band mates.

His heart skips a beat at the thought that this might mean something, but he's distracted quickly by the sound of faint music.

At first, he isn't sure where it's coming from, or why it sounds so familiar, but he finds himself following the sound.

It takes him a moment to realise that it's also someone singing, rather then just music playing.

Awsten stops in his tracks when it clicks; the song is one of his songs, a Waterparks song.

"I must've caught you from 11:11, my lucky number seven," the voice sings, and Awsten swears his heart stops for a moment.

Following the sound further, it brings him to the door of a small florist, one that he doesn't recognise; from the seemingly new sign, he gathers that it must be newly opened, or at least recent enough for him to have missed it.

He concentrates harder, only to discover that it sounds as if whoever is singing has an accent; an English accent.

Awsten's thoughts are brought back to his month-old Target encounter, once again; could it be her? He can't help the thought, but tries to shake it off, wanting to avoid getting his hopes up, though his mind continues to race.

It's been a month, and he wonders if it means something; he's still thinking about her, and now there's a new store that he doesn't recognise, with someone inside that's singing his song, named after a time stamp that he
comes across every time he thinks of her.

It all seems far too coincidental.

When the song ends, it snaps him out of his trance.

"Will you shut up with singing that song?" A voice calls from inside, and Awsten frowns a little.

"Sorry," he hears another voice; she giggles, which lets him know that the comment was light-hearted.

Suddenly realising that he's stood a little too close to the door of the small store, Awsten jerks away instinctively, proceeding with his walk home.

Reaching his house, Awsten shuts the door behind him, and leans up against it, running his hands through his hair.

Awsten wonders if this is just the jet lag, wrecking havoc on his brain; maybe this isn't actually happening. One thing he does know, though, is that he definitely needs some sleep.