Of Love and Discord

Chapter 6

The church bells tolled loudly a few blocks down from Henry's music theory classroom. The soothing sound calmed him as his mind tried to clear all the thoughts that were racing through him earlier. As he listened, he imagined the clapper swinging from side to side hitting the shiny bronze bell creating the smooth vibrations that were entrancing the melody. The big hand on the classroom clock had just reached five minutes before 2 pm. Henry had glanced at it, irritated by the fact that his theory professor only referred to his wall clock for the ending of his class. Most people would set their time a few minutes ahead rather than vice-versa. He was in no way concentrating on the lecture overhead on chord progressions. He looked out the window as his mind wondered how he was going to ask Francine to the carnival now, for he had not seen her in the store or the library in the past few days. But on a brighter note, he was not disappointed, for he was dreading it all along and was glad that he did not have to face her and then tell Roxanne about how terribly it went. Instead, Henry tried to relax and daydreamed for the next few minutes about his next concert perhaps being in Europe just before his class ended.

As he waited for the trolley to come at the station, Henry looked forward to getting home and practicing his music. Hearing the horn, Henry gathered his stuff and waited in line to get on board. By the time the trolley started off, a sizable number of people from town and the university filled in right after him. Henry had gotten a seat near the window with a pleasant view of the creek, his route he took every day. And it was today that he noticed a large dark bird in the water overhead. With its crescent long neck, he thought it was rather strange to see one completely alone as it swam looking toward the approaching vehicle. Henry adjusted his glasses and focused on the bird as it carefully turned its head to look straight at him. When the vehicle made a stop at its most busy station, people moved and budged as they tried to get out. Henry looked away during this moment to see what the attendant was yelling about in the front. As the trolley began to empty, Henry turned once more to see this bird and saw its dark winged figure flying over them suddenly as soon as he searched for it.

A new crowd of passengers entered the trolley slowly as he looked up front. There were a few young boys who brought their rowdiness on board, two elderly ladies that were dressed very colorfully, and three businessmen with briefcases talking amongst themselves. Then, there was also a peculiar man who had boarded last. Henry noticed this man as soon as he made conversation with the conductor on how one pays. He was a round old man who stood like a giant with his hefty coat and tight belly. He had gray grizzly hair and fashioned a full beard. As the old man paid for a validated ticket, Henry looked over him and wondered how much that man reminded him of Santa Claus, as the old man had rosy cheeks after smiling a thanks to the conductor. If it were not for that smile of which Henry had seen, his natural face, which always appeared like a frown, would have terrified everyone on board. However, as he slowly came forward through the aisle, people naturally moved out of his way, intimidated by his massive stature. Henry could not help staring until the man grinned at him politely. Henry noticed that he was missing a few teeth. The old man then turned to the row behind Henry's and asked a young man sitting there if he could move down. He had a deep stern voice. Instead of moving down, the young man got out of his seat and gave the whole row to the old man. He thanked him politely and sat down just behind Henry. As the vehicle continued to move, Henry lost his attention at the old man and instead took out a textbook from his bag to read.

While reading through the next few stops, Henry could not shake the feeling that the old man behind him was staring at him. Perhaps he was curious to see what he was reading for homework tonight. Henry tried his best to not mind it but repeatedly glanced up from his textbook, disturbed a little. As he looked out the window, he noticed that it had begun drizzling. The rain drops slowly crept through the open window and onto his arm.