Iβve colored in a tape! User + ID: Music_Lover + 135845
Entry:
Tell me a bit about you entry!: You're shuffling through the cassettes at your local thrift store when a certain one catches your eye. The insert has little hand drawn flowers and a couple of stickers saying things like "Spirit of '76" and "Groovy!" A yellowed note falls out when you open the case and, as you bend down to pick it up, you already know that it's coming home with you. You carefully put the note back where it came from and head to the front to pay. Fighting the urge to immediately crack the case back open and read whatever the folded paper could hold, you head home.
In the comfort of your bedroom, you glance at the couple of cassette decks that you've planned on fixing but don't have the slightest clue as to where to start before taking out the boombox you'd gotten for your birthday last year. You stick the plug into the outlet by your bed and settle down on it with the case in hand. You take a longer look at the homemade cover, noticing the water damage around the corner and it crosses your mind that it could possibly spell trouble for the tape inside. You hope not, opening up the case once more and taking the folded paper into your hands. You unfold it, taking extra care to not rip the worn edges any more than they already are. Some spots of ink are smudged and your ability to read cursive is minimal at best, but your eyes move over the words as you hear them in your mind.
"August 1978
It's taken me months to finally finish this, but you asked and I'm your slave ha-ha! I had to sit up until midnight to get that clear signal from Chicago, and even then I had to pray they'd play our song and NOT TALK over the ending. Too bad I only have the 8-track deck in my truck or we wouldn't have to wait for my tape to come back around every time we wanted to hear it. I saw an adapter in the Sears catalog and maybe when I get the funds I'll order it for us? Unless I save it up for your wedding ring that is. Remember that night we (the words are smudged away and you think it's probably for the best) and I gave you my class ring? I know you say that's all you need but I wanna get the real thing before we actually tie the knot. I'm looking at you now, still asleep even though the sun's streaming through the window. It's funny that I'm writing this even though you're inches away and I could easily say it all whenever you wake, but here we are. There's something about having my words physically written down that I'd prefer you to keep.
- Seb"
You turn the paper over, and there's a tracklist not written in cursive. A few of the songs you recognize, but the rest you're a bit unsure about. You slip the cassette out of its case, popping it into the boombox and pressing play. You hope it's not hungry today, even though the object's behavior had always been civil and every tape that's gone in has come back out unscathed. It clicks and you hear the whir of the motor before the sound comes through the speakers. Your finger slides along the edge of the plastic casing, mind wandering through the decades prior as the music fills your room.
(SORRY about the wall of text!! I went overboard haha)
tag: epicmixtape I'm claiming a participation entry for the mix-tape raffle! User + ID: Music_Lover + 135845
Link to entry: Above <3