The 2/4 time beat of the metronome and the guitar`s sledgehammer assault emanating from the Marshall stack, filled the vast and lonely room . A full stereophonic sound played by a starry eyed dreamer, a forlorn figure with a Gibson in hand and hopes that rock stardom finds him..
He felt a shivering chill. He turned in time to see mist slowly drift into the room. He stopped playing, and silently watched the mist move human like. Turning back around to continue, a mysterious stranger stood in front of him.
"Who the hell are you...and where in Christ's name did you come from?" Johnny questioned this mysterious stranger.
The stranger just stared while standing silent. Johnny felt uneasy as he felt the strangers blue eyed stare burrow deep into his soul. The appearance of this stranger was just like the science experiment, he did at school, where vapour suddenly transforms into a solid
the stranger broke his silence "Hey kid, it`s Saturday night why aren`t you out with your mates instead of sitting here all alone?" his soul burrowing stare remained.
"It`s not kid it`s Johnny! and I`m here sacrificing to find that one sound that can make me famous...No matter how hard I keep trying, I just can`t find it."
"You want to find that sound that will make you a household name, Johnny-sounds pretty pedestrian, but we`ll soon change that. You won't be plain old Johnny ever again if you stick with me.” the stranger said. Johnny felt hypnotised by the stranger's calming voice, washing away his ill-at-ease feeling.
Then the stranger added “I can give you that one sound that makes sure your name lives on forever in the annuals of rock. Every girl will want to sleep with you and every man will want to be you. To top it all off, so much money you won't know what to do with it all. I can make your wildest dreams be fulfilled. I won't be giving my services for free. You will need to give me something in return."
Johnny vacantly stared into the nothingness as he pondered ' will I be my own person or will I be the or be bound by the chains of this man, Will I be my own artist or just a puppet for the industry, Will I have free will or will my strings be pulled?'.
Questioning the stranger Johnny asked " Are you offering to be my manager?"
" I am of sorts...but you can't haggle over what I`m offering, it`s a one-time deal. There will be no bartering. No half in or half out; you're either all in or all out: so are you in."
His father’s words kept echoing through the part of his brain that recalled the past 'Always look them straight into their eyes son; it tells them you're serious and you won’t take any of their shit!' Johnny kept making eye contact with the stranger as he said "You still haven’t told me what I have to give for this offer of yours...you gonna tell me?"
"What I offer will make you the real deal, not just some wanna be pantomime character, but the real deal. You can join me and I can guarantee hit after hit for you or you can plug away at it for years and maybe, just maybe, get that one hit but soon you will be forgotten and end up as a washed out has been…if you’re lucky. But chances are you end up plugging away for years and years and just end up no-where. So are you gonna sign your name over to me, all the greats have, and now I`m offering you to join my little troop."
Johnny again stared straight into the stranger`s eyes and said "You have said a lot but I haven`t seen any contract, so give me a contract and I can take it to my lawyers then we can take it from there."
“ Letting those vultures called lawyers look at it I cannot do. Like I said, it`s a one-time offer and the offer is for tonight only." The stranger said while reaching inside his jacket. Johnny thought the worst but out came a rolled up document instead. He undid the document's ribbon, unrolled it and said "Here...just sign on the dotted line at the bottom and all your dreams will come true but someday I`ll come and collect what is rightfully mine, you can be assured of that."
Johnny read the document, especially the part that said-for your soul.