A Thousand Moments

Chapter 23- Enchanted

Alanna Sky Bauer

We arrived at the party at 7 PM, and it has already started. The music was so loud, a lot of people were shouting just to talk to each other, and some are already wasted. I held on to Astrid's hand as we walked through the crowd, she looked back and smiled at me. In a room full of people, I was only looking at her, I blurred out everyone and focused on her, like she was like a gleaming ray of light in the middle of darkness guiding me.

She turned to look at me and mouthed something, she was talking to me, she told me something but I couldn't hear it, suddenly I felt her hand slipped accidentally letting go of mine. I looked around, and I was surrounded by strangers, I lost sight of her. It felt like the whole room was turning, and I was becoming overwhelmed with my senses that I closed my eyes and started to block every voice I was hearing.

I hate this.

All of a sudden the music died down, and the crowd was silent, everybody glanced to the center of the room. I made my way through the crowd following the sound of a soft music followed by someone playing a guitar. As the people cleared, I saw Astrid sitting on a wooden stool, the crowd circling around her but giving her enough space. She was now wearing a long flowy dress with a slit going down her left leg, she looked wonderful.

She started singing, it was one of my favorite songs, Enchanted.

Her voice resonated through the now silent room, everyone watched her, mesmerized by her singing.

🎶 "There I was again tonight
Forcing laughter, faking smiles
Same old tired lonely place"

The lyrics reminded me of Astrid, her story before she met me. I remembered seeing her smile as something so shallow but as I got to know her, I knew that smile held more meaning than the world could give

🎶 "Walls of insincerity,
Shifting eyes and vacancy
Vanished when I saw your face"

I was taken back to when we first met, I was in awe of her, I wonder how she thought of me back then.

All I could hear was her voice now. All these people looking at her but I knew she was looking at me, and I her.

🎶 "The playful conversation starts
Counter all your quick remarks
Like passing notes in secrecy"

Flashbacks of memories came springing towards me. It felt as if I was in a movie, like I was the protagonist of the film, awestruck by my love interest. Like a music video, every moment I had with her played back swiftly shifting from one to another.

🎶 "This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you"

She laid out her emotions through the song. Her voice flowed like the wind blowing, warm and comforting that caught everyone in a trance.

🎶 "These are the words I held back
As I was leaving too soon
I was enchanted to meet you"

As she continued singing a cascade of emotions overflowed in me. I didn't know humans were capable of loving somebody this much, falling much deeper with everything they do, it's an endless fall, the uncertainty of when you'd hit the ground is terrifying but as you go go deeper, you forget you're falling. I felt happy as the melody embrace me, unknowingly, I started to smile.