Early in the cold streets of Johannesburg, the young man with one missing arm was climbing out of the taxi as he looked around at the big buildings and fast cars driving past him. His face became positive as he walked to his new home. A young woman approached him and she said: “Hello. You must be new in this town because you look lost and your face is unfamiliar.”

In response he said with a low, small, shy voice: “Hey…n…n…no…No, I am not lost, but yes, I am new in this place. My name is Alex. I am from the U…” The young woman’s phone rang and they had to cut the conversation and go their separate ways.

The following day around 12 o’clock, Alex was exhausted because he spent all morning playing piano and singing, so he decided to go to the shop to buy a cold drink. As he was walking to the shop, he saw a poster that indicated that a band named B.A.D needed a piano player. He was over the moon to see that poster because he knew he was excellent with the piano. He ran to the shop with a lot of excitement and he spent the rest of his day practicing for the auditions that were going to take place the following day.

That day of the auditions arrived, excitement was written all over his face and it was now his turn to prove that he was the best. He entered the room and he saw the woman he had met the first time he came to town. He went closer to the judges to sign his name and they noticed that his one arm was missing.

Just as he was about to play the piano, that young women said: “Hey young man, we do not have time to play games here. We are looking for serious people. Please get out! We want people who can play piano excellently and it is so crystal clear that you are in no position to play, so there is the door.”

The whole team agreed with her because of his one arm. Alex wished that he would just disappear into the ground, but he remained calm and went out without uttering a word.

He was on his way home, walking slowly with a sad face. He saw another poster, and this one was advertising the music band competitions that were going to take place three days from now, but only groups of two to ten people could join.

He was filled with excitement all over again but he had one problem, to find another person for him to be able to join the competition. Later that day as he was staring at the sunset at his home, he saw a young boy with a violin. He quickly called the boy and asked him to play the violin for him. The boy played so well that he asked to boy to join him and the boy agreed.

The day of the competition arrived, and he and the boy were ready to rock the world. Everyone looked at Alex with many questions, but that did not kill his confidence. The competition proceeded and the teams played their music, including the B.A.D crew. Alex and the boy were the last to perform. Before they played it was awkward and very silent. Everyone wanted to hear whether they would make it or not, especially with Alex having only one arm.

Alex began with playing the piano very softly and the boy followed with his beautiful violin, then Alex started singing. People began to applaud, clapping their hands with joy and screamed at Alex as if he was the most famous singer. The judges announced him and the boy as the winners and that they had won R500 000 in cash and would go to the UK to perform there, whereas the B.A.D team came out only 4th.

The next day Alex did an interview and said: “I am from San Diego in the USA and I studied music in Paris. Having only one arm is not an obstacle from following my dreams. Allowing people to judge you is the only obstacle.”

The B.A.D team were so disappointed because they had rejected a star to play with them. They learned never to judge a book by its cover.