Lucky stood in his selected spot on stage, sound of random guitar strums and cymbal crashes echoing through the concert hall. Today was his first day actually practicing WITH the rest of the band. For the past couple weeks, it's just been him learning how to play the upright bass with help from Magic.

The noise continued to bounce around, until a single voice boomed over all the other sounds.

"Alright, guys!" OJ said over everyone's instruments. "Let's bring it together."

The random noises died as everyone's focus was brought up to meet with OJ.

Lucky leaned around the bass and met eyes with OJ. He gave Lucky a reassuring smile, almost like he was saying "Don't worry, man! You'll do just fine!" OJ turned back to the rest of the band and took a deep breath in.

"OK! So..." He said, rubbing his hands over the sax hanging around his neck. "First order of business, we've got ourselves a bass player!"

Lucky gave a small wave to the rest of the band as they all cheered on their new-found friend.

"Second order of business," OJ said over the cheering. He paused for a second, rubbing his hands a little slower. "Uhh... it was..." He looked down at the ground.

Lucky stared at OJ, trying to figure out what was happening. The band went silent for a few moments.

Magic finally spoke up; "The waitresses, OJ."

"RIGHT!" OJ almost jumped. "The waitresses! Thank you, Magic!"

OJ re-positioned his feet and started from the top. "Second order of business; some of the waitresses have been complaining about noise coming from the break room and from bedrooms, SO... we all have to either practice here in the concert hall or really quietly."

Reaching towards the stand behind him, OJ picked up a handful of folders and clapped them together.

"Finally," He said, moving towards Lucky. "Shimmy and I have finished rewriting music to accommodate for our new bass player."

OJ handed the folder to Lucky, who took it gingerly. OJ then moved over to Magic to hand out the rest of the music.

The drum rattled as Baccio set his drumsticks down.

"You didn't write anything for me, did you?" He said as OJ moved around toward him.

"Actually," OJ answered as he handed the folder to Magic and began to move towards him. "We did."

Shimmy and Magic snickered as Baccio swung his seat around to meet OJ.

"Wh-Why? You know I can't-"

"I'm kidding, Baccio. We didn't write anything for you."

OJ chuckled as he moved away from the drumset.

Lucky looked at OJ. Did I miss something? He thought.

OJ made it back to the front of the stage and opened up his own folder to pull out music.

"Are we gonna try the Theme today?" Magic said.

OJ filed through a few pages of music before answering.

"Actually, I was thinking we could try Samba de Combo today. Shimmy wrote a wicked cool bass line at the beginning."

Lucky froze.

"Uh, OJ." Magic said, softening his voice a bit. "I don't think Lucky's ready for something like that. He just got the hang of playing that thing."

Lucky's thoughts were racing. He swung his head to look at the music on his stand. And, sure enough, there was the monster of a bass solo.

"He'll be fine! I believe he can do it!" OJ said.

He's putting way to much confidence in me... Lucky's face scrunched up.

Looking back to the rest of the band, he saw that they were already getting the special instruments they would be using for Samba de Combo. There was a variety of instruments that would normally be unusual for a band to use, but not for this band. There were egg shakers, a gnarled object, a stick of some sort, and something that looks like a beaten up trash can lid. For some reason, Baccio was treating that piece of garbage with extra care.

Baccio could feel Lucky's confused stare boring into him. He halted his setup and faced his body toward the new bassist. With his mallets, he made broad gestures indicating that what he was moving was not a trash can, but some sort of custom made drum.

Before Lucky knew it, everyone was in place and ready to begin. He scrambled to get his music in order to catch up with the rest of the band, but OJ gave him another smile and told him to relax. "I'll cue you in when you're all set... We're ready when you are, Baccio!"

Baccio gave him a nod and then sat down in his seat. Facing Magic and Shimmy, he gave them a thumbs up and nodded his head till he got to the desired tempo. He lifted his drum sticks slightly above the drums. Without much warning, Baccio, Magic and Shimmy had all joined together in a driving rhythm, all of them absorbed in the energy of the song.

What? They're already playing and- Oh no... Lucky caught OJ's eye, and the band leader took a big breath.

Oh, no no no- please don't count me in. I'm hardly ready at all and I-

"1, 2, 3, Hakkotan!"

Lucky's fingers flew up to the neck of the bass and, as if on instinct, began maneuvering their way around the strings to the fast-paced rhythm. His brain barely kept up as the notes on the page danced around. His fingers just moved on their own. And it was working.

Shimmy soon came in on the keyboard, keeping in perfect harmony with Lucky. OJ came in soon after, moving and bending the music to his will. Everything and everyone worked with each other.

The notes on the page ended and Lucky had a break to comprehend what happened. Behind him, Baccio bounced his mallets against the garbage-lid-looking drum. The sound of the instrument caught Lucky off-guard. The way the notes rang through the concert hall was so unique and nothing he had ever heard before.

In fact, it was so awe-inspiring, Lucky forgot about his entrance.

He quickly moved his hands back into place as he tried to cover up his mistake. OJ looked back behind him, his sax firmly in his mouth, and gave Lucky the "Everything ok?" look. Lucky gave a forced smile as he made his way back into the music.

The next lines were easy. One note after the other. Lucky knew he could handle quarter notes.

But he was so enthralled by the unique sounds of all the other instruments around him. The way clacks and ticks and scratches all worked together to create a groove made Lucky forget about the sound of his own instrument.

TWANG. Wrong note.

Lucky knotted his face at the sound of the deep note that argued with the music. He missed the next couple notes just to get his mind back on where he was. He could feel Shimmy looking up at him across the way. He avoided making eye contact, but still made a small nod to tell Shimmy that he was alright.

Don't do it again don't do it again don't do it again, Lucky's mind chanted. But his heart sank even more with the next few missed notes of the song.

At one point, he felt as if he wasn't reading the music right. The notes didn't line up and his playing didn't seem to groove. Lucky's face grew hot and his fingers frantically felt around the strings to attempt to make peace with the gnarled sounds.

But Lucky pulled himself through to the end of the music. Everyone ended on one harmonic note that left a feeling of content. The last note echoed for a few moments and the band stood in silence for a moment before they all turned towards Lucky.

Lucky tried to hide himself behind his bass, but OJ came up next to him and smacked his hand in the center of his back.

"Hey! Great job, man!" OJ smiled widely.

"Not bad for first rehearsal!" Shimmy beamed from across the stage.

Magic stood in awe. "I can't believe you NAILED that line! That was great!"

Lucky turned towards Baccio, who gave him a solid thumbs up and a calm grin.

Lucky smiled weakly and lowered his shaking hands from the neck of the bass. "Th-Thank you." He said softly.

He did do a good job and he knew it. Lucky felt like, for the first time, he did something incredible.


Lucky flopped on top of his mattress and waded in his euphoria. Compared to all of his memories, which ended up being only about 15 days worth of memories, this was the happiest he has ever been in his entire life. He lay flat on his back, arms behind his head, and let the fluttering warmth fill up his heart and the corners of his mouth. No, he hadn't been in the band for very long, but for some reason he finally felt like he did something right.

A clicking and creaking noise indicated that someone was entering the room next to his.

Turning his head back to his own room, he noticed the differences between his room and the small glimpses he got into the other ones. It was nearly barren, not to mention the fact that it was extremely dusty. He dragged a hand across the night stand next to his bed, and inspected his fingers.

Well, at least I can start by getting rid of all this old dust piling up, Lucky thought to himself. He wiped his hands on his pants and lowered it onto his stomach. It could at least wait until the reality sunk in of what just happened sunk in. Despite Lucky being unsure, nervous, and an anxious mess, he had performed better than he could have ever imagined.

"How do you think Samba went today?"

Lucky perked up as he heard the faint voices come from the other side of the wall. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't hear another person enter the room next to his. Leaning his head towards the wall, he tried to hear the voices better.

"I think it went pretty well. I'm glad the steel drums survived for so long in storage, actually..."

"OJ, I'm talking about Lucky."

There was silence. The hairs on the back of Lucky's neck stood up.

"... Lucky did very well today, you know that, Shimmy."

His chest tightened as he heard OJ's voice get softer. He wiped the sweat off his palms and placed them firmly on his thighs.

"The beginning was alright but he almost completely fell apart in the middle. I know you heard it, OJ."

"Yeah, I heard it, but-"

"I had to carry him through the rest of the piece. I don't think he would have made it on his own."

It went silent again.

Lucky's heart was racing. Shimmy was pulling me through? Oh no, I didn't think I was that bad...

"Shimmy..."

"I think he needs more practice with Magic. He's not ready for full band rehearsals just yet-"

"Shimmy stop."

He's right. I shouldn't even be in the band. I'm not ready. I'm not even close to being ready.

"Lucky did great for his first time. You have to remember that he didn't even know what a bass was before two weeks ago. No, he's not fantastic yet, but I'm not expecting him to be. And he'll never get better if he doesn't hear his mistakes, Shimmy."

Lucky froze. His lungs hurt and his eyes felt like falling out of his sockets. He couldn't get the knot out of his stomach, even with the tightening grip of his hands on his abdomen. OJ's voice broke through again.

"We can practice an easier song tomorrow."

"... Alright."

The two voices disappeared and were replaced with the ambient sounds of the club. Lucky was left once again to his own thoughts. But those weren't any more pleasant than OJ and Shimmy's conversation. Lucky's arm shook as he pulled himself back into his spot on the bed. His chest was on fire and his breathing was choppy and uneven. His body melted into the comforting embrace of the mattress and warm blankets. He wanted to just evaporate into the warm air and never disappear forever.

Lucky's thoughts were halted with the sound of two raps on his door. As the door opened, he sat up to greet whoever was at the door.

The doorknob twisted and Magic popped his head through the opening.

"Hey, man!" He smiled. "Doin' alright?"

Lucky rubbed his eye and took a deep, shaky breath. "Yeah. I'm alright."

"Cool, cool. Got any blisters you want some help with?"

Lucky looked down at his hands. Sure enough, thick, mustard-yellow blisters covered the tips of the fingers he used to pluck his bass. And, now that he wasn't paying attention to his racing thoughts, those blisters do really burn...

"Uh, yeah." Lucky said, wiggling his fingers a bit. He looked back up at Magic. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not, dude!" Magic laughed as he entered Lucky's room. "I had to suffer through them too."

Magic shook the box of band-aids in his hand and plopped himself down next to Lucky on his bed. He reached into the box and pulled out a small sewing needle and held out his other hand to grab Lucky's.

"Hand." He simply said. Lucky slowly placed his hand into Magic's; palm up. Magic's fingers wrapped around Lucky's and placed them into a tight grip. The needle flipped around Magic's fingers then made it way towards Lucky's poor blisters.

Lucky winced as the blister burned into his fingers as the needle pushed into it. His eyes wandered around the ground before he could mutter any words.

"Hey, Magic...?"

"Yeah, man?" He responded without straying from popping the blisters.

Lucky paused. "Do... Do you think I... Did I play alright- uh well, during-" He inhaled sharply as Magic's needle made it's way through the blister, unleashing the hotness and burn from his finger.

Magic re-positioned his arm and moved on to the next blister. "Did you play alright during practice today?" He said completing Lucky's sputtering.

"Uh... Yeah." Lucky said. His breath grew shallow and his eyes looked for something to focus on.

Magic took a deep breath before answering. "You played really well for your first time with the band, Lucky." The needle pushed through the next blister and Lucky made a soft whine. "I didn't think you were ready to play something like Samba de Combo, considering you've only been playing for a couple weeks."

There was a pause. Magic's words were comforting to Lucky. Everything he said felt sincere and caring.

"You really did do well. The bass isn't an easy instrument to play and you made it look so simple."

Lucky twitched as Magic pushed through the next blister and stopped.

"... Don't compare yourself to the rest of us, Lucky. We've been playing our entire lives and you've just picked the thing up."

Magic made his way to the final blister and poked through it almost immediately. He dropped the needle back into the box and pulled out a tissue.

Lucky looked down at the oozing fingers and smiled weakly. "I-I just..."

"Here. Wipe your blisters off." Magic said handing the tissue to Lucky.

Magic pulled a few band-aids out between his fingers as Lucky rubbed the tips of his fingers with the tissue.

"You really did do well today. And you'll get better with the more practices you go to. Just keep up the progress and you'll do just fine!" Magic peeled back the band-aid wrapper. Lucky held his hand back out.

"... Thank you, Magic." Lucky said softly. Magic wrapped the band-aid around Lucky's index finger and began unwrapping the second one.

"Hey, no problem, man." Magic gave Lucky a huge smile and nudged his shoulder against him.

Magic wrapped the second band-aid around Lucky's middle finder as Lucky looked back down at the somewhat appealing floor. He couldn't believe this band was so accepting to him and, not only that, but so kind and patient. Lucky really felt welcome in this club. He felt like he belonged.

And yet, tomorrow is another day.