Ever since the first moment I heard him sing, my entire life was a secret from my loved ones. I dared not tell them a mysterious man was serenading me during school and at home in fear my father would try to send me away. I tried to keep my mind off of it, but I couldn't. I kept wondering why this man wanted me and why he had to hide himself. It was finally two months later that I couldn't take it any longer. I had to get away from this man.
It was my Thanksgiving break from school and I had been in my house for days because of the tremendous snow banks outside. Usually it didn't snow like this in New York in November, but this year, it did. I had already tried to do everything I could to keep myself entertained, but nothing seemed to help. The same old things were on the television and I couldn't go see my friends. And to make matters worse, the songs and music kept singing through my head endlessly. I tried to tune him out, but no matter how much it bothered me, I couldn't ignore the fact that his voice was beautiful. That is, until I went to bed that night.
I crawled into bed at nine o'clock sharp trying to bring tomorrow faster, hoping there would be no snow. I turned out the lights and once my head hit the pillow, I closed my eyes and started to drift into the most blissful sleep I could have ever imagined until his voice began to sing to me once more. At once, my eyes shot open. No matter how beautiful the sound was, I couldn't stand this man anymore. I couldn't stand that I wasn't normal anymore, that I had to lie to my friends and family about him. In an instant, my heart began pounding in my chest, full with anger as I stood up on my bed and shouted, "Leave me alone!"
He kept singing louder, and even when I put my hands to my ears, I could still hear him.
"Go away! Don't you see I don't want to know you? Please just leave me alone." I yelled across my room.
This seemed to only make matters worse because his voice began pounding in my head. That was when I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to get out. No matter how cold it was, I just had to get away from my house and his voice.
I grabbed my coat and only wearing a pair of flannel pj's, I opened up my bedroom window and ran outside through the snow. I kept thinking if only I could get far enough away from him, maybe he would leave me be. But before I could even get three blocks away from my house, I suddenly began to feel so tired. My body started to go numb and I slowed down, finally realizing how cold it really was out here. All of a sudden my legs lost all feeling in them and I tumbled to the ground. As I lied in the snow, I began to think that I could no longer hear his voice, but I could no longer feel the lower half of my body. I started to shiver and without my knowing, my eyes slowly began to close. The last thing I remembered was my head hitting the snow bank and all the sounds of the world faded away.
Just as my life was close to its end, I suddenly felt a strong warmth flooding through my body. My eyes opened as I looked up to see him for the first time. He was in all black except for the white mask on the right side of his face and his arms were wrapped around me like a blanket, trying so desperately to keep the warmth near my heart. His cloak was around me as well when I noticed that I was in his arms. He was carrying me across the snow in his arms. Before I could open my mouth, my eyes closed once again but not before I saw his eyes look into mine for the first time.
When I finally came to, I thought everything had been a dream. I shot up in bed but my head was pounding in my ears which made me lie back down. My mind began to race. Was it a dream or did he really come? The man who has been singing to me for months?
Just before I pushed the thought from my mind, I glanced into my bathroom through the corner of my eye and saw wet clothes hanging from the curtain rod. My eyes widened once I realized they were my coat and flannel pj's that I had been wearing when I left to go outside. I immediately looked down at myself to see my clothes had been changed.
At first my face turned red with anger and embarrassment, but then before I could yell, I realized that it had to have been done or else I would have caught a cold. The only reassuring think was that I still had the same undergarments on.
I laid my head back down on the pillow and began to think of what to do. I knew he was there. I could sense him watching me, but unlike before, it didn't bother me this time. It in a way soothed me. He had saved my life.
"I don't know if you can hear me…" I began, "But thank you…for saving me."
I listened intently to the sound of my name echo throughout my mind. First in whispers, then in melody. I sat up and closed my eyes to the sound of his voice and as I did, I remembered his face. His face was in one word- remarkable. I expected this strange man to be so ugly, but he wasn't. As my eyes were closed, I pictured his voice and his face at the same time, trying to make out a picture of the man I had known for only two months now.
"Why have you come to me?" I asked suddenly, waiting for an answer.
There was a silence that could have been mistaken for forever and just as I thought he was gone, he replied with the first words I had ever heard him speak to me.
"I want to teach you to sing."
His voice. Even when he spoke it was so beautiful. I closed my eyes and felt myself shudder a bit under the covers.
"I want you to teach me." I replied, "But first, I want to see you again."
"In time, Christine." he replied rather quickly.
"But I already saw you. I…need to see you again."
His silence answered my question sharply, but he didn't understand. I didn't want to make fun of his mask. I wanted to make sure the beauty I had seen in him was real.
"Please…" I asked gently.
"In time, Christine." he replied sweetly and just as he did, he quickly replied, "We shall start your lessons tomorrow."
As I lied back and closed my eyes, for the first time in months, his voice became the most beautiful thing I had ever heard once again. But instead of his voice putting me to sleep, it was dreams of his beautiful face.