"A World Forgotten - Sarah"

SARAH

Sarah laid on the warm, sandy beach her body soaking up the calming rays of the late afternoon sun. Her breathing was slow and regular as she listened to the sound of the water rushing up onto the beach. It seemed that with every movement of the rippling tides they crept ever closer to where she lay. A soft, gentle wind began to blow and caressed her face as she began to slowly sit up. With her eyes still closed, she tilted her head to listen more closely to the ocean. Through the sounds of the rushing waves Sarah thought she could hear singing in the distance. She opened her wide blue/green eyes and began to search the waters for the origin of the singing, but as she did the beautiful melody quickly stopped.

"Sarah." The startled young girl turned her head sharply around and looked up the embankment to where she heard the voice. There she saw a tall, slender woman waving her arms over her head in a criss cross motion. "There you are. You're going to be late for choir practice." Her mom yelled from the top of the stairs that led down to the beach. Just as suddenly as the woman had appeared, she was gone.

As Sarah rose up from her soft, warm bed of sand she couldn't help but turn and take one last glance over the waters to see if she could catch a glimpse of where the enchanting melody could have came from, but she could see nothing. As she began to run up the steep, wooden stairs a figure appeared from behind a large boulder at the edge of the water. It watched closely as the beautiful, young girl reached the top of the stairs and disappeared out of sight.

Sarah entered the kitchen to find her mom rinsing off the dinner plates and placing them in the strainer to dry. She quickly walked over to where a small plate of carrots sat on the counter and snatched up a few in her small, delicate hands. She started popping them one by one into her mouth as she turned around and leaned up against the countertop.

"It's already six o'clock. Don't you have to be at the school by 6:30?" Her mom asked questioningly as she placed the last bowl in the strainer and started to wipe down the sink and countertop. She stopped briefly and looked over to where Sarah stood.

"Yes, yes. I am going upstairs now to finish ge tting ready. Will only take me a minute." Sarah sang out as she pushed herself away from the counter and spun around on her toes to quickly exit the room. She danced gracefully through the living room towards the stairs, and then continued up the stairs until she was at the top of the second floor. She began to hum an unfamiliar tune as she swiftly moved down the hallway to her room. This beautiful melody, Sarah would remember later, was the same one she heard while on the beach earlier that day.

Walking over to her bed, Sarah quickly threw off her blue, terry cloth shorts and matching top. She then replaced them with a pair of dark, blue jeans and a lime green t-shirt. She grabbed the pearl handled brush that sat in the middle of her dresser and jumped backwards onto the bed. She slowly began to brush her long silky blond hair from top to bottom ever so gently taking special care to get the ends really well. Sarah loved how it would flow gracefully around her face and lay softly over her shoulders reaching almost down to her small, petite waist. When she was done with the one side she began brushing the other side the same way. Once Sarah had finished her hair she stood up and quickly walked over to the dresser to return the brush to its spot. She then reached over to open her small wooden jewelry box and pulled out a green ponytail. Once she had gathered her long, thick mane up with the ponytail she rushed over to the door, and slipped on her dark, blue tennis shoes that stood at the entrance of her room. She looked around the room to make sure she didn't forget anything before continuing out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. As she neared the stairs she heard the familiar beep from her mom's horn signaling her to hurry.

"Coming mom, coming!" Sarah said aloud. Her words echoing through the living room as she headed back towards the kitchen in a slow, steady jog. She closed the kitchen door behind her and began to sprint towards where her mom's car was slowly backing up down the driveway.

"Wait!" Sarah shouted out as she neared the car.

"I thought you were only going to be a minute? It's been over 15 minutes, lady." Her mom yelled back as Sarah reached the passenger door and jumped in.

"It was really that long? Sorry, mom. Besides, I think they have gotten used to me always being late by now though. In fact, they seem to expect it. I'll try to work on that from now on, okay?" She said as she reached over the seat and gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, ok. I still don't see why you spend so much time down at the beach by yourself though. It's not healthy for a young girl like you to spend all your spare time by yourself. You need to make some friends, hang out at the mall or go to a movie. Something!" Her mom replied as she headed away from their house. Sarah just nobbed and turned to looked out the window.

As Sarah entered the school music room she heard a familiar voice calling her name. It was her friend, Melody, and she was fast approaching her with arms outstretched. She reached out and took hold of Sarah's arms and pulled her over to the piano where seven other girls stood. They all stared at her and then turned their attention back towards the piano.

"Didn't I tell you that she would be late again?" Melody said jokingly to the other students and then turned back to face Sarah. "I told them that you would be fashionably late as usual. You really must start getting here on time. You know Mrs. Babcock is a stickler for punctuality." She whispered as we joined the others around the large Grand piano that stood in the far corner of the room.

"Well, Sarah, thank you so much for being able to fit us into your busy schedule." Mrs. Babcock said sarcastically. The others quietly snickered to themselves as Sarah took her place next to Melody.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Babcock," she said apologetically. "I promise not to be late again."

"Humph! Well then let us get started shall we? Our Spring concert is less than 2 weeks away, and we have a lot to do." She placed her chubby little fingers on the ebony keys and began to play the scales. As she played, our group rang out each note loud and strong. "Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. Do, Ti, La, So, Fa, Me, Re, Do."

Sarah's enchantingly sweet voice seemed to wash away all thoughts of anger and sadness from the group as they ran through each song without so much as a screech. Every note flowed like a soft, warm breeze on a summer night. Mrs. Babcock's chubby fingers glided gracefully over the piano keys as she slowly swayed back and forth on the small, wooden bench. As the last song reached its climax, the girls' voices began to grow louder and stronger with each passing note until finally, it was over. For a moment, the music room grew silent. So quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Mrs. Babcock slowly lifted her fingers from the piano and laid them gently on her legs. She looked up and her eyes swept over the group from right to left.

"That was simply breathtaking, girls!" She stated as she brought her hands together and clapped them together several times. "There was not one note missed or sung out of tune. I don't think in all my years of teaching I have ever heard a more perfect performance!" She continued a huge smile plastered on her small, round face. "This will most definitely be the best concert we have had in years."

At eight o'clock the girls were dismissed to go home. Sarah and Melody walked out the front door together and quickly hustled down the sidewalk to the road where Sarah's mom was parked. Sarah opened the back door and both her and Melody hopped in. As Sarah pulled the door shut, her mom turned around and look back at the girls.

"So how was practice, girls?" She asked, her wide brown eyes starring first from one girl then the other.

"Mrs Babcock said that it was the best she had heard in all her years of teaching. In my opinion I personally think she was talking about Sarah." Melody answered as she turned to look over at her friend. "You sang the best I have ever heard tonight. When you sing the music seems to take on a meaning of its own!" She announced as Sarah began to feel her face start to flush.

"Well, let's get you home, Melody. I'm sure your mom is wondering what's taking us so long." Sarah's mom turned back around and adjusted herself in her seat. She started up the little, blue Honda and drove away from the school.