After two full songs, the papers are handed back to her and she’s gestured at to wait a moment longer as the man who handed her the papers stands from his table, pulls his wife’s chair out for her and takes her by the hand to walk alongside one of the taller gardens.
The messenger glances in our direction, her eyes squarely focusing on me.
My heart stutters.
Her lips part…
My breath shutters.
How—how can it be?
She’s…so beautiful, with her doll-like gaze.
Ella.
It’s her. She’s here.
In shock, my voice hits an off note, and I clutch my chest, trying to clear the congestion there. My throat aches relentlessly. My voice has been changing, weakening, becoming more brittle.I push through the air in my lungs, straining to sound unaffected. I wonder what they will do with me if my voice gives out.
I know the answer.
I maintain the tune, but alter some of the lyrics, my eyes transfixed on Ella…
It’s you, in the battle of the night
With stars that sparkle high above
Your eyes, your beauty, such a sight
The moon aglow for my love
How could nothing else feel true
When I dream of soaring through the sky
While sitting here, so close to you
A melody so pure, it’s no lie
Why is she here? How is she here? What did she do?
Say the words, my dear
You’re all right tonight
Oh, tell me not to fear,
For tomorrow will bring sunlight
Tears fill her eyes, and they sparkle beneath the glow of the moon. A gesture so subtle, I might be imagining it, but she shakes her head. I hope she’s telling me she’s all right.
Another one of the Commandant’s men approaches her with a sealed folder and I switch back to the proper lyrics.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
An officer approaches me from the right, tears the microphone out of my hand and grapples the back of my neck. “What—I don’t understand what you—” I stutter.
“You’re given lyrics for a reason.” The officer narrows his stare at me before saying anything more, and the wait pales me as my breaths become cold. “Your voice…” The officer steps in closer, now just a nose-length distance from my face. “It sounds weak…weaker tonight than last night and the night before that.”
