Write the Story Installments

In The Middle of a Long, Cold Winter

Word Bank:  opera, redeem, razor, lungs, grace, futuristic, tread, vest, milkshake, powder

While the entirety of the winter season had seemed blistering cold, tonight was, by far, the coldest.  I tried to think warm thoughts but that was nearly impossible as I listened to her teeth chatter ferociously while she wrapped her hand around my forearm.  The head of the winter storm was not due until well after eleven pm giving us plenty of time to journey out for date night.  Mia climbed hurriedly inside the car as I shut the door behind her.  My lungs burned with every sharp and frustrating intake of air, while the windshield threatened to cloud up with every exhale.

For Christmas this year my parents gifted us a set of tickets to see the opera in early February and the time had come to redeem them.  The Guardian was presenting Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona this evening, a classic opera buffa.  The sky had grown a chilly shade of grey as we pulled off the interstate and onto ramp 127.  I expressed how thrilled I was to finally be able to see a real opera.  

Mia had begun to show me the finer side of life in the last two years.  She introduced me to art and music that I otherwise would never had given a second glance or listen to.  I am rather fond of Bach's Cello Suite No.1 in G major and did you know the Mona Lisa doesn't have eyebrows, and Van Gogh's starry night was the actual view from his room at a mental hospital?  Yeah, me neither.  My ever-so-talented girlfriend studied classical music and various other fine arts while in college and had really begun including me in her musings after graduation.  

Mia was the finest art I had ever seen, she was my very own Renoir masterpiece.  She was shorter than I, her eyes sparkled deep, myrtle green, and her skin was the color of a caramel milkshake, graciously powdered with chocolate chip freckles.  Wavy, hip-length obsidian hair flowed effortlessly behind her as I watched her leap into The Guardian's vast lobby.     

I unzipped my down-filled coat and found the tickets safe inside my vest pocket along with a small, cool piece of silver I was saving for later.  Our tickets torn in half at the booth, we made our way up a luxurious stone stairway to find our seats and the lights dimmed.

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Patrons pooled in the foyer after the show.  The blizzard had hit, hard.  While the show only lasted about an hour the weather had turned brutal quick.  About three inches of snow had fallen and accumulated on the ground and snow was already drifting knee high at the edge of the building.  Snow was blowing in from the west creating a futuristic looking whirlwind and heavy, fluffy flakes danced in and out of the spotlight of the parking lot lamps.  A gentleman opened the door and briskly shut it as bleak, razor-like air bit us all in the face.      

The crowd grew restless at the thought of being snowed in for the evening but I grabbed Mia's hand and tread through the crowd with minor pushing and shoving.  Behind us was the sound of panicked chatter, phones ringing, employees trying to keep people calm, but we slipped quietly back into the theater.  I peaked around the house hoping to find no one around but saw a janitor sweeping the stage.  Motioning for Mia to stay right where she was I ran up and whispered to the man.  On my walk back to where the love of my life stood, the janitor snuck off stage and around to the doors behind where we stood.  

I grabbed Mia's hand and took her to the front of the quaint but elaborate red-gold theater and set her up on the edge of the stage.  From the lobby came chaos as people decided to brave the storm and head home or find the nearest hotel.  I hadn't yet decided what we were going to do about the weather but I had something evermore important to get off my chest.  She swung her legs around and stood to face the imaginary crowd.  I met her there and looked out to signal the janitor standing in the dark.   

He shut the doors, dimmed the house lights, and relit the stage.  Mia's initial reaction was to run out of the room worried we had just gotten ourselves locked it.  She tried to drag me off the stage and convince me to leave.  Her apprehensive giggles were the most adorable thing I'd ever heard.  For a moment, all of the outside noise became an epic beating in my chest, a percolating sweat on my brow.

With as much grace as I could muster in the frenzied atmosphere, I fell down to my left knee.  Abruptly her giggles ceased as I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out a silver ring.  A vintage opal shined next to two itty bitty diamonds, that eventually found their forever home on Mia's left ring finger.  Tears splashed into the stage from her stunning blue-green eyes and the biggest smiled I had ever witnessed tried to hide behind her hands.  I stood to hug her and my own tears created a puddle at her neck.  

Together we strolled down the main aisle between rows of seats and walked out into the lobby where the crowd was thinning.  I didn't know how we were going to get home tonight but I knew that life from here on out would be my own romantic opera.  I didn't feel the wind or the snow I only felt the warmth in my heart as we took our time walking to the car.  Snow had soundproofed the outside world and all I heard were left over sniffles from Mia.  Even though this had been one of longest, most cold winters to date, I was on melting.