' i get by with a little help from my friends ' ', FLOYD AND CLOVER!!

[Calvin Grey]

The best moments in life were those which were unplanned. Spontaneity, lead by “the force” of course, was the soul purpose to living life. It was what kept the world interesting. So, needless to say, Calvin loved the random idea of his two best friends and himself sitting outside munching on a few snacks and playing around on the guitar while making up goofy songs about the cracks in the sidewalk. The Rocket Market was probably the best place to get food too. It was all organic. Perfect for the trio of hippies who adored their veggies, and it also carried Calvin’s favorite candy, Dots, which he unshamefully stocked up on and stuffed his pockets with.

The only sad part was that he was busy licking the little dots of colored sugar off of paper to really play anything. He and Floyd had brought their guitars along for the adventure, should muse strike, and Calvin didn’t think Clover would ever object to their deciding to randomly play somewhere, which the decision had been made to make their playing spot outside The Rocket Market on the side walk.

”You know what?” Calvin smiled, looking down at the nearly empty strip of paper before rolling up what was left and putting into his already full pocket, ”I’ve always wanted to be a street performer.” he said honestly. There was a lot of things Calvin wanted to do in life, like live on the streets for a year, but he doubted he’d ever get the chance for them. Making money by playing a bit of guitar on a street corner though, was probably the closest goal he’d ever had. ”We should put a hat out in front of us and see what we get!” He suggested with a huge grin on his face, looking between Floyd and Clover. The plan sounded ingenious in his head. He didn’t really want the money. He had no idea what he’d begin to think of using it for, but he just wanted to prove he could do it: make money by playing music on a not-so-busy sidewalk.

[Floyd Elliot]

For Floyd, the best moments in life were peaceful ones. He'd been absentmindedly tuning his guitar up and down several octaves since they'd started their little al fresco luncheon, taking a break from his pickings only to snag a piece of his herb-and-garlic pita. He stretched his legs out across the sun-baked patio, staring at the sidewalk. Calvin wanted to write songs about cracks? What was so special about a crack? Sure, it was something beautiful and also something ugly, but didn't they already have a song (or twenty) dealing with that sort of thing? Seemed like that's all they wrote about these days: nature, passion for nature, the role of nature in the world, humanity's relationship with nature. What about passion? Romantic love? True anger or sadness? Floyd sighed, and pushed all the cynicism away. Life was just too short, and Calvin was already saying something.

"You've never played on the sidewalk, man?" Floyd laughed, his beard wobbling under the pressure of his deep voice, "That's about all I used to do in school, and for the hell of it too." He crossed his arms and placed them over his acoustic, taking a pensive look between Calvin and Clover. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but Floyd was fairly timid. Unless there was a fairly large crowd of people watching him, he rarely enjoyed sharing his music. There were just too few faces to get lost in and worse yet, not enough people to speak to. Floyd wanted to make a different, to communicate wider than he could with words. He hesitated at Calvin's suggestion, and looked from the ground to the wall and right to left, as if looking for something. A hat? No. He was simply looking for an exit.

He gave Calvin a benign grimace, "Eh, I don't know... who has money these days anyway? Who are we to take it?" Feeling himself becoming an old grump, he turned to the younger, positive Clover, "Ah! I know! How about you, Miss Clover? What do you think we should do?" Leaving it up to Clover would probably be the same as affirming Calvin's request, but at least Floyd wouldn't have to make the decision himself.