Lucy was sixteen and a half years old and not happy
with her life. Since leaving school in June, the only work she had been able to
find was washing dishes in the local hotel during their busy summer season. It
was not much better there than at school. She still got shouted at, and if
anything, her self confidence had taken a further nose dive as a result. With
nothing to write on her CV, job offers were non-existent.
She was at home during the week while her parents
went out to work, going out only occasionally
to the job centre or to buy some groceries for her mother. The three of
them lived in a modest estate house surrounded by identical houses, only
differing by the colour of their front doors. She spent her time in front of
the television, snacking on crisps and chocolate, and the weight was piling on.
The few friends that she had previously were all attending sixth form college now and she no longer
fitted in with their social group.
Her parents were very worried about her. They tried
to gently coax her into new activities but the years of bullying at school had
left an indelible mark and she always found excuses not to join in. Lucy had
only just scraped through her GCSE examinations, and had needed extra tuition
to achieve that.
One fine Thursday in early September, Lucy's mother
called to her from the bottom of the stairs,
"Lucy, could you do me a favour today, please?
I have a parcel that needs to be posted."
"Ok, Mum," she replied sleepily, and heard
the front door slam as her mother rushed out to catch her bus.
She got up
and dressed in her usual black trousers, black T-shirt with a black sweatshirt
over the top. She was always very conscious of her size and tried to cover up
the bulges in loose fitting black clothes. Her hair was pulled back awkwardly
in a pony-tail. She had some cereal for breakfast, thought about lingering
longer to watch morning television, but as it was already after eleven o'clock
, reluctantly picked up the parcel from the hall table and began to walk into
town.
As she approached the centre of town, she heard some
singing. It was a choir singing Beatles songs.
"Love, love me do , you know I love you,"
She walked towards the sound and as she turned into
the square, they started singing a different song.
"Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
towering over your head , look for the girl with the sun in her eyes and she's
gone. Lucy in the sky with diamonds."
Lucy smiled. She knew this song. Her mother used to
sing it to her when she was little , soothing her to sleep.
As they came to the end of the song, one lady walked
away from the group and started handing out leaflets to the people who were
standing around. Lucy took one, and without stopping to look at it, shoved it
to the bottom of her shopping bag.
Later that night, she found the leaflet and glanced
at it. The Bellhouse Community Choir were looking for new members, it said.
Meeting every Thursday evening at 7o'clock in the Community Hall. Just come
along!
All weekend Lucy thought about it. She had loved to
sing in Primary School, but there had been no time for music in Secondary
School because of the extra lessons she had needed. She woke up each
morning with the song repeating in her
head, tempting her to take this new opportunity. When Thursday evening came, she dressed in her
best black T-shirt, butterflies in her stomach, hands shaking, and walked
anxiously towards the Community Hall. I can turn back anytime, she thought to
herself. Before she even reached the hall, she could hear singing. Taking a big
breath, she pushed open the doors and was welcomed immediately by a young woman
who was handing out song sheets.
"Hallo, come to give it a try?", she said,
and smiled at Lucy. "Take one of these sheets and join the women over
there."
No time to back out now. Lucy joined the group and
the pianist commenced the introduction to 'Dreaming of a White Christmas'. The
choir mistress raised her arms and the voices began to harmonise. After a few
minutes, Lucy realised that she was actually enjoying this and her anxiety began to lift as she allowed her voice to
blend in. Her immediate neighbour was an elderly woman with a quavery voice who
failed to hit the higher notes more often than not. It did not seem to matter
as no-one commented, and as the evening continued, she realised that everyone
was there because they enjoyed it, and not necessarily because they had any
talent for singing.
Lucy found herself beginning to look forward to
Thursday evenings. The choir mistress, Miss Hardy, taught singing during the
day at a local music college, and had begun to notice Lucy. Her clear soprano voice was pitch perfect. Miss Hardy
approached Lucy following one of their rehearsals and asked her if she would like
to have a short lesson after the choir meeting. Lucy was taken aback by this
request and embarrassed, answered yes almost without thinking.
The choir continued to learn and perfect their Christmas
songs for a concert in December, and Lucy stayed on for half an hour for her
private lesson in the weeks that followed. Leaflets were printed about the
concert and Lucy brought one home to her parents.
The day of the concert arrived. All the choir wore
black t-shirts and the ladies each had a colourful scarf. Lucy wore her best
black t-shirt. She was very pleased that her parents would be there and felt
both excited and anxious about the evening. Lucy went ahead of her parents for
the final rehearsal. As the choir took their places on the stage in the
Community Hall, she glanced quickly around the room to locate her parents. They
were sitting in the third row and smiled back at her.
The choir began with a medley of Christmas songs and
Lucy gradually lost her nervousness and began to enjoy the evening. In the
interval, as the choir was re-grouping, Miss Hardy singled out Lucy and asked
her if she would sing one of the songs she had been practising in her private
lesson.
"Are you sure, Miss Hardy?" she asked.
"Do you really think I am good enough to do that?"
"I have every confidence in you Lucy",
replied Miss Hardy.
With that, she hurried Lucy back to her place in the
choir and announced to the audience that there was an extra item on the
programme. She lifted her arms to signal to the pianist and nodded to Lucy to
stand up. Lucy could feel her heart beating wildly and her hands were shaking
so much that she had hold her arms tight against her legs and pinch her thighs.
The soft notes from the piano began the introduction.
"We're walking in the air,
We're floating in the moonlit sky,"
Lucy's bright soprano voice , clear and haunting,
took the audience by surprise. There was an extraordinary silence in the room.
Even old Mr Roberts in the corner, who had been coughing throughout the
concert, sat quiet as a mouse. As she reached the last phrase, the audience
erupted into applause, standing up spontaneously and whistling. Lucy could not
believe what had just happened. She felt like she was two feet taller, as if
the words of the song had truly lifted her into the air.
Lucy had not
dared to look at the audience as she sang, but had resolutely kept her eyes on
the ceiling lamp in the middle of the room. She looked over to where her
parents were sitting and saw her father and mother standing, and tears pouring
down her mother's cheeks. A huge smile transformed Lucy's face and she ran from
the stage to give her mother a hug as the audience continued to clap and shout
exuberantly.
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