Silence of Music

02

December 23, 2018

Bianca was walking home from the store. She'd offered to stop by and pick up some groceries after rehearsal for The Montoya Trio; the band she and her brothers had. Since the grocery store and the studio they rented were a similar distance to home, she figured stopping by would be easiest, and she needed the exercise.

She slowed down, seeing flashing red and blue lights and frowned.

As she passed the accident, she noticed a familiar sedan.

As quickly and safely as she was able, she ran to the scene of the accident.

A cop stopped her and said, "You can't come any closer."

Bianca pointed to the sedan. "That's my brother's car! Please! Alejandro and Ricardo Montoya. Are they okay?!"

Ricardo noticed the girl a short distance away and ran to hug her. "Bianca, I'm all right. I don't know about Alejandro. He's in bad shape."

Bianca gently touched a cut on his forehead. "What happened?"

"Some idiota turned into us when we had right of way. Alejandro's side was badly hit and they don't know if he'll make it."

Then came the words that would haunt them both. "Time of death, 8:04 PM."

The two made their way home and told their parents. The family, now of four, shed many a tear and held each other tightly.

That night, as she laid in bed, Bianca Montoya vowed she would never pick up a microphone or touch an instrument again.

She stared at the bass guitar on her arm and as though she was talking to an old friend, said, "I'm sorry, but I can't do it. Not without them both."

The brunette turned off her lamp and softly cried herself to sleep. It would become a nightly occurrence for longer than she cared to admit.

And she couldn't stop them, no matter how hard she tried.