From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

"At that time, the entire crew was ready, and the director could start filming with a single command. We were all waiting for the male lead to take his place, but he had disappeared, and we couldn't find him anywhere."

"You have to remember, this was a prison!"

"Although the prison agreed to let us film, our activity area was limited, and we couldn't move around freely. Yet, we couldn't find the protagonist of the movie. The entire crew was dumbfounded."

"Where did Anson run off to?"

"You can imagine my panic at the time."

Even now, thinking back, Cody still felt lingering fear, let alone back then.

Cody vaguely remembered running around like a headless fly, but without any success. In his慌慌张张, Reese had an idea.

Originally, Reese's filming work had all been completed, and she could have wrapped up and left; but Reese still followed the crew all the way to Folsom Prison.

Here, the crew planned to spend two days filming the remaining scenes, adding a period to the entire film project, announcing the wrap-up. With the end in sight, Reese didn't want to miss the final journey, so she went along.

In the chaos, Reese thought of the visiting room—

Although it wasn't a space the prison had opened to the crew, the warden had welcomed the crew there, and it had been thoroughly cleared and prepared for filming today.

Conveniently, no staff or idlers were lingering there. If Anson wanted a quiet space, it was clearly the best choice.

Sure enough, Cody and Reese found the missing male lead in the visiting room.

The visiting room had windows with iron bars. Looking through the window, you could see Anson sitting on a bench, strumming a guitar.

"Anson!"

Cody pounded on the visiting room door, the panels thudding loudly, the sound echoing in the space. However, Anson didn't even look up, just hung his head, completely focused, all his attention seemingly on the strings, which stunned Cody.

After continuing to call out a few more times, Anson still didn't respond, making it clear that he could hear but simply didn't want to pay attention, which stumped Cody.

What to do?

After thinking for a moment, Reese called out again, "John, Johnny!"

Anson, who was completely engrossed and lost in himself, seemed to be possessed and unable to extricate himself. Reese tried to grab Anson's attention, but this time she failed as well—

Anson still didn't respond.

Reese patted Cody on the shoulder, "You keep an eye on him here, I'll be right back."

By the time Reese returned with Lucas, Cody had already shouted himself hoarse.

Watching Anson the whole time, Cody felt somewhat afraid, not just worried, but also a chilling fear, as if he were witnessing a demon possessing Anson's body. No matter how he called out or made noise, he couldn't reach Anson's ears at all. Anson's soul seemed to be floating on another planet, a thought that made Cody uneasy.

Lucas appeared, panting, but didn't rush to join in the shouting. Since Cody and Reese's calls hadn't been able to attract Anson's attention, it wouldn't help to have someone else try.

Moreover, this was a prison. They just needed to notify the guards or the warden, and every door had a key. They just needed to open the door, so there was no need to worry.

What really worried Lucas was Anson's state.

The Anson before him wasn't just immersed in the role to the point of being unable to extricate himself, otherwise their calls to Johnny Cash should have been able to attract Anson's attention; now Anson seemed to have entered another space, letting his thoughts wander in endless nothingness, a state full of uncertainty.

A shadow loomed heavily over Lucas's heart.

"Quiet, everyone be quiet!"

Lucas finally spoke, stopping the others and restoring silence to the world.

Listening carefully, you could catch the melody Anson was humming softly—

Hmm, hmm hmm hmm…

Light and gentle, quiet and sad, it seemed as if you could see a soul slowly falling apart, floating in the boundless darkness, gradually disappearing.

Cody was stunned, and so was Reese.

They had seen Anson being too excited just now. Although they noticed that Anson was playing the guitar, they didn't think much of it, just impatiently trying to attract Anson's attention, so they didn't notice the notes coming from deep in Anson's throat.

So, Anson… was creating music?

Wait, could it be that Anson left the entire crew busy in Folsom Prison and disappeared on his own, only to be creating in the visiting room?

It sounded absurd, like a joke you couldn't laugh at.

But Cody quickly came to his senses. He remembered the situation before the start of "Walk the Line"—

This scene before him was familiar.

So, because of Lucas's actions, Cody calmed down and listened attentively, following suit.

No lyrics, just melody.

No singing, just humming.

Everything was quiet and tenacious, ignoring the coldness of Folsom Prison and the clamor of their interfering group outside, just immersed in his own world.

"Ah… Time passes (No-Time)… Ah…"

Gently, tugging at the heart, not using force, yet making it hard to breathe, the wound hidden deep in the soul was accidentally torn open again.

Pain, slowly overflowing during Anson's soft humming, instantly filling the entire chest, dragging the soul down from the heights of the universe.

Falling, falling again.

The loss of control in free fall fiercely dragged the soul into endless darkness, yet in the howling wind, dumbfounded, tears streamed down.

A sadness, a confusion, a loss.

They were lost in the vast universe, standing before grandeur and vastness, deeply feeling their own insignificance, triviality, the power of time and space engulfing them with overwhelming force.

Standing before them, in the visiting room, was it Anson? Johnny? Or a lost soul wounded in the universe?

Without Lucas needing to explain further, Cody, Reese, and the others who arrived later all quieted down, staring blankly at the scene before them.

The warden arrived, bringing the keys.

But Lucas stopped the warden, "Sorry, can you give me a little time?"

The others didn't understand.

Lucas didn't know how to explain, "Anson… he needs some space right now, and some time. So he ran here alone, it's a signal he's sending, we should wait patiently a little longer."

"The crew's filming work can wait a bit, you guys leave first, I'll stay here, I'll accompany Anson for a while."

His words were evasive, vague, Lucas found it difficult to explain his thoughts clearly.

However, Reese understood.

Reese, as Anson's partner, had seen everything that had happened on set during this time.

Reese turned to look at the others, "Let's go, give Anson some space. Filming can wait a little while, it won't affect anything, we still have time."

At Reese's urging, everyone else left, leaving only Lucas, standing outside the visiting room, quietly watching Anson.

Anson, still holding the guitar, singing alone.