Chapter 2: The Whispering Corner

After a modest gig at Bistro Filipino, a cozy Philippine restaurant in Toyohashi City, Dence walks home with a modest talent fee and a few crumpled bills in his pocket. The city is quiet, painted in twilight. He’s tired. Worn out. Carrying his guitar on one shoulder, and dragging a cart with his amplifier rattling behind him. The cold seeps through his sleeves, and the silence of the alley feels heavier than usual — like even the air is listening.

Dence (quietly, to God — like speaking to someone walking beside him in the dark):
“Alright, Lord. Thanks for the talent fee. This twelve thousand yen’s going to the water bill. Still need twenty for the electricity. I really need Your help.”

A whisper cuts through the silence.

Dence (half-startled, glancing around):
“A whisper...?” (he looks up) “...Is that You, God?”

Another whisper — louder this time. Faint. Musical. Almost like a forgotten melody drifting in from nowhere. He freezes, scanning the shadows.

No one.

Then — out of nowhere — a small blue elephant darts past him, brushing against the guitar case. The impact jolts the handle in his grip. He nearly drops it. He blinks. Exhaustion turns to disbelief. Then to irritation. Without thinking, he drops everything and bolts after the creature.

Through back alleys and narrow lanes, past humming vending machines and neon-lit signs — until the elephant stops. Cornered beneath a flickering streetlamp.

Dence stands there, panting. Frustration in his eyes. He knows animals don’t talk.
But he looks the blue mammal in the eye and asks anyway:

Dence:
“What are you? Are you messing with me? What do you want?”

The elephant doesn't speak with its mouth. Instead, a gentle voice resonates inside his head, calm and melodic, like a lullaby soaked in wisdom.
"You left your sound behind, Dence. You're chasing storms ― but I carry the map."
 
A swirl of soft blue light rises around them. In it, flickering memories appear: his children asleep in his arms, late nights writing songs in the dining room, and a future vision ― him on a large stage, singing beside one of his kids.

Dence (voice breaks, trembling):
"How do you know this? Who are you?"

The elephant steps forward. A glowing text appears on its forehead: Matthew 5:16. A Bible verse.

"I am your intuition," the elephant says. Suddenly added, "Your forgotten courage. Your childlike faith. You buried me beneath routines and survival. But I never left."

Then, the whisper returns―clear now:
"Don't quit. They need your light."

Dence all mixed up and confused. Thinking if this is just a dream, but he sinks to his knees. Not in defeat, but somehow an awakening. Tears fall quietly ― not from sadness, but from remembering who he really is.

The alley falls silent again. The elephant fades into the night like a dream. Dence is alone... or so he thinks.

In his coat pocket, something new appears ― a folded note that wasn't there before.
He opens it. One sentence, in delicate handwriting:

"Find Sam. She knows the next chord."

(To be continued...)
(Next: Reflection)