Page 75 of Finding a Melody
“And you aren’t paying for repairs. Now, let’s go relax.” He jerked his head at my guitar case. “What do you have there?”
“I wanted to work on a song before I lose the idea.”
His expression softened as he smiled. “Okay. Need help setting up?”
“No, just need somewhere to sit.”
“Back porch?”
I smiled. I really liked his back porch. He led me there and watched as I found a spot I liked and got settled in, setting out my music sheet and using my phone to keep the sheets from blowing away. I plucked at my guitar as I slowly tuned it, taking my time. Admittedly, I felt a little lazy still and that came through as I played.
I hummed and picked out cords, trying to find a pacing that felt fitting.
“My light flickers in my chest. Hm hmmm hmmm. Slowly, oh so slowly, it steals everything I love.”
Pausing with that line, I mulled it over. It felt off to what I wanted. I hit the slow cords again and closed my eyes, digging deep to what I wanted to say. Getting my dad’s letter changed everything for me, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. I still couldn’t even process the idea that he had been there, that he was right there, in my reach.
I played the lazy notes and tried again.
“My light is but a flicker in my chest.” I nodded to myself with that, noting the feel of it and kept going. “Barely staying in my grasp... hm hmm... Dah dun duttta dun dunn dunn. Hm. Hmm. Warmth so faint, I have to wonder. Can I hold on? Oh oh.”
I paused and wrote down that first little bit, playing with the lyrics, filling it in, expanding, finding the voice I wanted out of the whole song. Rustling caught my attention and I looked up, forgetting that Seth was even around. He had settled in across from me with a book in his hand, watching me with such a gentle smile that I had to wonder what he was thinking.
“Listen to this, tell me what you think.”
“I’m not too good at understanding music,” he warned.
“So?” I strummed at the guitar, adjusting some of the notes. “You still know when you like a song and when you don’t. Listen to those instincts.”
Once I was happy with the notes, I sang:
“My life is but a flicker in my chest
Barely staying in my grasp
Burning all the embers deep within
Slowly, oh so slowly, it steals everything I love
The warmth so faint, I have to wonder”
I played a couple of notes and strengthened my voice:
“Can I hold on?
Oh, oh, can I hold on?”
I strummed a few more notes and then stopped.
“Shit.” Seth was leaning forward, trying to look down at my music sheet. “You came up with that already?”
My cheeks heated. “I am a professional.” I tried to make light of it.
“Still. That’s amazing. It was like you pulled that out of nowhere. How do you do that? Like, I watched you working on it, but it was pieces at a time, not that.”
His awe left me a bit breathless as he continued to go on about how impressed he was.
“Okay! Enough.” I laughed.