(For a better experience, read while listening to Tori Kelly’s “Colors of the Wind”. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpIMGamlvwg)
Line 1: Hello…Can you hear me?
Line 2: Hey! Yeah, I hear you. What’s up?
Line 1: Err, can you, err, come to my office? Like, right now? It’s important.
Line 2: Is something wrong? Okay, I’m on my way.
[Traffic lights. Speeding cars. Sirens. Breaking news on TV screens. Shots. Shards of glass. Bodies]
“So many people were rushed into the Emergency Room. She was among them. You saw the news? There was a shooter at her school.”
[Heart racing. Running. Trembling hands. Tubes. All over her. My little girl. My baby girl]
“You know we just moved into this neighborhood? She’d miss her friends, so she didn’t like the move. You know she just started liking here? Yesterday, she danced for me. Some dance they taught her at school. Her small feet.”
“You know she liked autumn? Season of rainbow leaves, that’s what she called it. Hey Mister, you realize this is autumn?”
[Home. God. Vodka. Tears. Hope. Silence. Why. Clock]
“That’s her favorite Barbie. She’s always weaving its hair and dressing it up. You know she recited the multiplication table to me on the train as I took her to school that day? She said 4 times 4 was 8. Please don’t throw away her unfinished oatmeal. Let it remain in the fridge.”
“I think she’d do better as a dancer than an accountant. I’ll tell her so when she comes home. But no one knows what she would become, right? I do know though that she’ll turn out great. I caught a glimpse of her bag and stuff at ER. There was just so much…”
Line 1: [static]…your little girl…[static]…has closed…[static]…her eyes…[static]
Line 2: Hello, hello, I didn’t hear all you said. What does close her eyes mean?
(A leaf version of this narrative is available at: Once Upon a Month – Rainbow Leaves)