A Full Body Song

Anna’s singing could never be captured in words. The funny part is, it wasn’t her voice. Sure, she had a great voice, but not so great it defied description. Instead, it was the manner in which the words coursed through her. Despite her high school choir director’s repeated attempts to stop her, Anna always grabbed the hands of the choir members beside her; with those two anchor points she was free to abandon her body to the music. For three to five minutes at a time, the only thing that could match the raw intensity of Anna’s connection to the song was the total vulnerability of the escaping harmonies left on her face

The only thing that made Anna’s performances better was knowing her. Anna was rarely selected to solo, but during the years she was a member of her high school choir, attendance at their concerts steadily grew. Such was her passion for music, it extended beyond the concerts, and it was infectious. The year she left for college, attendance numbers dropped back to only parents and close friends of choir members.

After her first year at college−followed by a short trip to Europe−Anna was back in town for the summer and excited to be spending time with some of her old choir friends.

“Ok, can we take a break from singing for like five minutes!” Michelle pleaded with Anna, as she dropped her hand from Anna’s grip. Jared and Jake quickly agreed. In an informal quartet the four friends had spent the last twenty minutes in Michelle’s parents’ living room reliving some of Anna’s favorite songs from their senior year together.

“Fine!” Anna begrudgingly conceded, then quickly added another song request. “But I want to sing ‘The Road Home’ before we all, go home!”

“I will sing whatever you want, as long as you take me back to Andy’s for more ice cream after.” Jared replied as he smiled at Anna, who couldn’t help but smile back. Jared was never the best singer in choir, but he was a natural at baseball and had recently finished his first season as a pitcher at the local university.

Since the break had been agreed upon, Anna and Jared sat down next to each other on the couch. The leather couch squeaked as Michelle squeezed next to Anna. Jake made a show of stretching out in the matching leather recliner next to the couch by himself. No one was facing the front window, so they didn’t see the silhouette peering inside from the cover of darkness.

“Ok Anna, enough stalling already. I want to hear all about Europe!” Michelle interrupted Anna and Jared smiling at each other.

Anna shifted toward Michelle, “Oh my god! It was incredible! All of it, I don’t even know where to start.”

“What was your favorite city?” Jared asked, almost before Anna had finished.

“Ugh, it’s so hard to pick! I think Paris, but Barcelona is a very close second.”

Jake pulled out his phone as Michelle and Jared competed for Anna’s attention by asking her questions about her trip to Europe. Anna launched into excited descriptions of her favorite parts of each city she had visited, from the restaurants to the museums.

After several minutes Michelle and Jared had both exhausted their questions. Michelle drastically shifted the subject. “So, what about you and Ivan?” Jared leaned forward as Michelle asked the question.

Anna sank back into the couch before answering. “Well, he couldn’t understand why I would rather go to Europe than spend all summer with him…so we were arguing on the phone a lot. Then, the day before I left he called and said we were meant to be together, but it was Europe or him, and that’s the last we spoke.”

“Were you sad?” Michelle asked.

“I was, and I almost didn’t leave, but I had already paid for everything! The whole flight over I thought I had made a mistake, then I got to Europe, and it was just so incredible! I met so many amazing people! And that really opened me up. I feel like, like a whole new person. Or maybe, I’m just better at being myself now.” Halfway through her response Anna sat up, finishing the rest of it with hands that couldn’t fully express the freedom she had experienced.

Once she was done, Anna turned her head and smiled at Jared.

The shadowy silhouette in the widow turned away disgusted. After a few steps, Ivan turned back toward the window with clenched fists, only to quickly pivot again and storm away from the house. He couldn’t believe the way Anna and Jared were looking at each other. That made him almost as mad as the idea that Anna was better without him.

Ivan had parked several houses away from Michelle’s, but his anger quickly propelled him back to his car. In almost no time he was studying a manual for the semi-automatic rifle in his car’s trunk. A few weeks ago Ivan’s dad had taken him on a surprise trip to a gun store. Ivan had finished his first year at college with a 4.0, as a reward his dad offered to buy any gun Ivan wanted. After some debate he picked out a semiautomatic rifle. A quick swipe of his dad’s credit card, and the rifle was his. It had been resting in his trunk since then.

Back in Michelle’s house the group was laughing at Jake pretending to snore, alone in his recliner, bored with the relationship talk. His fake snoring quickly ceased when the front door slammed open.

“Ivan! What are you…” Anna’s exclamation quickly turned into a scream as Ivan’s still unfired rifle was raised toward her.

Anna leaped up from the couch. No sooner than she had reached her feet and began raising her arms in protest, did the first resounding crack violently fill the entirety of the living room with the thick smell of gunpowder. The echo spread throughout house, then the neighborhood, and eventually the entire city.

Anna’s hands stretched down, and out from her sides, as they had done during so many songs. This time there was no music, and no one to steady her.