|
|
|
The moon had risen high in the sky by the time our picnic was finished. I was with Melissa in her bedroom now; she was already in bed, ready to fall asleep, because the night's "instant stardom" had hit her hard. "I told you I would tell you more about Mme. Serena and myself," I said, sitting down beside her on the bedspread, "and so I shall." I looked out at the moon for a moment and then my story began:
"It wasn't too long ago. I was the eldest daughter of a prestigious government official, so it wasn't like no one knew me, but I didn't have many friends because of my quiet nature. My family didn't live in luxury but we were better off than most; my siblings and I had our squabbles, as did our parents, but life was generally pretty good.
"Then, I entered middle-school. Apparently, it wasn't cool to be smart there because the other kids picked on me like crazy. They invited me to parties and then stood me up, put bugs in my hair, one girl even thought it was funny to throw a shoe at me. The other kids laughed when they saw my tears. 'I'm sure it'll pass,' my mother told me, but she didn't understand me; no one did.
"No one, that is, except for my older brother, Jasper. He was 17 and went to a college that was close to home. (Our parents were fine with that because it was a good college and Jasper was a bright young man.) He was the only one in our family who looked like our omther, who had sandy blond hair and grey-green eyes; my sister and I took after our father. He was the one who looked at me with the most concern when I came home, depressed, almost every day, sometimes even in tears. I was 12 years old.
"He called me aside one day and said he wanted to show me something. I sighed as I followed him to the secret place. (It was dark, but we knew our way to that little clearing he had discovered when I was six better than I knew how to sing.) It was autumn, a few days before Halloween, so I thought maybe he had made me a costume or something." I paused for a minute before continuing, eyes downcast at the covers, as I remembered what came next. "I was half-right; he did have something for me, but it wasn't a Halloween costume. It was a friend.
" 'Ana,' he said, indicating the dark-haired man standing in the clearing, 'this is Erik.' I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there and marveled at this peculiar creature. The fireflies dancing around him gave him an almost ethereal glow on that moonless night. 'He'll be your new voice teacher.' I couldn't be happier; he had known I had wanted someone to rid me of my fear of performing on stage alone. I ran up and hugged him as I said, 'You're the best brother a little sis' could hope for.' (It was the first time I had been happy in weeks.)
'Your parents don't deserve either of you,' said my new teacher, who I now noticed had the same eyes as my brother. 'You are both curious and empathetic souls; may the Angel of Music watch and keep you always.
" 'Jasper,' he asked, turning to my brother and coming over to us. (I noticed something I hadn't seen when he was a distance away from us; he wore a mask, but it only concealed half of his face. 'What's he hiding behind that thing?' I wondered.) 'Is it all right if we have our first lesson tonight? I want my little muse's voice ringing through-out this forest as soon as possible.'
"I didn't say anything. I was proud that this teacher got to the point but with gentility and companionable friendliness. I liked him already. Nothing like the silly opera instructors my mother had found for me before. Jasper merely nodded to Erik and turned to leave. 'Just know Erik, she can't be with you forever.' was the last thing he said before he started back for home.
"The next few months were spent with nightly meetings between Erik and me, always at the secret place; several people asked questions about how my voice had gone through such dramatic changes, my mother in particular (She was fond of music; my father could have cared less what I did.), but I never told them about the mysterious tutor I met by moonlight. On one of these occasions, which happened to be the night before my 13th birthday, it began to snow in the middle of our lesson, just when we had finished warm-ups. 'Ana, hold on to me,' Erik said, gesturing for me to stand close. I hugged him tightly, shivering from cold in my thin pajamas, as he enveloped us both in his black velvet cloak.
"The next thing I knew, I was standing in a spacious, underground cavern on the shore of a small lake. I stared around me, half in wonder, half in fear, at the place where my friend had taken me. 'Where are we you ask?' came Erik's voice from close to me. He removed his cloak, swirling it once around his head before depositing it on the cave floor, before answering his own question. 'We are in my home, or at least what was my home.'
" 'What do you mean "was your home"?' I asked. I took a good look around me, then a good look at Erik, and everything came together. I was standing inside a cavern that was identical to the one in The Phantom of the Opera, just like Lelouch's cavern I discovered in recent months. I blinked my eyes in disbelief at my tutor, who I presumed was Erik's ghost or something, astonished into silence.
" 'Do not think I wish to frighten you, Anastasia,' he said, addressing me by my full name for the first time. 'Jasper told me you might be when I broke the news to you.'
" 'He knew,' I said, biting back the anger rising inside me at the only person who had really cared for me in my disconnected family. 'He knew all along and he never told me.'
" 'He wanted me to tell you, but I was afraid that you would discontinue your training before you could hold your own if I told you sooner. Besides, considering what you're doing tomorrow, I thought it might be an appropriate surprise.'
"Jasper had told him I was going to see Phantom of the Opera for my 13th birthday I would find out later. I embraced him, my heart aching with joy, rejoicing in the fact that reality had finally let up on me for a change, or if it was a dream-that it was a really good dream. Our lesson resumed until 3:00 in the morning, the time that I had actually been born; this had time to be taken before I woke up in my own bed the next morning."
I showed her the photo of me and Erik together. As she examined its contents, I wrapped up my story. "Our lessons continued for another year. The other children eventually let up on me, keeping their distance for fear of my rage. (I don't lose my temper often, but when I do, I literally blow my stack.) The ridicule was gone, but the hurt stayed; I spiraled into a cycle of self-induced depression, constantly putting myself down for lack of people doing it for me, and maybe out of fear they would do it again. On top of all that, my sister occupying most of our parents attention finally got to me. (She didn't even deserve most of it, being an ignorant, tasteless, tone-deaf, belligerent brat. Strangely though, neither of our parents seemed to notice.) I had also begun hearing arguments about a divorce between my parents behind closed doors.
"The only thing that kept me going was my lessons with Erik, the only person who I felt really understood me being an outcast from society all his life, for he had told me so at one of our secret meetings. Then, one day, even that wasn't a comfort. I came home from school one day, strangely enough in a happy mood, to find the photograph you're holding on my pillow. Erik had gone off somewhere else and hadn't taken me with him; I cried myself to sleep that night, and for a week afterwards, so distraught with worry and sadness that I woke up from searching my dreams for him (He had often appeared in them to offer me soothing words and advice.) as if I hadn't slept at all.
"After a week of frantic searching and sleepless nights, I was fully convinced there was nothing left for me here. My parents wouldn't miss me, being too busy arguing with each other and lavishing their favorite child (i.e. Sophia) when they weren't doing that, school was a prison for my tortured soul, not to mention I didn't have any friends to fall back on. That night, in the warm April air, I ran away from home. I joined Gaia the following year, where I met you and Flet and Jet, and the rest is history."
I stared out the window to hide the tears running down my cheeks. I didn't feel sad, but my heart still ached as the pain of the memories came back to me. 'C'mon Ana,' I thought. 'The story didn't end there. Erik came back to you and you finally realized that you loved him as more than a teacher, not to mention you made friends that you could really count on. Your life became good again; be happy.'
I smiled as I spotted a flitting shadow of wings disappear from the window. I watched it soar off into the distance and then I fell asleep, too tired to do anything else.
 srs diva 2011 xxl · Wed Aug 05, 2009 @ 03:21am · 1 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
