The Lone Busker

By Livia Cahill

$7.50

A smiling girl walks by the busker. She has golden hair and dancing eyes. He plays “Here Comes the Sun” for her and doesn’t know how it soothes her. The din of the city and the roar of the idling trucks was washing over her like ocean waves before a storm. Now her mind, a boat that was close to capsizing, is anchored by the music. As she leaves, she places a five dollar bill in his bucket.

“Thank you,” he says.

“Thank you,” she returns. Their eyes meet, time moves on, so do they.

$12.50

The man wearing headphones walks by the busker, looking straight ahead, like he’s not even there. The busker would wage a war on headphones if he could, but he knows the pull of music and won’t break their bubbles of peace. Instead he watches the people walk by and waits for the moment they meet his eye.

$23.76 and a candy wrapper

Just as he started to drift away from the small park between buildings under the tree strung with lights, a child dropped a penny into his bucket. The child smiles at him and he smiles back. The mother hustles the child along but the child looks over their shoulder as they go. He plucks out a small repeating tune growing louder and louder, letting the music carry them to wherever they’re going.

$31.26, a button, and a few wrappers

The sun sinks and the night falls. The lights strung through the branches of the lovely old tree always at his back come on. The city erupts with life again, people re-emerging into the light soaked night. He sings love songs as couples pass by hand in hand. He sings for the doctors and nurses as they go home for the night or go to their shift. He strums for the construction workers finally getting some rest. He sings for the city, his home.

By the end of the day he has $57.48, some wrappers, a button, a paper clip, and some bird poop in his bucket.