Symphony (Ladies of the Vinyard Short Story)

The Song of Sea Foam: Scene One

Martha's Vineyard, Edgartown, October 17, 1836

Her eyes could see the foam of the sea crash against the waves like a song. Melody Burns would only ever see the song play out but never hear the tune. However, that was okay, her life wasn't about sound, it was about... feeling. She would never hear, unless of course God saw fit to do so, but she didn't see that in her future. She was content with her tomorrow. Unlike most hearing folk, Melody could feel the music and maybe that's why she was content without noise. People get so caught up in the notes they forget the feeling of music, the vibration. They forget the feeling of a symphony, sadly they just stop listening to the music. The heart stops beating to the melody of love, so they slowly stop living. Melody had experienced the pain of someone forgetting to listen to the beat of their heart and just move on. If someone ever saw her thoughts, they would think she was imagining a love gone by, but she wasn't that trivial or that petty. No, not a lover, but someone more important. His leaving had stirred up emotions of chaos... and pain.

The wind bit at her cheeks as though reminding her of how bitter pain stung. She tugged her wrap tighter around her petit figure trying to block out the awful wind. It was October and Fall was already upon them and snow should be coming soon. She thought. Melody shut her eyes. She attempted to block out the world and its tricks. The pier she was standing on would forever haunt her dreams. It had been two years sense Andrew, her father, had left from this pier. He wasn't worthy enough to hold the title of father. He had abandoned her, and the people most dear to him. He had walked away, leaving a gapping hole in her heart. A void in her life for a man she could call father.

Melody wasn't bitter due to money. Mama's restaurant was thriving more now than ever. All in all, wealthy merchants and wailers came through the island of Martha's Vineyard frequently. Mama had been brilliant to place her restaurant in Edgartown where the wealthier residents presided. However, the prices were cheap making it affordable for even the common sailor. Suddenly, a steady hand gripped her shoulder, its warmth seeping into her cold bones. She looked up and saw the face of Keziah Reed. Her best-friend. The friend that held her when her father left, and his correspondence dissipated into nothing. Melody imagined a fly buzzing over an empty jar of honey because that is how her heart felt, abandoned and lonely. In short, she may have four other siblings, but her papa had been the apple of her eye. Her knight in shining armor. He had been her everything and... he had left. Melody would never forgive him, he didn't deserve it. How could he leave when he to claimed love her? In her mind, those thoughts were illogical, it didn't make sense. Then, she let go of her wrap, and her hands started to paint a picture. She loved her language it made her world seem mystical and full of art and pictures.

"Do you think he's ever coming back?" She asked as her body let out a puff of air. The hand slid down to her arm and turned her towards him before he replied.

"I think, like every other time I've replied to this question, that your papa didn't abandon you, he just..."

Melody huffed, cutting Keziah off, loving the feeling of the quick exhale. It was like steam exiting her body it helped dissipate the emotion clogging her senses. Her hands ached to reply but knew it wouldn't do any good to argue. She turned back to the sea letting the wind whisk away her thoughts that endlessly haunted her.

"How was work today?" She signed. She looked over her shoulder to see his reply.

"It was normal," He motioned. Melody nodded, before turning back around. Now that he was here the mood had changed. Ultimately, she didn't feel like moping anymore. She grinned up at him then signed.

"Well you look exhausted." She saw his face relax in a million different ways. Kez didn't like her moping periods they made him feel uncomfortable.

"Come back to the restaurant and I'll cook something up for you," Her hands zipped through the air. Kez nodded before offering his arm puffed out his chest as they started walking. Melody's chest rumbled as she chuckled. She couldn't hear but she knew that was the sound the emanating for her chest. Thinking about when they were children and playing games that involved noblemen and ladies. Melody delicately placed her hand on his bicep, and they marched down the pier together. It was rather silly, but it felt good to have a little bit of nonsense in her life. Of course, Melody's hand didn't rest long, it was hard to hold onto his arm while trying to sign. They fell into easy conversation as they walked down the rutted streets that hadn't even been there a hundred years. The streets were well worn from the donkeys moseying about with wagons attached. Farmers and other simple living men surround Martha's Vineyard. It was small, but it was home. Melody loved every bit of it. She loved the simple dirt houses and the people who occupied them. "How could someone ever leave?" She thought, as they walked, signed and laughed about the funny stories of the past. They reached the building that held the Burns family and their restaurant. However, Melody came to a sudden horrified stop. A figure caught her eye, it was awfully familiar, it was skinner and more ragged, but the piercing emerald eyes were the same. She looked at them in the looking glass every day because they were hers. The same strawberry-blond hair, maybe greyer, but it was there. Standing there on the porch of her families beloved restaurant was... her father.