It was Christmas Eve of 1950 when Maritza Montenegro was presented to the world. There she stood tall with her long curly hair and red heels. The blue dress she wore was simple but elegant with hints of snow white and a belt interlaced with fake silver strings. It was unconventional for a school competition even it was the Nationals but it kept with the rules of the school colors. She stepped into the stage with the enormous hot lights illuminating everything it almost blinded her but she just walked with her back straight and with a big smile with her meaty red lips. The lights dimmed and the silver microphone descended from the ceiling she lifted her brown eyes and smiled as the light illuminated the long-tailed piano where Olivia sat fully dressed in black and white gloves. The music began.
The audience soon quiet as the sad melody broke into the theater. The spotlight disappeared from Olivia and the rest of the band stepped into the darkness to sing as the chorus. The skin of the audience shivered when Maritza began to sing in that angelical voice that had been rumored. It was both sweet and deep that made the soul whip. Not many in the audience knew the old Latin words that Maritza was singing but it felt just as if it was the natural language of the soul. Because music, after all, is universal and what the singer and instruments players tell us with their complicated tunes are their feelings. We can all understand when a child cries among the rain and hugs her cloth doll tightly. We all understand when a puppy is hungry and looks into our souls. We also understand the hand we were holding falls lifeless into the death bed. And most of us understand when our hearts fall victim to the delicious trap of love. This is when John fell head over heels for Maritza.
John with short military hair stood in the back of the audience with his blue marine uniform and white hat. He was left speechless as soon as Maritza began to sing. All the comments from his companions died off in the distance as they continued to joke about some of the pretty girls around the audience, but most of all they were in awe with Maritza. John with his big green eyes scanned the stage from left to right. It was not a dream after all. He felt his heart pulsating at a thousand miles per hour more than when he was in the nameless war. Even when he was on the rusty machine gun killing the enemy. There was nothing that would ever make him feel this way. The chills that run through his body were as if thousands of ants were running through him. He sighed and applauded mid-song.
