[Verse]
In a shop that smelled like paper and pine,
Where the clocks forgot about keeping time,
My mom would hum, the floor would creak,
And laughter lived in every squeak.
[Verse]
Lao Lao said, “The walls can hear,”
She’d smile and tap the chandelier.
“This place remembers what you feel—
It knows what’s fake, and what is real.”
[Chorus]
This was where the wonder stayed,
Behind each drawer and lampshade fade.
A bell would ring, a door would swing—
Whenever I would laugh or sing.
The Silver Fish would flash and glide,
Like joy itself was trapped inside.
[Verse]
We sold small things no one could name—
A pearl-shaped brush, a picture frame.
But every shelf had secret grace,
Like time slowed down to find this place.
[Verse]
I’d chase my echo through the rugs,
Between the boxes, past the jugs.
And sometimes when I cracked a smile,
The wind would change and stay a while.
[Chorus]
This was where the world felt wide,
Where grown-ups laughed and dreams could hide.
A tiny shop, a laughing boy—
With open hands and borrowed joy.
The Silver Fish would blink and gleam—
Like maybe all of this was dream.
[Outro]
I didn’t know what magic meant…
But laughter always paid the rent.
And somehow even now, I hear—
The chime, the song, the shelves… still near.
[Verse]
Troy never won at anything—
The flippers flailed, the ball took wing.
He’d bump the glass, then miss the shot,
And mutter, “Guess that’s all I’ve got.”
[Verse]
But that one day, I cracked a smile—
Something strange moved through the aisle.
I laughed once, soft and light and quick—
And suddenly the board went click.
[Chorus]
Lights flashed red and green and blue,
Troy looked back and said, “Was that you?”
He shook the table, missed the seam—
But the ball still hit the silver stream.
He called me “magic,” called me “weird,”
I just laughed and disappeared.
[Verse]
Next round, he begged me, “Do it again!”
Then he told a joke about a chicken and ten.
I giggled once and rubbed my shoe—
And somehow… everything came through.
[Chorus]
He hit the bonus, set the score,
The crowd had never cheered before.
Jason watched with lips half-closed—
Like he had seen a ghost in clothes.
Troy just grinned and tipped his hat—
“You laugh, I win. Imagine that.”
[Outro]
He still plays and I still grin,
But never say what lives within.
The Prophet’s just a silly name—
But something changed inside that game.
[Verse 1]
It started small — a stubbed old toe,
A coffee spill, a broken bow.
But when I laughed, the world still cheered,
So I just smiled and disappeared.
[Verse 2]
A balloon saved, a child beamed bright,
And I fell down a stair that night.
They said I brought the best of days,
But I began to count the ways.
[Chorus]
Something changed in the way the world turned,
Every smile lit a fire where I burned.
They found luck in the echo of my cheer,
While I watched pieces disappear.
[Verse 3]
The mirror cracked when I told a joke,
My tooth went black as fortune spoke.
They kissed their coupons, grinned with glee,
While shadows climbed the back of me.
[Verse 4]
I used to laugh without regret,
But now I brace for pain I’ll get.
They never see the cost it takes—
The little cracks, the quiet breaks.
[Chorus]
Something changed in the rhythm of fate,
Each good deed sealed another gate.
They toast to joy, I count the price,
My laughter’s sweet… and full of ice.
[Bridge]
What kind of gift comes wrapped in pain?
A song that soaks you in the rain?
A golden laugh with rusted chains—
Still echoing through windowpanes…
[Final Chorus]
Something changed, I feel it still,
A laugh once light now bends the will.
They rise while I fall down unseen…
The joke's on me… the machine.
[Verse]
Mom was dancing in the kitchen,
To that old song on the radio.
She spun like she was made of sunlight,
Didn’t even know I saw her glow.
[Verse]
Then the phone rang in the hallway,
And the sky inside me split.
A voice said “She’s gone, we’re sorry,”
And the world fell quiet... bit by bit.
[Chorus]
I laughed that morning—just one time.
It echoed like a bell, like a nursery rhyme.
But since she left, the joy don’t stay—
I put my laughter...
away.
[Verse]
Troy came by with his old dumb grin,
Said, “Let’s hear that laugh again.”
He told me a joke about ducks and priests,
But I just stared through the windowpane.
[Verse]
He said, “You still got magic in you,”
I said, “Not the kind you’d want.”
He left me with a scribbled pun,
And a look that said “You won’t.”
[Chorus]
I laughed for her—before the fall.
Now I hold it in like a funeral hall.
The chimes still ring, the light still plays—
But I don’t smile
these days.
[Outro]
I laughed that morning… just once, then never.
She was the sun.
Now I remember…
why I stopped.
[Verse 1]
It’s always quiet in the morning now,
No kettle song, no laughing vow.
The chimes still ring when doors swing wide—
But no one stays too long inside.
[Verse 2]
My step-father Richard hums and counts the till,
Moves like someone who’s never still.
He asks me things in measured tones,
Like, “Dust the shelves?” or “Fix the phones?”
[Verse 3]
Troy still comes, says, “Try this joke.”
It lands and floats, but never pokes.
He says, “She’d want you laughing, man.”
I nod like I’ve got some kind of plan.
[Chorus]
The shop still breathes, but not the same.
Each sound feels softer since she came…
and went.
[Verse 4]
A woman asked for a music box,
Chose the one with a wooden fox.
She said, “Your mother helped me heal.”
I nodded once, unsure what to feel.
[Bridge – Spoken-style / Sung soft]
Somewhere in the amber light,
Her voice still echoes when I write.
And Richard’s eyes… they never blink—
But always seem to stop and think.
[Final Verse]
The clock strikes three. The sunlight fades.
I sweep the floor, adjust the shades.
It’s not the same, but I still try—
To keep the corners warm and dry.
[Verse]
He walked like time had slowed its pace,
Hands behind, a patient grace.
His eyes held storms, but smiled like spring—
And somewhere near, the jade bells ring.
[Verse]
He touched the shelf like it knew his name,
Picked up a dragon carved in flame.
He said, “This piece was shaped with care—
By hands that still remember air.”
[Chorus]
Shen, the stranger with a voice like tea,
Said, “You are more than what they see.”
He bowed and smiled like he knew my past—
And something in me breathed at last.
[Verse]
He spoke of rivers and hidden flames,
Of spirits that live without their names.
He said, “Some gifts are sewn with thread—
Too old for fear, too bright for dread.”
[Verse]
I asked him why he came to stay,
He said, “The wind just blew this way.”
He left a charm and five small bills—
But left behind a thousand thrills.
[Chorus – Reprise]
Shen, who moved like whispered lore,
Said, “You’ve been here long before.”
His words were strange, but gently true—
Like I’d forgotten what I knew.
[Bridge]
There’s peace in his silence, thunder in his eyes,
And when he left, I swore the skies
Were humming a tune my mother once sang—
The kind that plays when dragon bells clang.
[Final Chorus]
Shen, a ripple in the stream of fate,
Said, “Your joy is not too late.”
He left me there—unsure, undone—
But maybe healing has begun.
[Verse]
Troy said, “Come on, one more song—
Greasy food and the night’s not long.”
We walked past signs that buzzed and moaned,
Into The Hound, where time disowned.
[Verse]
The singer swayed like wind on gin,
Forgot the line, then rolled it in.
Troy ordered two and flashed that grin—
“Bet these burgers’ll draw you in.”
[Chorus]
I smiled… but not too wide,
Stirred my cup, and let it slide.
The music played, the place was loud—
But joy stayed hidden in the crowd.
[Verse]
Troy told a joke with a sideways glance—
Something 'bout ducks in preacher pants.
I almost laughed. It almost sparked.
But something in me just stayed dark.
[Verse]
He caught the hitch behind my breath,
The way it caught like winter’s death.
He didn’t push, just took a bite,
And said, “It’s fine. We’ll get it right.”
[Chorus]
I smiled… just half a frame,
Like a flame too shy to name.
The band played on, the drums too proud—
But joy stayed hushed beneath the crowd.
[Bridge]
I felt it rise, then press back down—
A shadow curled beneath my crown.
What if one laugh brings fire again?
What if it costs a second friend?
[Final Chorus]
So I smiled… and held it back,
The jukebox humming through the cracks.
Troy just sang, all dumb and proud—
But my laugh stayed buried in the crowd.
[Verse]
Shen called me up and said, “Let’s grab tea—
There’s a spot by the willow near pharmacy.”
I shrugged and said, “Sure, what’s to lose?”
Didn’t know I’d walk out with brand new shoes.
[Verse]
He spoke of stars that fall, not fade,
Of names long lost, but still well-made.
He sipped his chai and held his grin—
Said, “The luck in your bones wants out again.”
[Chorus]
I said, “You talk like old books do.”
He said, “Sometimes those tales are true.”
Then he nodded at a mother, fumbling to pay—
And her coffee cup refilled anyway.
[Verse]
I stared down the counter, caught off guard,
The register froze like a faulty card.
Shen just smiled, calm and small—
Like leaves change color, that’s all.
[Verse]
He said, “You’ve heard of dragons, right?”
I laughed, “In books and pixel fights.”
He leaned in close and sipped his brew—
Said, “Well… one of us just told you the truth.”
[Chorus]
I said, “That’s wild.” He said, “Could be.”
“Magic’s not rare—it’s just sleepy.”
“It hums in songs, in stillness, in pain—
But wakes when you smile through the rain.”
[Bridge]
I watched the steam curl like paper lore,
As Shen bought luck from an unseen store.
He said, “Your laugh ain’t lost—it’s crowned.”
And something in my ribs unbound.
[Final Chorus]
He paid with breath, not coin or code,
Then walked with me down mulberry road.
And though he looked like just a man…
The sky hummed soft
like it knew his plan.
[Verse]
I dusted the shelves she used to tend,
Where dragons curl and books pretend.
The bell above the door still sings—
But her voice came from quieter things.
[Verse]
I found her photo tucked away,
Between a fan and lunar tray.
Her eyes still laughed, her hands still spoke—
In every chip of every joke.
[Chorus]
For Lao Lao, I’ll try again—
To laugh where silence once had been.
I’ll risk the spark, the echo’s toll…
For her, I’ll give my laughter soul.
[Verse]
I remembered tea and stories spun,
Of dragons dancing in the sun.
Of children born with golden breath,
Who made the world forget its death.
[Verse]
So I tried—just once, no show,
A half-laugh low, a humble glow.
The room stayed still, the sky stayed blue—
Just chimes that swayed like they once knew.
[Chorus]
For Lao Lao, a chuckled flame,
A joy too small for grief to name.
It didn’t burn. It didn’t scar—
It simply lit one silent star.
[Bridge]
I laughed, then stopped—my voice unsure,
Afraid of what might stir or blur.
But Lena looked up from where she read,
And softly smiled at me and said…
“It’s good to hear you laugh instead.”
[Final Chorus]
For Lao Lao, and what lies ahead.
For who I was, and who I’ll be—
I laughed, and something lifted free.
Not all the fear, but maybe one…
Just one…
undusted sun.
[Verse]
The alley turned where no street should,
And shadows whispered, “You’ve been good.”
A car too black, a smile too clean,
No plates, no names—just something mean.
[Chorus]
“We know what you are, what you’ve done,
The world don’t need your kind of sun.
So laugh again, and someone will pay—
We always collect when luck runs astray.”
[Verse]
Their eyes were pale like scraped machines,
Their words too smooth, rehearsed routines.
They passed a card—no name, no town—
Just gold embossing, burning down:
[Mini Verse – Whispered insert]
“The Syndicate — Success and Gain.
Break the wheel. We’ll forge the chain.”
[Chorus]
“Laugh, and a thread might snap mid-seam.
Laugh, and a choir might lose its theme.
You bring joy, but the balance reels—
So hush, little dragon, if you’d like to heal.”
[Bridge]
“We saw you spark in the arcade light.
You should’ve burned in that mall that night.
You don’t mean harm—but still, you do.
And when you break… we’ll harvest you.”
[Final Chorus]
They left me where the lamplight bends—
Back in my chair, where silence sends.
But now I know—what waits, what dares…
And they don’t know the laugh I wear.
It’s not for sale. It’s not on lease.
It’s fire wrapped in quiet peace.
[Verse]
They warned me once in coat and smoke,
Said laughter’s just a cruel joke.
That joy’s a flame you shouldn’t feed—
That luck’s a beast too wild to need.
[Verse]
But guess what, friends? I’ve cracked before.
I’ve watched my hope spill on the floor.
You think your fear can clip these wings?
You ever hear what laughing brings?
[Chorus]
So I laugh anyway—
Belly-deep, and bold as spring.
I laugh like thunder off the string.
You want control? Well here’s my say:
I burn. I break.
But I laugh anyway.
[Verse]
I chuckled once in a room half-gone,
And the walls lit up like breaking dawn.
A grin can bend the gears of fate—
My joy’s not yours to regulate.
[Chorus]
So I laugh anyway—
Not for them, but just for me.
For Lao Lao’s tea, for who I’ll be.
They chain the world and call it grace—
But joy’s a riot
they can’t erase.
[Bridge]
“You think you price my breath, my grin?
You charge the sky, then fence the wind?”
I don’t owe silence. I don’t trade pain.
My laugh is lightning—feel the rain.
[Final Chorus]
So I laugh anyway—
Louder now beneath this sky.
You want my spark? Then watch me fly.
Call it curse, or call it stray—
But my joy is mine.
And mine to blaze.
Laugh lines deep like riverbed,
Hope rebuilt where grief once bled.
The world cracked once—but not today.
You took my fear…
and I laughed anyway.
[Verse]
The Silver Fish was burning down,
Smoke like ink in twilight town.
Troy pulled up, his voice all fear—
“That’s your shop, man! It’s burning clear!”
The chimes were shrieking down the street,
The door hung loose, the glass half beat.
The fire danced through books and thread—
Like it knew the tales we’d never said.
[Verse 2]
Troy shouted, “Call! We’ve gotta run!”
But I felt her cough through boards undone.
Lena was up there—cornered, stuck—
And every breath in me said luck.
[Chorus 1]
So I laughed—
Not in joy, but in flame.
I laughed like someone reclaiming their name.
I laughed like thunder through the pain—
And the fire flinched from that refrain.
[Verse 3]
They told me once—“Laugh and fall.”
“Joy brings fire. Joy kills all.”
But Lao Lao said it clear and right:
A dragon laughs before it bites.
[Chorus 2]
So I laughed—
Not to heal, but to fight.
I laughed like day breaks into night.
They sent flame. I answered breath.
They wanted silence—
I laughed instead.
[Bridge]
They sparked the match. They fed the flame.
But I roared back. I sang my name.
Their fire thinned, their shadow bowed—
My joy stood up. It sang out loud.
[Final Chorus]
So I laughed—
For Lena. For Troy. For me.
I laughed like rivers breaking free.
The glass burst singing. The smoke turned sound—
And somewhere above… her feet found ground.
[Outro]
Troy said, “What the hell was that, man?”
I said, “What they feared. What they banned.”
“I laughed…
and I meant it.”
[Verse]
The shop was quiet. Smoke long gone.
The floor still damp. The day moved on.
I poured her tea. She said, “I’m fine.”
Troy waved and smiled, said, “Man, this time? You’re divine.”
[Verse]
Then the call.
Then the click.
Then the silence—sharp and thick.
No sirens sang. No window shout.
Just gone—like they had mapped it out.
[Chorus]
They took him—
Didn’t leave a note.
Just Troy's coat by the door
and a joke that caught my throat.
They took him.
Because I laughed.
And now my joy
is split in half.
[Verse]
I checked the corners, chased the dark,
Tore the night down, spark by spark.
But the city swallowed all my sound—
Even the pinball lights slowed down.
[Chorus]
They took him—
Not to end, but break.
To whisper in the silence
that joy’s a heavy stake.
They took him,
Because I dared—
To wield my light
like it was spared.
[Bridge]
The laugh that saved Lena sealed his fate.
The joy they feared became his gate.
And now I walk with quiet dread—
A hundred jokes I’ve left unsaid.
[Final Verse]
He always said, “You’ve got the spark.”
But now I’m here…
Alone in dark.
[Final Chorus]
They took him.
And I should fold.
But grief, like gold,
won’t do what it’s told.
They took him.
And left me sore—
But my next laugh
will thunder more.
[Verse]
The books were always balanced.
Margins sharp and clean.
Ink so fine it might have bled
from some old machine-fed dream.
But this time I looked closer—
in the folds between the sums—
And what I found was colder
than what silence ever becomes.
[Verse]
Dates I knew.
Moments squared.
“Laugh at noon — balloon girl spared.”
“6:15 — professor paused.”
Each one logged without a cause.
Not priced, not sold—but underlined.
Observed and tagged like power mined.
[Chorus]
Ledgerwork.
That’s what I was—
A miracle tracked just because.
A grin recorded, cause unknown—
But every note felt not my own.
Ledgerwork—so clean. So grim.
And every thread…
led back to him.
[Verse]
There—her name.
Right next to mine.
“Mother — casualty. Optimal sign.”
I dropped the book.
The truth ran cold.
They’d watched her die—
to see if I’d fold.
[Verse 4]
Each joy I sparked brought something back—
A faltering step, a subtle crack.
I gave the world a bit of grace…
They answered with a darker place.
[Chorus]
Ledgerwork.
Not yet drained—
But every laugh was gently chained.
Now I see what silence hides:
The shadow cast
behind her eyes.
[Bridge]
[Final Verse]
The pen was dry. The ink ran low.
But not before it signed it so:
“Subject stable. No signs of break.”
“Prepared for phase three. For heaven’s sake.”
And I closed the book…
but not my ache.
[Verse]
He said it like a father should—
Soft and low, like it was good.
“I never meant to hurt you, son.”
Then smiled like the damage was done.
[Verse]
He said, “From the first time that you laughed,
we knew you’d shift the aftermath.
It’s not about control or chains—
It’s about returns. It’s about gains.”
[Chorus]
He waited till I cracked and shook,
Till doubt rewrote my mother’s look.
He let the silence chew my name—
Then whispered comfort, fed the flame.
[Verse]
He said, “Miracles are market share.
And joy like yours is rarely fair.
So yes, we watched. And yes, we bent—
But only when the laughter meant.”
[Verse]
He called the Syndicate “protection’s plan.”
Said, “They can help you understand.
They’ll keep you safe, and end the storm—
You’ll laugh again… but uniform.”
[Chorus]
The bad luck? Him. The broken thread.
The cost I paid for smiles I spread.
He called her death “a needed sign.”
He said it soft—like it was mine.
[Bridge]
“You weren’t strong enough to choose,”
he said, “So we gave you something you could lose.”
He said, “You’ll thank me when you’re whole—
Your gift belongs in proper roles.”
[Final Verse]
I didn’t scream.
I didn’t fight.
I just let go of every light.
He thought I’d break.
But I just burned—
And now I know
what I’ve unlearned.
[Verse]
Shen walked in like silence woke,
His coat still damp with cloud and smoke.
No “hello,” no need for name—
The air bent first. Then so did flame.
[Verse]
He said, “I felt it—your ache, your rise.
The moment doubt unlit your skies.
I didn’t come to grieve or mend.
I came to mark where you begin.”
[Chorus]
“You are not broken. You are delay.
A storm withheld. A sun in gray.
And I am Shen—your blood, your kin—
Returned to wake what waits within.”
[Verse]
He stepped through ash like none could stain,
His breath made ribbons out of pain.
“They’ve named you danger. Named you wild.
But dragons know their child.”
[Chorus]
“I am not here to make amends.
I am the fire that doesn’t bend.
You are my son. You are the sign—
And now it’s time to realign.”
[Bridge]
His voice grew deep. The walls pulled wide.
Light poured off him, winged and high.
No scream, no roar—just scale and sky,
And I could feel my fear reply.
[Chorus 3]
“I am Shen—the wind, the vow.
I would not come… until just now.
But rise with me, and they will see—
The cost of touching destiny.”
[Final Verse]
I didn’t bow. I didn’t run.
I met his fire like morning sun.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t need—
I took one breath—
and chose to lead.
[Verse]
We walked beneath a cracking sky,
Shen in flame, and me near-dry.
The city held its breath in stone,
But I had come to make it known.
[Verse]
Their tower stood like truth denied,
A spine of greed, their glassy pride.
But joy’s not meant for vault or steel—
And I had laughter yet to feel.
[Chorus]
So I laughed—
not soft, not shy,
But bright enough to split the sky.
And deep within their ledger stacks,
The ink caught flame between the cracks.
[Verse]
I found Troy bruised but smirking wide,
His eyes like thunder held inside.
I broke the chain with breath alone—
And joy came roaring like a home.
[Verse]
The guards stepped back, unsure, afraid—
Their orders wilted in the shade.
I met their fear with open sound,
And every step I took shook ground.
[Chorus]
So I laughed—
and stones let go.
The tower bent with echo’s glow.
No spell, no sword, no roaring flame—
Just laughter loud enough to name.
[Bridge]
Their balance sheets lit from within—
Years of silence cracking thin.
A joy they caged became the cost…
And every line they wrote was lost.
[Chorus]
So I laughed—
and they were done.
Not slain, but scattered by the sun.
Their crown was smoke. Their truth was dust.
And what they feared…
was what I trust.
[Final Verse]
The wind returned. The city knelt.
Troy stood still with something felt.
And in the ash, where silence grew—
My joy stood up.
And walked me through.
[Verse]
The chimes still sing above the door,
And Lena sweeps the creaking floor.
Troy brings tea way too foamy,
Says, “Don’t you dare make this place homey.”
[Verse]
A man in debt got one last grace—
The banker paused, then dropped the case.
A lost balloon came floating back—
Carried by wind that changed its track.
[Chorus]
And the sun is silver—not proud, not bright,
But soft like dawn, like truth at night.
I don’t burn now. I don’t run.
I’ve learned to live beneath the sun.
[Verse]
Saw a girl through the sandwich shop pane,
Face all quiet, soft with strain.
I knew that look—it finds you fast…
When magic taps you from the past.
[Verse]
I speak their names when no one’s near—
My mother’s laugh, Lao Lao’s cheer.
And Shen, who flew where I can’t go—
But left behind a quiet glow.
Lena smiles with softened grace—
Not just kind now… something placed.
[Chorus]
And the sun is silver—not a blaze, not roar—
But peace you find behind the door.
The tower fell. The story spun.
But I stayed here… and I’m not done.
[Chorus]
Yes, the sun is silver—not a blaze, not roar—
But peace you find behind the door.
The tower fell. The story spun.
But I stayed here… and I’m not done.
[Outro]
If you’re ever lost or feel undone,
Just follow where the chimes have run.
There’s laughter here, behind the lid—
And if you come by…
ask for David.