Riley couldn’t explain the dream. He saw himself back in his messy Greenville apartment. He fell onto his bed after a day of wishing he were dead, where he witnessed a mirage.
A figure appeared in front of him. She flapped her black wings behind her back, revealing who she was: Death.
At the sight of the angel, Riley swung his legs off the side of his bed and pushed himself to his feet. He held out his hand and slowly approached the angel.
She offered him her own hand and gave him a sweet smile that read: “This is your destiny, Riley.”
Right before their hands touched, something happened. Three blurry images dove in from either side—Christopher, Conner, and Max—and tackled the angel. They grabbed her wrists and arms and pulled her into the heart of the room.
Riley returned to his bed, watching the whole thing with a terrified look on his face. Black feathers from the angel’s wings engulfed him, but the second they touched his back, the feathers changed from black to white: Death and Life. Christopher, Conner, and Max just saved Riley from his attempted suicide. They helped him realize his life was bittersweet.
Death vanished, but the mirage was not over. The forms of Christopher, Conner, and Max plopped down on the bed next to Riley. One at a time, the men placed their hands on his shoulders. In place of Death was a white, four-leaf clover.
Among his bandmates, Riley changed back into a little boy. He was about ten. Age ten was when he lost his mother. From that point on, the abuse grew worse. The band’s album, One and Eight, represented those years leading up to Riley meeting his three best friends and starting the Dreaded Miracles, as well as their first tour. They were like a four-leaf clover—forever connected. The message was there, and Riley took it in.
The clover wafted into his hand and changed him back into the age he was now, twenty-eight. For the first time, he cracked a small smile. Together, he, Christopher, Conner, and Max hopped off his bed and hooked hands, just like they did backstage. Except that time, they weren’t hooking hands out of grief, but joy. The blinds in Riley’s apartment opened.
In the bright rays of sunshine, the Dreaded Miracles danced in a circle. No longer did Riley feel fear. He felt like he belonged. He knew who he was. He made up the heart of the Dreaded Miracles.
The beeping from a heart monitor pulled him out of his bittersweet dream. He pushed himself up in bed, and a wet towel fell from his forehead. The ax had left his throat, but was that good or bad?
Riley checked his surroundings with gentle twists of his head. The hospital room was small but comfortable. Next to him was an IV cart and a few balloons with Get Well Soon on them. The room’s blinds were open. They looked exactly like the ones in his dream: large and white. Across from him, sitting in a few chairs, were his band members.
Christopher closed the book he was reading and said, “Riley! You’re awake!” at the sight of him. He, Conner, and Max picked up their chairs and carried them over to the confused young man.
Max almost looked like he was about to cry. “Thank goodness! We thought we were going to lose you.”
“Don’t scare us like that!” added Conner.
Riley had no idea what was going on. How did he get there from the concert hall? He did not remember much, just that the last thing he saw before the dream was a flash of light.
Christopher noticed his confused face and explained, “EMS brought you here after you collapsed. You were in such bad shape. They didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“I think there is a lesson here for all of us,” said Conner. “From now on, let’s not have fourteen-hour-long practice sessions.”
Riley, Christopher, and Max did not laugh at his joke.
“Conner, are you forgetting something?” Max asked after a moment of silence.
“Forgetting what? Oh yeah.” Conner’s voice suddenly dropped. He looked upset. Why?
Riley had the same question. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. No words. What was going on?
“Riley, don’t push yourself. Here, try this.” Christopher picked up a whiteboard and dry-erase marker from Riley’s tray table. He handed it to him and nodded.
The first thing Riley wrote on the whiteboard was: Why can’t I speak? He showed it to his band members, who examined it.
“It’s because you had one too many brandies and fell down the stairs,” Conner joked. “No, no, I’m just kidding.”
Max and Christopher rolled their eyes playfully, then grew serious.
“The truth is, Ri,” Max explained, “your vocal cords were so badly damaged after the concert that that…” He shook his head. “I can’t. Christopher, you tell him.”
Christopher patted Max’s shoulder. He focused on Riley and finished the explanation: “The doctors had to remove them.”
Riley’s heart shattered. If what Christopher told him was true, then that meant something he expected to happen eventually, but not right now. Riley could no longer talk or sing. Another thing that bothered him was that surgery meant money. After what happened during the concert, he didn’t even want to think about how much the Dreaded Miracles lost. He had failed not only his band, but also his fans.
Christopher, Conner, and Max moved in close to Riley and tried to comfort him. In the hospital room, they came to the same conclusion: the world was brutal. Still, something amazing would come from it.
Christopher, Conner, and Max were certain. “Remember the meaning behind the Dreaded Miracles. There are still miracles waiting for you, even if you have lived a dreaded life,” they told Riley.
Two days later, a miracle did come. Christopher, Conner, and Max delivered a package to Riley’s hospital room, Room 309. Like any other package, it was brown with duct tape, but unlike some of the ones Riley’s gotten before, that one was enormous.
Christopher, Conner, and Max all had to pitch in to carry it. “You got a package, Riley,” they heaved, and they set the box down next to Riley’s bed.
He merely stared. Who on Earth would send him a package? He was nothing but a failure. He did not deserve a gift, but another slap in the face. Nevertheless, his band members encouraged him to open the box.
Partly because Conner complained, “Riley, my back is killing me. Climbing up three flights of stairs with this thing wasn’t easy.”
“I wanted to take the elevator,” said Max, “but no, no, no! You said we had to get our exercise in for the day, Conner!”
“That’s because my little belly was full from the turkey sandwiches and pizza last night.”
Christopher rolled his eyes and glanced at Riley. “The point is that something important is waiting for you in this package, Riley. Go on, open it up.”
He, Conner, and Max helped Riley out of bed and set him in a reclining chair next to the room’s window. They pushed the package to him and handed him a pair of red scissors. All four band members hovered over the package, like vultures scouting out their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Riley ran the scissors through the tape and pulled it off. It caught on his fingers for a moment, but his friends pulled it off. Intrigued, all four men leaned in close to the package. Riley grabbed the flaps and flipped them up. His mouth dropped at what he saw, as did Christopher’s, Conner’s, and Max’s. Inside the package, nestled in Styrofoam, were hundreds of envelopes. They were from the Dreaded Miracles’ fans. Each envelope held a little money.
Riley couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A few tears fell down his cheeks. People cared about him. The fans understood the message he tried to convey in “Alone.” It was a bittersweet moment not only for him, but also for Christopher, Conner, and Max.
His mind returned to the confusing dream he had. Now it all made sense. The feathers that touched him symbolized his fans and their love for his music. Because of Christopher, Conner, Max, and the fans, he was still alive. Life may be brutal, but it’s never too late to start over.
Riley may have lost his voice, but he was starting a brand-new chapter. The past was the past. That was the future. Riley was not the man he was five years ago. The Dreaded Miracles changed him.
Christopher, who was also on the brink of tears, said, “See, Riley? There are people who care about you.”
“You may have lost your voice, but you are still the heart of the Dreaded Miracles,” Conner admitted.
“We are proud to call you our friend,” said Max.
Riley got up from his chair, with a few envelopes in his hand, and made his way to the hospital room’s window. His band members joined him. For the first time in his life, he smiled. Together, he, Christopher, Conner, and Max peered outside to the glowing, sunny day.
Christopher wrapped his arm around Riley’s shoulders and said, “The end is just the beginning.”
Riley agreed. The comfort he felt around his friends changed his spirit from black to white. The band fell apart due to his foolish mistake, but at the end of the day, his story was about love. The dream told him so. Riley’s life was bittersweet. His home was not his lonely apartment in Greenville. It was the Dreaded Miracles.
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