The Music of People
It’s funny how the air in December gives to its nights a certain romantic quality. A foggy veil falls quietly upon the Earth, cloaking the unexpected memories that are anticipating the moment where they will reveal themselves. While the natural light of the moon is hidden from view, the glow of the streetlamps and traffic lights bask in their dominance over nature, lighting and guiding the way for young, star crossed lovers to lose themselves in each other. It is where the naivety of youth and the maturity of the world intertwine and, even for the slightest of moments, produce a symphony of silent beauty.
The orchestration of lights sang softly and played for an audience of two; two silhouettes that swayed close together in the cold of the night, the icy wind wrapping itself around them, consequently drawing them closer to one another. They sat alone on a park bench, hand in hand. There wasn’t a soul that could be seen or heard elsewhere in the park. They were completely alone, which was what they wanted. More than anything, they wanted to be alone. To share this scene with anyone else, the way her hand curved into his, the way his side was carved perfectly for her to rest against, the way their eyes glistened as they reflected the others, the way the wind made the small lake ahead of them ripple and break the silence of their thoughts, the way they complemented the other without saying a word, to share that with anyone else would ruin the sacredness of it all.
The girl, Zooey, wore a pink scarf around her neck that the boy, Joseph, played with and brushed against her face as she smiled up at him.
“Oh, Joseph, none of this could be any more perfect than it is right now at this moment,” said Zooey as she rubbed her thumb against his smooth hand. How she often would think of his smooth skin when she was alone, and the way it made her fingers feel as she would trace the outline of his hand.
“I couldn’t agree with you more Zooey,” said Joseph, gently kissing the top of her head as he looked out at the lake. There was nothing to see in that lake to any other person, but to Joseph, he could see everything. None of it had anything whatsoever to do with the lake, but rather with the person at his side. Like the lake that spread out in front of them, there was more to Zooey than her surface and he had seen it. It’s what kept him looking. He had seen beauty in its purest form. And once something so beautiful has entered your life, you are forever changed. You can never go back to the time before you saw it. It becomes a part of you. Zooey had become that for Joseph, and he realized that as he looked out at the lake.
“I remember we would always talk about this, Joe,” said Zooey, looking down at their hands clasped together. “How perfect our hands fit together. We would say that no one else’s hand could fit like each others. That there was no one else for us in the whole wide world but each other…”She let her words hang in the air, drifting slowly, and landing between them. She buried her face into his arm and held onto it.
“Does his hand fit as well as mine, Zooey?” asked Joseph. He added a laugh at the end to seem like he was joking, but he genuinely wanted to know. The thought of another man holding her hand left a pain in his gut every time the thought would enter his mind.
Zooey looked up at him and gave him a glare. She didn’t want to talk about him, not right now. She didn’t want to bring up where she was in her real life, but rather, she wanted to focus on where she was in the present. She wanted to focus on the fact that the one man who knew her inside and out, who she felt the safest with, who she felt she could spend the rest of her life with was right here with her again. She didn’t want to give up this moment of pure bliss by bringing up her boyfriend.
“Drop it Joseph. You know how that is,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” said Joseph, a tinge of sadness in his voice. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Enough! Don’t ruin this.” She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand her situation. She was happy with her new boyfriend, but there was no denying that there was something missing; a something that only the boy next to her contained.
“I’m sorry,” he said and kissed her head again, embracing the feel of her hair on his lips. “I just miss you. That’s all. More than I probably should.”
“I do too, you know?” She stretched her legs out onto the bench and rest her head on his lap. “I miss you more than I can bare sometimes. Sometimes I want to just pick up the phone and call you and hear your voice, or text you, or ask you to drive over so that I can see you. But it’s just not that simple anymore.”
“It can be,” said Joseph.
“No, it can’t. I’m with him. He’s my boyfriend. And if he knew I was doing all of this with you, let alone talking to you at all, I would never hear the end of it. Is that what you want?”
Joseph looked down at her, with a sorrow deep down that he couldn’t bear. Either way, he wouldn’t have what he wanted. “No, no it’s not what I want at all. I understand.”
The night around them moved on, as it tends to do. Time does not wait for us to have our precious moments in life. It will not slow down so that we can savor every joyous occasion. It will push on, whether we are ready to move on or not.
“Thank you for the scarf, Joseph, it’s beautiful,” said Zooey. She truly did love the scarf that he had given her. Partly because it really was a beautiful pink scarf, but mostly because it was his Christmas present to her. She had always loved his Christmas presents to her just because they were from him.
“You’re welcome Zooey,” replied Joseph.
Zooey lifted her head from his lap and stood up in front of Joseph.
“Well I better be going, Steven will be waiting for me at my house when he gets off of work.”
Joseph stood up and took her hands in his. He looked into her eyes…and immediately he was taken back. That same spot, six years prior to this night, he and Zooey, at thirteen years old, exchanging their first Christmas presents to one another. He remembered everything. The way her hair was pulled back, the way her red sweater clung to her, the way the sun was shining that day, the way he knew that this spot would become special for them, the way that this moment belonged to them only. If only he could go back to that December, he thought, if only he could relive every moment again. Would he? Would he really go through everything he went through, knowing what he knew now?
Zooey broke his stare and looked down at the ground.
“Well Joseph, I’m glad we did this. It really was a beautiful night.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more Zooey,” said Joseph. He lifted her chin was his index finger and thumb. Tears were slowly streaming down her face.
“I guess this is it…goodbye Joe. Until…well…whenever I can talk to you again.” She began to turn away to leave, but then Joseph grasped her hand tightly in his and pulled her back into him. He held onto her as tight as he could. Then he whispered into her ear.
“I love you…what we had…it was real.”
He pressed his lips to hers, and they kissed.
Intoxication, true intoxication, has a name…and it is love. Joseph and Zooey felt the pure intoxication in the December air. Perhaps it was just the romanticism in the air. Perhaps it was all in the setting, mingling with the feelings they thought they felt. But perhaps it was real. Perhaps what they had was more real than the air, more real than the haze of the fog or the dew on the grass. Perhaps what Zooey and Joseph had was the most real connection that one human being can have with another. And isn’t that all we search for in life? To have a connection. To feel like we aren’t alone in what we experience. To feel like, in all the shuffling ins and shuffling outs of daily life, there is one person that will keep your feet on the ground.
Love is often described as being swept off your feet, but who really wants that? You’re swept off your feet, and as gravity would have it, you are bound to fall. No, real love, not the love that is explained in movies or songs on the radio, keeps you grounded, while making you feel like you are flying through the air. It is wanting to do everything, and not being afraid of failure.
That connection is what makes us feel like we are not alone and never will be.
Zooey and Joseph held each other, swaying to music all their own.
And as they parted ways with one another that night, they took with them their memories of each other. They walked in two different directions, but their connection was never stronger than it was at that moment. What the future would hold for them was uncertain. But what was certain was that they had love.
They came together, two people, and complimented one another without saying a word. It was a harmony, two notes coming together to produce a wonderful sound. That is what Zooey and Joseph had managed to accomplish.
These two very different people had intertwined…and conducted a symphony of silent, but pure, beauty.
The orchestration of lights sang softly and played for an audience of two; two silhouettes that swayed close together in the cold of the night, the icy wind wrapping itself around them, consequently drawing them closer to one another. They sat alone on a park bench, hand in hand. There wasn’t a soul that could be seen or heard elsewhere in the park. They were completely alone, which was what they wanted. More than anything, they wanted to be alone. To share this scene with anyone else, the way her hand curved into his, the way his side was carved perfectly for her to rest against, the way their eyes glistened as they reflected the others, the way the wind made the small lake ahead of them ripple and break the silence of their thoughts, the way they complemented the other without saying a word, to share that with anyone else would ruin the sacredness of it all.
The girl, Zooey, wore a pink scarf around her neck that the boy, Joseph, played with and brushed against her face as she smiled up at him.
“Oh, Joseph, none of this could be any more perfect than it is right now at this moment,” said Zooey as she rubbed her thumb against his smooth hand. How she often would think of his smooth skin when she was alone, and the way it made her fingers feel as she would trace the outline of his hand.
“I couldn’t agree with you more Zooey,” said Joseph, gently kissing the top of her head as he looked out at the lake. There was nothing to see in that lake to any other person, but to Joseph, he could see everything. None of it had anything whatsoever to do with the lake, but rather with the person at his side. Like the lake that spread out in front of them, there was more to Zooey than her surface and he had seen it. It’s what kept him looking. He had seen beauty in its purest form. And once something so beautiful has entered your life, you are forever changed. You can never go back to the time before you saw it. It becomes a part of you. Zooey had become that for Joseph, and he realized that as he looked out at the lake.
“I remember we would always talk about this, Joe,” said Zooey, looking down at their hands clasped together. “How perfect our hands fit together. We would say that no one else’s hand could fit like each others. That there was no one else for us in the whole wide world but each other…”She let her words hang in the air, drifting slowly, and landing between them. She buried her face into his arm and held onto it.
“Does his hand fit as well as mine, Zooey?” asked Joseph. He added a laugh at the end to seem like he was joking, but he genuinely wanted to know. The thought of another man holding her hand left a pain in his gut every time the thought would enter his mind.
Zooey looked up at him and gave him a glare. She didn’t want to talk about him, not right now. She didn’t want to bring up where she was in her real life, but rather, she wanted to focus on where she was in the present. She wanted to focus on the fact that the one man who knew her inside and out, who she felt the safest with, who she felt she could spend the rest of her life with was right here with her again. She didn’t want to give up this moment of pure bliss by bringing up her boyfriend.
“Drop it Joseph. You know how that is,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” said Joseph, a tinge of sadness in his voice. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Enough! Don’t ruin this.” She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand her situation. She was happy with her new boyfriend, but there was no denying that there was something missing; a something that only the boy next to her contained.
“I’m sorry,” he said and kissed her head again, embracing the feel of her hair on his lips. “I just miss you. That’s all. More than I probably should.”
“I do too, you know?” She stretched her legs out onto the bench and rest her head on his lap. “I miss you more than I can bare sometimes. Sometimes I want to just pick up the phone and call you and hear your voice, or text you, or ask you to drive over so that I can see you. But it’s just not that simple anymore.”
“It can be,” said Joseph.
“No, it can’t. I’m with him. He’s my boyfriend. And if he knew I was doing all of this with you, let alone talking to you at all, I would never hear the end of it. Is that what you want?”
Joseph looked down at her, with a sorrow deep down that he couldn’t bear. Either way, he wouldn’t have what he wanted. “No, no it’s not what I want at all. I understand.”
The night around them moved on, as it tends to do. Time does not wait for us to have our precious moments in life. It will not slow down so that we can savor every joyous occasion. It will push on, whether we are ready to move on or not.
“Thank you for the scarf, Joseph, it’s beautiful,” said Zooey. She truly did love the scarf that he had given her. Partly because it really was a beautiful pink scarf, but mostly because it was his Christmas present to her. She had always loved his Christmas presents to her just because they were from him.
“You’re welcome Zooey,” replied Joseph.
Zooey lifted her head from his lap and stood up in front of Joseph.
“Well I better be going, Steven will be waiting for me at my house when he gets off of work.”
Joseph stood up and took her hands in his. He looked into her eyes…and immediately he was taken back. That same spot, six years prior to this night, he and Zooey, at thirteen years old, exchanging their first Christmas presents to one another. He remembered everything. The way her hair was pulled back, the way her red sweater clung to her, the way the sun was shining that day, the way he knew that this spot would become special for them, the way that this moment belonged to them only. If only he could go back to that December, he thought, if only he could relive every moment again. Would he? Would he really go through everything he went through, knowing what he knew now?
Zooey broke his stare and looked down at the ground.
“Well Joseph, I’m glad we did this. It really was a beautiful night.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more Zooey,” said Joseph. He lifted her chin was his index finger and thumb. Tears were slowly streaming down her face.
“I guess this is it…goodbye Joe. Until…well…whenever I can talk to you again.” She began to turn away to leave, but then Joseph grasped her hand tightly in his and pulled her back into him. He held onto her as tight as he could. Then he whispered into her ear.
“I love you…what we had…it was real.”
He pressed his lips to hers, and they kissed.
Intoxication, true intoxication, has a name…and it is love. Joseph and Zooey felt the pure intoxication in the December air. Perhaps it was just the romanticism in the air. Perhaps it was all in the setting, mingling with the feelings they thought they felt. But perhaps it was real. Perhaps what they had was more real than the air, more real than the haze of the fog or the dew on the grass. Perhaps what Zooey and Joseph had was the most real connection that one human being can have with another. And isn’t that all we search for in life? To have a connection. To feel like we aren’t alone in what we experience. To feel like, in all the shuffling ins and shuffling outs of daily life, there is one person that will keep your feet on the ground.
Love is often described as being swept off your feet, but who really wants that? You’re swept off your feet, and as gravity would have it, you are bound to fall. No, real love, not the love that is explained in movies or songs on the radio, keeps you grounded, while making you feel like you are flying through the air. It is wanting to do everything, and not being afraid of failure.
That connection is what makes us feel like we are not alone and never will be.
Zooey and Joseph held each other, swaying to music all their own.
And as they parted ways with one another that night, they took with them their memories of each other. They walked in two different directions, but their connection was never stronger than it was at that moment. What the future would hold for them was uncertain. But what was certain was that they had love.
They came together, two people, and complimented one another without saying a word. It was a harmony, two notes coming together to produce a wonderful sound. That is what Zooey and Joseph had managed to accomplish.
These two very different people had intertwined…and conducted a symphony of silent, but pure, beauty.
(Authors Note: I know that this was posted a day late, but most of it was because i did not have internet access in order to post this until just now.)
You do know that you posted this in the nick of time, son. This story is extremely sweet, smart, and well written. Proud again! - Mama T
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