Song Sung Blue

by Richard M. Johnson

The boys took me to a strip bar on La Cienega for my bachelor party, telling me it was the traditional thing to do. Bored silly, I watched a half-dozen or so naked women gyrate in an apathetic haze, oblivious to the leering men around them. Then, without warning, a familiar Neal Diamond song sprang from the speakers, landing on the unsuspecting patrons and dancers. From the back of the joint one timid male voice sang out, then another and another until all the men in the place were singing along, off key, yet with gusto. The women on the tables stopped dancing and looked at one another in disbelief, then started to giggle enjoying the respite. It was the only reason I will remember that evening fondly.

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Richard M. Johnson, author of Dog and Pony Show, has lived in different parts of California all his life. He enjoys writing these stories and is grateful whenever he is allowed to play in the Six Sentences garden. (Writing his bio? Not so much.)