Before I begin, I would like to throw a word of warning. This song and the issue it tackles is suicide. I do not own the Pair of Kings franchise, but do own the original song, Power of Forgiveness.
"Yo, Brady," my twin brother, Boomer, shouted across the hall from King Lanny's open door. "Catch!"
King Boomer threw the laced football across the hall and it sailed way over my head and into Lanny's bedroom.
"What kind of throw was that!" I cried in disappointment, "How was I supposed to catch that?"
"It's called jumping. Ever heard of it?" Boomer fired back.
'Haha,' I thought, making my way into Lanny's room to retrieve the football.
"Hey," Boomer cried, "If Lanny's in there ask him if he wants to play catch."
I nodded and stepped inside to Lanny's room, which was messy beyond belief. Clothes, trash, food, how was I supposed to find the football in this mess?
Fortunately, I didn't have to search very long. The football had apparently knocked down his trash can. Eager to get back to my game of catch, I picked the football up and headed out. As I turned back a phrase scrawled on a loose piece of paper caught my eye –I WILL YAMAKOSHI TO MIKAYLA. It was signed Lanny.
Turning back, I looked at the piece of paper and read through it. It was about suicide and how Lanny didn't want to live life. I picked up several more papers and saw that they were all pretty much about suicide.
The more I thought about it, I was alarmed I never came to that conclusion before. After his spit had awakened the mummy, he had slipped into a depression for some reason, probably because everyone blamed him. He started isolating himself and talking less and less and we wrote it off as he needs space.
"Idiot," I screamed at myself, grabbing the football and heading out to find Lanny, or at the very least get him some help.
"You find Lanny?" Boomer asked, "Does he want to play?"
"He wasn't there." I admitted, "But I found something else I'd like to do."
With no other explanation, I headed into our shared room and pulled out a guitar, song lyrics swirling around my head.
'Suicide notes. Trash. Hmm…" I thought, "Found suicide notes in your trash yesterday…..the other day…..suicide notes in your name…..good start. Now, day….bay, ray…cray…play….mayday…..way…..hmmm."
I found myself fiddling around with the lyrics and its music for most of the night. King Boomer didn't disturb me for some reason, I think he too knew the importance of what I was trying to do.
After finishing the song in the early morning, I dozed off till about 11 when Mikayla woke me up.
"Do you know where I might find Lanny?" I asked, "It's imperative that I find him."
Mikayla thought about it for a couple seconds before admitting she didn't know where he would be.
"I need people out looking for him. When you find him, let me know," I cried, already slightly worried that Lanny might have gone ahead and committed suicide.
Mikayla took the request with no questions and sent out a team of guards to search for Lanny. I in the meanwhile stressed myself out just waiting. After a couple hours of stressing out, Mikayla came to me and told me she and the guards had found Lanny, at the Mermaid Lagoon.
Wasting no time, I headed out there, Mikayla by my side. When we reached the lagoon, we found Lanny curled in the fetal position, tears in his eyes. He had just cried and was staring out at the view, with a lifeless expression on his face.
"Look, Lanny." I began, taking a seat next to him, "I saw the notes you left behind. Life sucks for sure. I was going to say some words but instead, I wrote a song for you. It goes like this.
I went through your trash the other day
And found suicide notes in your name
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mikayla's eyes widen in surprise. It was clear she hadn't known about this development and I wondered if she missed it in the same way I had.
You think no one knows what you're going through
But I do, I used to feel the same way
I was battling demons and running from the light
Seeing darkness wherever I'd go
Images of my childhood flashed by and the world around me dissolved. Soon I was singing to a younger version of myself who was sobbing uncontrollably and held his father's pistol in his hand.
But I've since learned that nothing can compare
To the power of forgiveness in all its might
The power of forgiveness is in letting go of the past
It's in turning hate into peace
It's not about making the pain go away
It's about making sure the dark times don't last
The world came back to my focus and I noticed both Lanny and Mikayla thinking about the words.
The power of forgiveness set my soul free
It washed away my pain and my hurt
It showed me the light in the darkness
It's hope for you and me
Again, the world dissolved and I found myself singing to Lanny.
I've found out there's another way
To escape all the pain you're feeling
You think you have to fight this battle alone
But you don't, we are all here to stay
Whether you need hope or whether you need light
We're here to support you
We'll show you what forgiveness can do
Show you the power of forgiveness can make things right
Again I was singing to my younger self.
The power of forgiveness is in letting go of the past
It's in turning hate into peace
It's not about making the pain go away
It's about making sure the dark times don't last
The power of forgiveness set my soul free
It washed away my pain and my hurt
It showed me the light in the darkness
It's hope for you and me
When happiness felt like something new
And I was hurting more and more each day
That's when I found the power to change
A power that I can now use to help you
The power of forgiveness is in letting go of the past
It's in turning hate into peace
It's not about making the pain go away
It's about making sure the dark times don't last
The power of forgiveness set my soul free
It washed away my pain and my hurt
It showed me the light in the darkness
It's hope for you and me
That's the power of forgiveness
That's the power of forgiveness
That's the power of forgiveness
The power of forgiveness
Forgive yourself
"First of all….that was a great song. I don't know how I'm going to live with this continued guilt, but I'm, going to give forgiveness a chance."
"Thank you, Brady," Mikayla whispered, "I had no idea Lanny was considering suicide. Thank you. Thank you."
RxC5#
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