Anna hadn't really felt like going out tonight - she'd had a bit of a fight with Hans, her boyfriend, which always left things in a weird place. It's like, she knew she should be mad, but Anna wasn't a natural grudge-holder, and she just ended up feeling guilty.
But her friend, Belle, had called her up, asking if she would like to come to one of her favorite coffee shops. It was a fundraiser event for a local library; music, a raffle, coffee and baked goods - all for a good cause! And, even though she wasn't in a great mood, Anna couldn't say no to her friend. Besides, she remembered that this coffee shop had some pretty killer brownies, and chocolate always made her feel better.
So, here she was. Sitting in a wobbly chair, in a stuffy room, which was chock-full of old hippies, coffee junkies, and people who had likely been roped into coming by family or friends.
Anna had lost sight of Belle after the brunette had spotted her trying to squeeze her way into the shop; she'd pulled the redhead over to a blessedly empty table, before darting off to help somewhere else. Considering this event was to help a library, Anna wasn't at all surprised that her literature-obsessed friend was deeply ingrained in helping out tonight. It was something Anna loved about her friend, though she wished Belle could have sat down with her for at least a little bit.
"Alright, we're going to have our next performers come on in a little bit! So, while those boys are setting up, take some time to get a drink or something to eat. And don't forget about buying raffle tickets, or putting a bid in at the silent auction!"
Looking around for Belle one last time, Anna got up to get herself a brownie and a white hot chocolate. And she was also there to help out the fundraiser, of course, so she ended up buying several bunches of tickets and putting in a bid for a gift card to her favorite ice cream place.
Navigating her way back to the table she had been sitting at with her chocolate-y treats and tickets, Anna's face fell when she found it to be occupied. "Jeez, I was gone for five minutes...," she grumbled to herself, fighting back through the press of people in search of a new place to sit.
She managed to find a spot in a little corner near the stage, which she figured no one had jumped on yet because it was really just a cramped little nook, just as the next musician started to go through the sound checks. Breaking off bits of her brownie and popping them into her mouth, Anna watched as the guy finished setting up and fumbled with the mic for a moment before speaking into it with a soft voice that belied his size.
"Hey, so...I know you guys were expecting more than just me, but Sven couldn't make it, so...it's just me."
Anna didn't think he sounded incredibly confident, but he seemed to get a good reaction from people none-the-less. Maybe he played here often?
"Knock 'em dead, baby!" came a loud, overly enthusiastic voice from somewhere in the crowd.
A low, trying-very-hard-not-to-sound-embarrassed sounded from the man standing behind the mic. "I think you all know my Ma, yeah?" he asked, messing with the knit cap that was on his head before tugging at the collar of his flannel shirt.
Anna vaguely wondered if he felt too hot in all that - he clearly hadn't been thinking about the combination of heat from the lights on stage, and all the people tightly packed into the coffee shop. His hat was cute, though. It was mostly navy blue, with a strip of red going along the bottom of it, and it had a reindeer print on it - very appropriate for the upcoming holiday season. Shaggy, wheat blond hair wasn't completely covered by the cap, falling into his eyes and teasing at the collar of his shirt.
"Who here in this shop doesn't know Mama Bulda?" someone else shouted, backed up by a slew of corresponding voices.
Anna didn't know who Mama Bulda was. Hans didn't like to go to places like this, so she only really went with friends - which, in itself, wasn't very often. Hans preferred her staying home...
"Stop stalling, son, let's here some music! Ain't nobody here to listen to me!"
"Alright, alright; you got me with the stalling thing. I'm gonna start off on the slow side..."
"I once had a girl
or should I say
she once had me..."
"She showed me her room
isn't it good Norwegian wood?"
"She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere
so I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair."
"I sat on a rug
biding my time
drinking her wine."
"We talked until two
And then she said: "It's time for bed.""
Anna sat up a little straighter in her seat, brushing crumbs off her fingers and reaching for her white chocolate cocoa. This guy was pretty good all on his own, actually, and - in her opinion, was doing doubly as well considering he'd sort of been left high and dry by whoever was supposed to be playing with him.
"She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn't and crawled off to sleep in the bath."
"And when I awoke
I was alone
this bird had flown."
"So I lit a fire
isn't it good Norwegian wood?"
The first song came to an end, and was met with clapping and more enthusiastic cheers from "Mama Bulda". Even if Anna couldn't see the woman, her voice was incredibly distinctive, and easily rose above everyone else's.
Pulling her phone out of her purse, Anna started to text Hans. She knew he didn't care for these sorts of things, and they'd just had a fight and all, but maybe he'd still come out for her...?
"Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC
didn't get to bed last night."
"On the way the paper bag was on my knee
man I had a dreadful flight."
"I'm back in the U.S.S.R.
you don't know how lucky you are boys
back in the U.S.S.R."
"Been away so long I hardly knew the place
gee it's good to be back home."
"Leave it 'til tomorrow to unpack my case
honey disconnect the phone."
"I'm back in the U.S.S.R.
you don't know how lucky you are boys
back in the U.S. - back in the U.S. - back in the U.S.S.R."
"Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
they leave the west behind
and Moscow girls make me sing and shout
that Georgia's always on my my my my my my my my my mind!"
"Oh come on!"
This song easily picked up the pace, getting people on their feet and dancing in whatever small, open spaces they could find in the coffee shop.
Anna had set her phone down on the little corner table she'd grabbed for herself, energetically bouncing in her seat as best she could to the song; still waiting for a reply from her boyfriend.
It really wasn't a song Anna would have guessed this guy would play, just from looking at him, at least.
"I'm back in the U.S.S.R.
you don't know how lucky you are boys
back in the U.S.S.R."
"Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
they leave the west behind
and Moscow girls make me sing and shout
that Georgia's always on my my my my my my my my my mind!"
"Ohhhh~"
"Show me round the snow peaked mountains way down south
take me to your daddy's farm
let me hear your balalaikas ringing out
come on keep your comrade warm."
"I'm back in the U.S.S.R.
you don't know how lucky you are boys
back in the U.S.S.R."
"Let me tell you 'bout it!"
"Okay," Reindeer Cap - as Anna had taken to calling him in her head - cleared his throat, taking a long drink of water from the plastic bottle by his guitar case, "I don't do this often, but since it's a special event and all...I'll do a request? Just the one, though."
Anna glanced down at her phone once again, beaming when she saw that she finally had a response from Hans. He said that he'd come by! He was sorry for the spat earlier, but he was coming by, and they could dance, and have a good time - this was perfect!
Someone must have suggested a song, since Reindeer Cap was starting up again.
"Sheepdog, standing in the rain
bullfrog, doing it again."
"Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles
what makes you think you're something special when you smile?"
"Childlike, no one understands
jackknife, in your sweaty hands."
"Some kind of innocence is measured out in years
you don't know what it's like to listen to you fears."
"You can talk to me! You can talk to me! You can talk to me!
If you're lonely you can talk to me!"
As it so happened, Hans hadn't been too far from the coffee shop, so he texted her back and told her to come meet him out front. Anna quickly grabbed her things - Hans hated it when she was late, he was very precise and punctual - and tried to make her way through the crowd of people without spilling the rest of her drink on anyone. She had almost reached the front entrance to the shop, but stopped when Reindeer Cap's voice started up again.
"Big man, walking in the park
wigwam, frightened of the dark."
"Some kind of solitude is measured out in you
you think you know me, but you haven't got a clue."
You can talk to me! You can talk to me! You can talk to me!
If you're lonely you can talk to me!"
"Hey!"
"Rah-roo! Ra-ruff!"
"Hey! Bulldog!
[ruff]"
"Hey! Bulldog!"
"Hey! Bulldog!"
"Hey! Bulldog!"
"[Hey, man]
[what's that, boy?]
[roof!]"
"[What d'yah say?]
[I say - roof!]"
"[D'yah know anymore?]"
"[Rah-oo! Ahhaha!]
[you got it! that's right!]
[that's it, man!]
[roo!]
[that's it! you got it!]
[don't look at me, man! I only got ten children!]"
"[Quiet, boy, quiet!]
[okay!]
[quiet!]"
"Hey! Bulldog!"
Anna wasn't really sure what she thought of that song. It was strange, not necessarily the lyrics - although, some of them were odd to her - but Reindeer Cap seemed to be looking right at her when he was singing. It was probably just a trick of the light, she was likely just seeing things with her overactive imagination, as Hans called it.
But...He was definitely looking at her right now. Even from here she was standing, Anna could see that his eyes were brown. A very lovely brown, not anything like Hans' green eyes. There was a depth to Reindeer Cap's eyes, a warmth that Hans' lacked sometimes - only sometimes, like green gems that reflected the light when turned the right way.
"Last song, and then I've gotta make way for the next band. So...here it is."
"I look at all the lonely people
I look at all the lonely people."
"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice at the church where a wedding has been
lives in a dream
waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
who is it for?"
"All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
"Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
no one comes near
look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
what does he care?"
"All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
"I look at all the lonely people
I look at all the lonely people."
"Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
no one was saved"
"All the lonely people
where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
where do they all belong?"
As soon as that last note ended, Anna almost bolted from the coffee shop, unsure as to why her heart was pounding against her rib cage - like she was scared.
It was just a song.
Just a song, sung by some guy she didn't even know, that was in no way related to her.
She was just Anna. No one wrote songs about her, or sung songs to her.
It was just a trick of the light.
"There you are, Anna."
Just her overactive imagination.
"What took you so long to get out of that...establishment?"
No warmth, no depth.
"I'm sorry, I was just listening to that last song..."
Cold, shallow gems.
"Hmph, two-bit riff-raff. You'll find nothing of worth in a place like that, Anna."