BLUE

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats. The concert would be starting shortly,” a croaky voice announced over the amplifier. “And please ensure that you keep the ticket stud until the end of the concert.”

I stared down at the piece of white paper in my sweaty palms, and thought of how ridiculous this ticket was. It was given to me by an old blind man I helped across the road; his words still rang as the church bells in my ears, “Young lady, take this piece of paper you’ve earned for a concert at the left turn down the street.”

I shifted uneasily in my seat, not knowing what to expect. I did not know what was it which brought me here, for I had never been here, not even knowing that there was a left turn down the street. Expecting that the ticket collector would think that I was crazy for passing off a white paper as a ticket, I was surprised when he had just clumsily torn off a piece of the ticket without a second look at me. But still I was glad that I came, for the magnificent concert hall was filled with people, and it promised a good show ahead. I glanced around at the audience and I wondered if they entered the hall with the same ticket as I had.

The lights dimmed, I could see the musicians sitting upright in their seats, positioning themselves for the piece they were about to play.

The hall was in total darkness. As the players play harmoniously, the notes from each instrument strung together to form a perfect chord and a tinge of azure trickled into the hall, disappearing when the conductor ended it with a sweeping action. The hall plunged into its initial gloom. I rubbed my eyes. The colour that crawled into the hall was surely not a fragment of my imagination.

Again the baton fell. The horn started the movement, playing the darkest shade of blue, surrounding the hall with mystery and unknowingness. The music had begun.

As Indigo enveloped the audience, rain drops started to splatter and form puddles around me. I was standing under the bus stop shelter, shivering from the frigid wind that penetrated my skin. John was next to me, holding me close to him. The night’s events replayed right before my eyes in the recital hall. He gazed deeply into my eyes, his lips parted and the words dribbled out of his mouth. Different hues of dark blue whirled my mind into a stormy mess as the flautists’ fingers ran across the flute keys. The bass drum shook and thunder filled the room. He said that we could no longer be together. Lightning from the cymbals ripped the sky apart as his words shattered my heart into a million pieces, disappearing within the blue sky. The cellos blended cerulean into the midnight blue. A single strum of sapphire from the string bass erupted amidst the disarray of colours and tears rolled down my cheeks.

The hall was silent except for my sniffles and the dull blue that played in the background. A spark emerged from the conductor’s slender fingers and ended up at the tip of his baton. He took a deep breath and a shaft of baby blue danced across the room as the clarinets played a single note. The note bounced off the audience and lit the hall with exhilaration. I was transported back to the afternoon I spent with John at the beach. The cool ocean breeze splashed against my face as we cycled along the coast. We held hands and lay on the sand, gazing up at the passing clouds floating around aimlessly in the blue sky.

Smiles plagued the hall and gasps of anticipation and fervor echoed with the four walls. The oboes made the light shade of blue glow with zest, and the room did not seem to be able to contain the blue that exploded with vibrancy and vigor as the electric guitars blasted into view. Candy floss melted in my mouth, balloons popped in the distance and I squealed with delight as John and I buckled ourselves on the roller coaster ride. I was now at the carnival with John, turning blue with enthusiasm and joy. We crossed out hearts and made a vow that we would stay together forever.

The conductor made a sweeping action with his hand, signaling the band to a stop. Yet the tuba continued to play in oblivion, louder than before, vibrating the hall with the heartbeat of the colour blue. John and I were the couple all our friends envied. They thought we would never part, and so did I. Sparks flew out from the blue ever so brilliant, electrifying the audience, stealing the zeal that had first overwhelmed them. The colour began to grow brighter than anyone could ever imagine.

Slowly the excitement began to morph into aloofness and indifference. Sand appeared on the carpeted ground and cactus sprouted out of nothingness. John had stopped phoning me at night or picking up my calls. I felt unloved and deserted in the middle of the desert. The atmosphere hung thick of blue, choking the audience of dynamism as the conductor conducted furiously. This was not the way things should have turned out between us. Blue had never such a cold and uncaring side.

Just then the sky blue waters shimmered and sparkled as the violins poured in their soulful music. Calmness took over the hall and serenity fell upon me. I was back at beach, standing by the shore, searching for the answers I needed beyond the horizon. Cobalt glistened as the euphonium played the muffled depths of the sea. I placed a foot into the icy cold waters and then the other. I looked down at my feet, feeling the waves rushing against my skin. There on the surface of the water was a girl with swollen, weary eyes and a frown slapped right across her face. But beneath her blue reflection I saw a smile waiting to be unveiled. I lifted my head and gazed upon the vast sea of blue, which was bounded back only by our unwillingness to move ahead and go on with life. As I took a deep breath, a flurry of varied shades of blue circled me. But this time I was not caught up in the hurricane of colours and the sides of my lips tweaked into a smile.

All the instruments had stopped playing, leaving only the silver chimes to dot the midnight sky. I had found the answer I pursued among the blue. The lights in the concert hall slowly came on as the audience made their way out. It was then when I felt the dampness in my palm and remembered that we were supposed to keep our tickets until the end of the concert. The white paper in my hands was soaked with sky blue ink and in a darker blue was the word “memories”. It dawned upon me that when the old man had given me the paper, he was giving me a ticket to the key to my question. Blue had turned my unhappiness into a mere word on the ticket.

HAHA :D i love band.

copyrighted by chualiwen. LOL in case my teacher searches my compo on the net and thinks that i plagarised.