The Music of Your Life by John Rowell

Author:John Rowell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2004-10-19T21:00:00+00:00

The Miracle Theater—at last. Hunter and his mother join a long line of people waiting to get in—parents with children, some teenagers, a few adults by themselves. Many of them are dressed up, as if for church, as Hunter and his mother are, and the people, the spectators, are talking and laughing—he feels the hubbub in the air; he didn’t realize other people would be as excited as he is about Mary Poppins.

Suddenly, while standing in line, he realizes that he has left his album in the car.

“Mama, I have to get my record!”

The line begins to move.

“Oh, Hunter, sweetie. You don’t need it now. Look, we’re going in.”

He has no choice but to clutch her hand and walk beside her; he is jostled by other patrons, by other children the same height as he, though they don’t really notice or look at him. He notices a little girl carrying a Mary Poppins umbrella—it is bright pink, with a green parrot head for a handle. Before he can get a good look at it, the girl and the parasol disappear in the crowd. The uniformed ushers point the way for the spectators through the auditorium doors on either side of the concession stand, over which a bright neon sign blinks out a message Hunter’s mother reads for him: “MIRACLE THEATER: SHOWPLACE OF THE SOUTH.”

“This way for the seven o’clock show!” the ushers shout out, cupping their mouths with white-gloved hands. “Through these doors for Mary Poppins!”

Hunter and his mother find seats in the center. Seated next to him on his right is a teenage boy, who holds hands with a teenage girl seated on the boy’s other side. They nuzzle each other a bit, the way cats do, Hunter thinks. He watches them, fascinated; he stares at their hands, their clutching, interlocking fingers. When the boy catches him staring, he whispers, “Whatcha lookin’ at, little boy? Huh?” Hunter quickly turns his head away to face the screen, which is still draped with its massive gold and orange curtain. And in a moment, the lights go down and the curtain lifts, slowly rolling itself up into ornate folds and finally disappearing at the top. Hunter holds his breath as the gray screen suddenly begins to flicker with color and the music from the speakers surrounds the entire auditorium.

And he reaches over, takes his mother’s hand, and holds it, interlocking their fingers, staring straight ahead as Mary Poppins, finally, begins.

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