Swack

⌼ ❅ {◉} ◌ ☂

“You cannot be real,” she insisted, arms crossed in defiance.

I blinked back. “Except, y’know, I am.”

My once-classmate and I ran into each other a few days ago at a mutual friends event. I don’t think either of us had been particularly happy about it initially-- our conversation began with that miserable five minutes of fabricated pleasantries I’m fairly certain is cosmically mandatory in the event of running into an old acquaintance --but thankfully we soon discovered we actually had something in common! She’d become a music journalist, and I’d become a musician.

An interview, then, was an obvious decision.

She shook her head. “You know what I mean-- it’s just impressive, is all. You’ve featured at Coachella and SXSW, you’ve had millions of YouTube hits as a music director on Buzzfeed, you’ve even written for a feature film, and that was all before you’d even released a single?!”

“Well, I have one out now,” I defended, feeling rather indignant. “It’s called ‘Born Intertwined,’ and I highly recommend it.”

“I’d hope so, with all those accolades,” she agreed, grumbling only slightly. “And so now you’re looking for management, labels, that sort of thing, right?”

“Yep, and booking some performances too!” I enthused. The shows in particular were something I looked forward to. “Plus in my downtime I’ve been writing an episodic story series for fun and working with a friend on founding a streaming network, so I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”

She blinked again. “Seriously, do you sleep? Do you bleed? Are you human at all?”

“Uh, let’s go with no, yes, and no,” I offered, only partially kidding.

She nodded, looking much more serious than I. “Well I think that’s it for my questions, but one last thing-- you’ve gotten a nickname since we last saw each other, right?”

“Yes, I have,” I grinned, finishing the last of my tea. “Though it’s less of a nickname and more of a family tradition-- one that began many grandfathers prior to mine.” I extended my hand. Yeah, I like to be a bit overdramatic sometimes. “Wonderful meeting you again-- my name is Swack.”