Land Of Lost CDs: Chapter 4

The morning came, cold and apathetic. Chris sat up, scratched his head.  For a moment he forgot where he was, and panicked in silence. Then his memory came back to him. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he yawned. Getting up was the hardest part of the morning. It'd be so easy to go back to sleep, but he was already up, and if he tried to go back, he'd only be in that half sleep, half waking stage. That would mess with his head. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. How he longed to be anywhere but here...how he longed. There was a weight on his foot. Opening his eyes, he was met by two large grey ones. It was Davey. Chris jumped.1

"Have I startled you?" he asked, jumping himself.2

" No, not at all." lied Chris. He smiled groggily. Davey seemed so...delicate. Or maybe he'd just never gotten out much.  One of those home schooled freaks. Geez. The bassist prayed that this was not the case. No, no, no. Socially retarded dork. Presently, the "socially retarded dork" had moved from sitting at the foot of the bed to snuggling up next to Chris. At first he found it uncomfortable. He didn't like it when people were too touchy-feely. And he considered this too touchy-feely. Yet he didn't object. 3

"Is this what warmth is like?"4

Chris raised an eyebrow. The question had completely thrown him off. How could he not know what warmth was? Personally, this was not the bassist's idea of warmth. It was more like borderline annoyance. To him, warmth was the feeling of camaraderie he had with his bandmates. A good book and a chocolate chip cookie. Bumming around on the couch watching Family Guy. These were warm thoughts. Then again, when you spent your days in a place like this...the question is posed. What is warmth, where can you find it, and who can give it to you. No one here.5

"Sorta," Chris said awkwardly. "Warmth is...it isn't easy to explain."6

Nodding, Davey gave the appearance of understanding his words. But there was something in his eyes that deceived him. The bassist found his uncomfortably to be replaced with slight puzzlement. Soon, the strange young man got up, straightening his clothes. There was a trace of urgency in his voice as he told Chris that he must hurry and wake the others and get on their way. It seemed that Davey had packed the night before. A wise decision, they would soon learn all too quickly.7

The little group had gotten all of what  belongings they had together in a short amount of time. It was also decided that they would continue on their south-west route, and not take anymore headings from Dustbunnies or whatnot. They couldn't afford any other passengers, especially since their newest member had a severe injury. The journey would be more difficult than it started out to be. Without making a sound, the four fled the castle. Davey had explained it had to be this way. 'It must be Manson...' mused Dave to himself. That would be strange, though. The Master of Castle Cryptorchid appeared to be relatively friendly. Or was he...8

Either way, the lead singer of AFI had brought enough supplies to last them a while. They continued onward, walking swiftly. There was no time to be lost...and seemingly no reason for the sudden rush. Yet both frontmen insisted it would be dangerous to tarry in any way, shape or form. 9

"The Dustbunnies can't be trusted any longer." warned Kurt, scaling a mountain of books. He had a long piece of rope wrapped around his arm. When he got to the top, he secured it, letting it down for the others to climb up.10

"But they've been...helpful," reasoned Dave, grabbing hold of the rope, setting his feet to the books. "I don't understand."11

"Their Master's intentions have changed..." said Davey in a monotone voice. Dave sneered inwardly. David was *his* name. Now he had to share it with some punkish weakling. He was there first.  It wasn't...it wasn't fair! And this *other* David seemed soooo much more important. Hmph. Davey, Davey Davey...meh. The mountain was climbed. They moved on.12

It was half a day later they came upon another legendary spot, once again, thought to be fictional. The Forest of Säks. And from all of the fanciful, awesome stories of gore that emitted from that place...who knew what lay in wait for them. The Forest of Säks had an odd smell to it, very much like that of sweat, dirt, and...rubber? Yes. Chris explained that it was the smell of rubber from a pair of Chuck Taylors. However nasty the stench, they pressed on. I wasn't long after they had entered the Forest, when piteous sounds began echoing about them. As they journeyed, the sound became clearer. It wasn't crying...but whining, with an occasional sob. The group stopped, looking at each other.13

"Call out to...it." said Kurt, nudging Chris.14

"No! What if it's a Dustbunny? Davey, you do it."15

"Me? They'll recognize my voice! It'd be suicide."16

"Fine then," volunteered Dave, rather disgruntled. "I'll go ahead." And with that, he shuffled on ahead a few feet, careful not to make any sounds, any movement. However, Kurt was there behind him, as always, followed by the other two. The drummer figured he'd walked about ten yards. Then he spoke up.17

"Hello...is anyone there?" The creature making the tortured (and torturous) racket was sure he was out of sight, but became worried. He curled himself up into a defensive ball. Hating the painstaking  caution that was being taken, Nirvana's lead singer parted some of the shrubbery that was obscuring their view of the mysterious beast.18

It was none other than Chris Carraba of Dashboard Confessional, crying his poor emo heart out in the darkest, most desolate part of the woods. Kurt and co. took pity on him, and had gathered near him, not sure what to do about the melancholic singer. Kurt patted his shoulder as a sign of friendliness. Instantly, the singer hopped up, grabbing Kurt in a surprising (if not suffocating) embrace. Those emo boys...19

"What are you doing all the way out here?" questioned Dave. This only made Dashboard's frontman cry even more, burying his face in Kurt's shoulder. Stunned and unsure what to do, he just let him cry there. It was interesting how this man was unafraid to show his...emotions.20

"I went out looking for all of you," he wiped his eyes, releasing Nirvana's frontman from the brutal hug. "And we stopped to make camp for the night, and, and...and when I woke up they were GONE! I want my Johnny!"21

Chris Novoselic pouted. Another Chris? Chris was *his* name.22

...So that ends the tale of Chris Carraba joining Nirvana in their journey for the missing notes of music. Many more dangerous things than emo boys and names would block their path, however.23