Day 10: I Hear Her Singing Through The Wires
Pt. II
Hannah did not wake up untilthe sun was high in the sky. A particularly persistent sunbeam shone down on her forehead, as though it was nudging her. When she woke up her hair was slicked with sweat and her head throbbed angrily. The window was open, but the room still felt stuffy.
As Hannah got dressed she heard a scraping sound outside, like something metal being dragged across the house's bricks. She pulled her shirt over her head, and when she did so she distinctly heard a voice:
“Maybe she will sing tomorrow”.
The voice was deep and clear, but had no particular tone or inflection. Hannah rushed over to the window, but there was no one there.
Her mother came into the room. She was looking the way she normally did when Hannah was sick. Maybe she was sick.
“How do you feel?” her mother asked.
“Sick”.
Her mother felt her forehead. “You're burning up. Better go lie down again”.
“But I got out because I was too warm”
Her mother looked at her like she was searching her face for some mark or feature. “All right” she said finally. “You can stay up if you want to. If you feel cold it's back to bed”.
Hannah nodded. “What time is it?”
“About one. Why?”
“You didn't wake me up for school”.
“We thought it was better to let you sleep. You were exhausted”.
Hannah thought that was probably right. Most of yesteday seemed like a strange blur.
“What were you doing out in the fields so long?” her mother asked. “You were gone all afternoon”. There was a shrill note to her mother's voice that she had not heard before. She did not like it much.
What had she been doing doing out there? She had een looking for the wires that her father had claimed made that high sound. She had found something else, hadn't she? A choir of some kind. An audience as well. She remembered listening with her head resting on her man's chest.
“Just exploring”. Hannah was not very good at lying, but was that really a lie? It was as much of the truth as her mother really wanted, of that she was pretty sure.
“Well, no more exploring after dark, ok?”
“Ok”.
Hannah felt pretty certain that her mother would like to forbid any exploring, night or day. Something had changed. When her mother left the room, Hannah sat down and did nothing for a long time. Maybe her mother knew about the choir and everything. She certainly knew something she did not say.
Hannah was silent until her father came home. She was afraid that she might hear the deep voice outside her window. If everything else had been a dream, that part was not.
This entry was originally posted at http://hafwit.dreamwidth.org/14792.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Hannah did not wake up untilthe sun was high in the sky. A particularly persistent sunbeam shone down on her forehead, as though it was nudging her. When she woke up her hair was slicked with sweat and her head throbbed angrily. The window was open, but the room still felt stuffy.
As Hannah got dressed she heard a scraping sound outside, like something metal being dragged across the house's bricks. She pulled her shirt over her head, and when she did so she distinctly heard a voice:
“Maybe she will sing tomorrow”.
The voice was deep and clear, but had no particular tone or inflection. Hannah rushed over to the window, but there was no one there.
Her mother came into the room. She was looking the way she normally did when Hannah was sick. Maybe she was sick.
“How do you feel?” her mother asked.
“Sick”.
Her mother felt her forehead. “You're burning up. Better go lie down again”.
“But I got out because I was too warm”
Her mother looked at her like she was searching her face for some mark or feature. “All right” she said finally. “You can stay up if you want to. If you feel cold it's back to bed”.
Hannah nodded. “What time is it?”
“About one. Why?”
“You didn't wake me up for school”.
“We thought it was better to let you sleep. You were exhausted”.
Hannah thought that was probably right. Most of yesteday seemed like a strange blur.
“What were you doing out in the fields so long?” her mother asked. “You were gone all afternoon”. There was a shrill note to her mother's voice that she had not heard before. She did not like it much.
What had she been doing doing out there? She had een looking for the wires that her father had claimed made that high sound. She had found something else, hadn't she? A choir of some kind. An audience as well. She remembered listening with her head resting on her man's chest.
“Just exploring”. Hannah was not very good at lying, but was that really a lie? It was as much of the truth as her mother really wanted, of that she was pretty sure.
“Well, no more exploring after dark, ok?”
“Ok”.
Hannah felt pretty certain that her mother would like to forbid any exploring, night or day. Something had changed. When her mother left the room, Hannah sat down and did nothing for a long time. Maybe her mother knew about the choir and everything. She certainly knew something she did not say.
Hannah was silent until her father came home. She was afraid that she might hear the deep voice outside her window. If everything else had been a dream, that part was not.
This entry was originally posted at http://hafwit.dreamwidth.org/14792.html. Please comment there using OpenID.