"Harry Headbanger, in his final performance!"
The bar's many patrons cheered. The night before, it hadn't been more than perhaps twenty individuals, most of them friends of Josef or his brother. But apparently, Josef's slight joke had spread quite far through the city, as the bar was packed to the brim. Outside, there were apparently people waiting to get in to see the supposedly famous British musician they had heard all about. It had gotten to the point that somebody even offered up an electric guitar to borrow, so that his sound could be amplified. It was as if all of Prague had turned out to see them.
They had played several Beatles tunes, from "Hey Jude" to a "Hard Day's Night." Dominika had challenged Harry to learn a few lyrics in Czech, which got wild approval from the crowds. Harry refused to steal the show, often interrupting Josef's song introduction to promote Tomas' drum solos and Josef's singing. It was wonderful to have made a group of friends; while Josef had been at the train station, he had gotten to wander the city with Dominika and Tomas, and appreciated their company greatly. In fact, they had let him go on about Donna for nearly a full hour before threatening to deport him. That was twice as long as Josef had lasted.
While none of them were fans of punk rock, they had even humored his attempts to fuse it into the performance. One, a song Harry had heard in a pub once, did get the audience's approval, all about how you fill the hole in your soul with rock and roll. Harry thought it nonsensical, but figured that if it was endorsed by a supposed friend of Paul McCartney's, they would enjoy anything. It helped that Josef and his friends were amazing musicians.
"And for my final performance, I'll be performing a song taught to me by somebody very dear to me, Donna Sheridan."
The crowd laughed shouting out, "Again?"
Harry blushed. Maybe he had dedicated one too many songs to Donna. But this one, she had told him all about performing with her friends, the Dynamos. And after telling Josef, Dominika, and Tomas about it during rehearsal, they had all clamored to perform it.
"It's called...it's called Super Trouper."
"Super trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue,
Like I always do.
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you."
The crowd continued to cheer as Harry stepped forward to the microphone, stomping the ground as Tomas counted them in to start.
"Jeden! Dva! Jeden, dva, tři, čtyři!"
"One! Two! One, two, three, four!"
Harry felt so alive during the performance, hearing his name chanted just like in the dream. While the glory was shared among all the band members, he was definitely asked for his share of autographs after the show. He was almost tempted to stay with Josef and his friends, and pursue being a musician. But every time he sang the lyrics about looking into the crowd, he still couldn't erase the image of Donna cheering for him. He owed it to himself to finish one adventure before starting another. Upon finishing the song, Harry wrapped his arm around Josef's shoulder and bowed, before gesturing to Dominika and Tomas. The crowd erupted in applause only to be silenced by Josef's brother, who was trying to push them all out. It was nearly an hour past closing but he had allowed it, as it had been his best night in ages.
"Harry Headbanger, we cannot convince you to stay?"
"I'm afraid not, sorry. My train does leave today."
They all thanked him for coming, giving him brief and short goodbyes on the condition that he would write once he was home in London, and possibly visit again.
"You lot will have to come and visit me on your world tour," Harry told the band. "And don't laugh, because I'd buy every ticket to that show."
The next morning, Josef woke Harry and dragged him to the train station, despite being half asleep.
"I thought my train wasn't until noon. Why the need to get me here so early?"
"Could you forgive yourself if you missed it again, like an idiot?"
"Fair enough."
He made the same promises to Josef to keep in touch before boarding his train. The ride was the least eventful part of his journey, likely because he barely let himself blink until they were in Bulgaria. Once there, he was able to get a quick dinner before boarding an overnight train to Volos, where he would be able to catch a ferry to his final destination. As he boarded, he turned to the conductor.
"Volos is the final stop, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"So if I fall asleep, I won't miss my stop?"
"I can guarantee it."
"You can?"
The conductor glared at him, clearly annoyed at the repeated questioning. Harry thanked him and continued into the cabin. Rereading Donna's letter as he faded off to sleep.
"I certainly went on an adventure for you," he murmured, tracing her letters with his finger.
The guitar rested against his leg, but he didn't dare play it at a time like this, when it was starting to get dark and nearly all the other occupants of the train were asleep. Instead, Harry let sleep wash over him, eager to see Donna in his dreams again. And maybe, if he was lucky, he wouldn't have to wait another night to see her.
When Harry woke up, he immediately looked out the window. As much as the train conductor had told him that Volos was the last stop, and it was impossible to miss, fate had shown him many tricks over the course of that week. Luckily, the train was still moving, and he could see signs up ahead in Greek.
At least I'm in the right country, he thought, that's half the battle.
It was hard to believe that what had started as a spontaneous train ride across the continent had turned into a multi-day extravaganza. One desperate decision he had made Sunday night landed him in a Czech folk rock group on Tuesday, in Greece on Thursday, and would get him back to the same place he'd been on Saturday nearly a week later- with Donna.
I wonder what she's doing right now, Harry considered.
Maybe she was running through fields, looking out on the beautiful vista the island had to offer. It was the island of Aphrodite, hadn't she said something like that? Then again, it was relatively early to be out and about, so perhaps she was eating a breakfast of freshly-picked fruit. He hoped that she'd made some wonderful friends as well.
Upon arriving in Volos, Harry followed the signs to the dock he was given by one of the employees at the train station. He was jogging through the streets, with the guitar and his bag strapped to his back. Still wearing his leather jacket, Harry began to feel the heat, but something inside made him feel it was necessary to dress like he had in Paris. He couldn't help but begin to worry that Donna wouldn't recognize him, but he knew that he needed to calm his nerves down. He was so close to her again, and he wouldn't let his stupid nerves get in the way.
At the end of the alley, he saw a ferry on a dock. Racing towards the ticket booth, Harry nearly dropped all of his belongings trying to pull out his passport and wallet. People around jumped out of his way, causing Harry to just shout apologies as he continued towards the boat. Nearly careening into the stand, Harry excitedly spoke to the man inside.
"Hello, one ticket to Kalokairi, please."
"Identification, please."
The man looked at Harry expectantly. His expression had a bit of a mocking tendency, and Harry was reminded of Josef by his charming dark eyes. Appearance-wise, however, the man was very Greek, with no hair on his head and a handsome black beard. Harry pushed his passport across the desk, glancing over at the ferry. It seemed to be filling up, and very few people were boarding.
Accepting the passport, the man opened it and looked over it at a painfully slow rate.
"Please, I need to make this ferry. There's someone very special I need to see on the island, you see. She left a note….a very nice note."
"Your hair."
"What?"
"Your hair is longer here," the man said, pointing at the picture in Harry's passport.
"Yes, I had to cut it for the bank- please, I need to make this ferry."
"I liked it better longer," he remarked, before stamping the passport and giving Harry a ticket.
"Thanks," Harry said as he grabbed the ticket and started to turn to the ferry. "Hold the ferry! Please, hold the ferry!"
He could hear the man say something as he walked away, but Harry was too busy trying to catch the ferry. Unfortunately, the two men on board pulled the ropes from the dock and were already several feet away from the dock. Harry considered making the leap but hesitated for far too long. He walked to the edge of the dock, resting his belongings on the ground as he watched the boat disappear in the distance. He had come all this way, only to miss his final ship.
"Don't look so sad. You're just like that architect that was coming through here this morning, moping all about. He sat at the dock for hours telling us all about how she wouldn't take him back, but he had to try, and blah blah blah-"
Harry looked back at the man in the booth, who was smiling as he spoke.
"Why shouldn't I be upset? That was my last chance to get to Kalokairi."
"There will be another ferry tomorrow. But if you don't want to go to Kalokairi, I'm finished with work in a few hours. We could get drinks-"
"What time is the ferry tomorrow?"
"Every day, at ten in the morning."
"And my ticket will work then?"
"Yes. So about those drinks-"
"Sorry, I can't."
Harry grabbed all of his things and walked away from the dock. He'd have to get a room for the night and then tomorrow, definitely, he'd be able to get to Kalokairi. As frustrating as it was to miss what was apparently the only ferry of the day, it was reassuring that Donna wouldn't be able to leave before the next day, right?
Looking back over the blue sea separating him from Donna, Harry mused about his own destiny that brought him here. She was such an easy woman to fall in love with, but she had left his life just as quickly as she had arrived in it.
"Why did it have to be me?"
He shook off the negative thought. He didn't care why it was him, he only appreciated the luck that it was him. He couldn't resist her and even if they weren't destined to end up together forever, he felt that his life could never be the way it had been before they'd met.
"Here I go again," Harry laughed, retiring to his hotel room. Soon, he'd see Donna, and the whole week would be worth it.
