The Sound of his Despair by Valeria Yatskevich

Oscar heard that touching song
when he was filming the morning show. The foreign singer presented his new song. Oscar did not understand the language but it didn`t disturb him. The consonance sounds of the guitar and the singer`s voice created the creepy harmony. It covered Oscar with wave of old forgotten feelings. The feelings were as grey as Oscar`s eyes.
The pure voice conjured images from Oscar`s childhood: the village with small houses, gloomy people and sonorous sounds of sea waves. Small hills had always been covered  with thick grass. Oscar had always enjoyed the way how that sea of herbs had transformed into the real sea and then into the hoar sky.  He thought that he had forgotten the smell of the sea air, but he still remembered that it had magical ability to cool off and inspire.
But Oscar`s memories were not only about some blurred images. Oscar understood that it connected with one person when the euphonious song was sung. The man remembered his best friend Martin. A sickly boy, who had been afraid of other children, had had pale skin and talent to write poems about nature. His right hand had been unable and Martin had felt shame about it.
Oscar`s family had arrived to the city to live. He and Martin had sent emails to each other for the half of the year, but then Martin had stopped answering. Oscar had wanted to go to the village, to find out the reason why Martin had stopped writing, but he had not done that. After that school year he had went to the summer camp, then had begun another school year and another things with a little or even no sense, which had made Oscar forget his friend  and make Martin one of  spirit of Oscar`s childhood.
Oscar had always felt that sparkling eyes of Martin had hidden something, but he hadn`t known what. After listening to that heart-taking song he understood what it had been. The despair had been in the bright fires of Martin`s eyes. It had been a loud but, at the same time, speechless scream to help, not to leave alone with that starving despair. Martin`s eyes had said that he had no chance to survive if you left him alone with the blind hate of self-destruction.
After the show Oscar applied for vacation. He needed to go to the village to find Martin. He felt himself guilty and asked the fate to give just one chance, even if it would be thin. If the Martin still had that despair in his heart and eyes, Oscar would help him to destroy it.  And then the hollow sound of despair would stop beating in Oscar`s heart.