Sitting in a coffee shop. I'd been waiting for somebody who was supposed to meet me--a boring matter. Not a bad little place. The overhead music was okay. I'd heard it all before, of course. Music old but not too old, carefully not going farther back than 40 years or so.

Another song ended, as was my meal, just about. There was a pause, the pause between selections. For some reason I was paying attention. There was that moment of expectancy, wondering if the first few chords would give the whole thing away, and if it would be a not-previously-heard song--a small diamond in a carload of coal. Pause. Long pause? Seemed so, but..... And then it began.

It sounded familiar--it wasn't. I knew I'd never it before. Yes! The Song. The piece of music that I'd been listening to music for, and never 'til now heard it.

Far from becoming stale, or patterned, or formulaic, this music became richer, RICHER. Amazing. With this Song, no disappointment or boredom set in. Rather, the energy and exhilaration increased as it continued. For me, at least, it increased.

Instantly having heard it, I could understand why there was so much music in the world, being played all the time. So many people were hoping to hear this sound, and in that hope kept trying over and over. And I understood, also, that no other song, no other music would ever compare or satisfy, now that I'd heard this song. I knew it was His.

I stood up. My mouth was open with relieved joy. Other people were standing up in the shop, too--one young man was on his knees. I saw some others, too, in the back, who were hunched down in their booths, covering their ears, and trying to cover the rest of their heads at the same time.

I don't think the song lasted long. I walked a few dazed paces, and bumped into a man from the next booth. We had embraced before any doubts entered our minds. A short embrace. "Finally," I heard him whisper. He seemed as if he'd been a member of my family, who'd been a warm presence to me all my life--but I knew I'd never seen him before now.

It seemed to be getting louder. I looked outside, through the sun-blonded front windows. The traffic was stopped amidst the street. Some of the cars acted like frantic cockroaches, trying to run for cover. But they could now go nowhere.

The Song ended. There was a moment of Silence that lasted--short. Before I or anyone else could look around, we all hear another sound, rather like that of a wave-curl just before it fell over onto itself: an impending sound. Before any of us, the quick or the lost, could react, the spacetime-spirit wavefront hit us. And that was the magnificent ending/beginning of all real things. The Song had been the first of them.

  Rate This Story on BitBooks.com

Author Bio

• Back to Main page. 


• Back to Contents. 


• Read "Paintbox" 

border by