I hope that you enjoy this short story. It was the first one I had written. One Moonlit Night!
By Sharon Holtz
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It was a moonlit starry, starry night, and this Halloween held a little more excitement for young Catherine, than the Holiday had held in the past. And the reason is, after Catherine goes Trick-or-Treating with her friends, she would be going with her Mom and Dad, to a special concert in the park! Yes, on this night of ghostly shadows, the orchestra would be playing music from her Mom's most favorite composer “Grieg”, which was becoming Catherine's favorite too.
Oh how her Mother loved going to the concerts in the park with her family. And little intuitive Catherine noticed her Mom seemed to be enjoying these times together, even more so lately, making these occasions extra special for her as well.
So as they sat there this Halloween, Catherine's Mom lovingly held little Catherine's hand, as she swayed to the music...savoring the melodies that flowed through the night air. And as they shared a smile, they both realized what a wonderful night this was.
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Meanwhile…down below the city streets…young Devin was racing through the tunnels, to find his little brother Vincent. And because there was a concert being performed in the park, Devin knew right where to look!
Yes, Devin knew, because Vincent had his own special spot in the tunnel right below the bandstand for all the concerts. So whenever there was music filtering through the vent, Vincent's love for music, would draw him there.
And so as Vincent heard his brother's voice calling for him, he quickly stood, and answered back, “I am over here Devin."
As Devin rounded the corner, and caught his breath, he looked at his exquisite wide eyed, wild haired brother, and eagerly asked, “Hey, do you wanna go to the concert?”
To which Vincent excitedly told him, “What do you mean? I already am Devin! And listen...it is wonderful!”
“No Vincent...” Devin answered mischievously,”...I mean really go…go up top! Since everyone is masquerading, we would blend right in!”
Thinking this sounded wonderful, Vincent’s eyes widened, and said, "Neat! So Father said I could go?”
With a wave of his hand, Devin replied, “Are you kidding? Father couldn’t know anything about it! He's an old stick in the mud, and would never approve!"
And so to convince Vincent, Devin laid it all out, as he explained, "Here's the situation...at this very minute, Father is in his chamber, playing chess with Sebastian. You know how those two are! They will be at it for hours! And so Pascal, Winslow and I were thinking, since we did all the Halloween crafts and junk Mary made us do, we could go on an adventure of some kind…like maybe check out the concert up top? So, come on Vincent wanna go for it? Say yes! We all know how much you like this classical garbage!"
As Devin picked up on Vincent's hesitancy, he urgently pleaded, "Ya gotta think fast Vincent! Pascal and Winslow are waitin'."
And so without a word, Vincent put up his hood, and with a nod, he agreed.
Meanwhile, Pascal and Winslow stood guard, and when they saw Vincent walking with Devin, they both did a high five!
And then Winslow excitedly shouted, "Looks like “The Four Amigos" are going on an adventure!"
To which Pascal teased, "And we will be masquerading as Top-Siders!"
And because he was the oldest one in charge, Devin looked at the other three, and cautioned, "Now look, Father would make chop liver out of me if I were to lose one of ya...expecially YOU Vincent, so stick together...CAPICHE?"
And so after they agreed, the four boys then made their way up, into the park... but, unbeknownst to Devin, Pascal and Winslow, Vincent had stopped, and he lingered under the bleachers, because he was spellbound by what he saw!
Yes, as Vincent took it all in, he was entranced by the way the musicians played together, creating this beautiful and wondrous sound.
And as Vincent listened, his eyes sparkled with amazement, and danced with boundless joy! And Vincent couldn't believe it! He was actually there…this close, watching the musicians, and really feeling the music!
And so as Vincent stood in the shadows under the bleachers, somehow...a beam of light magically sought him out. and reflected off of his beautiful crystal blue eyes, causing them to sparkle and dance even more than usual!
Meantime, as Catherine sat, also enthralled with the music, something caught her attention! And so she looked down through the seats, and caught a glimpse of Vincent! And what she could see of him, was so striking, that she thought, “Oh My…that boy has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen!”
And because of seeing this awesome kid, little Catherine's attention was no longer on the music…but rather on the cute boy beneath the bleachers! And she thought it was pretty cool, that he liked this kind of music too! Because all of the boys she knew at school made fun of classical music! But not this boy...he seemed to really like it!
Meantime, at the same moment, Vincent sensed something, which caused him to look up, and through the bleachers, he saw the most beautiful girl in the world!
And so upon realizing he had been spotted, Vincent quickly stepped back into the shadows, until the thought struck him, that he did not have to hide, not on this night anyway!
So once again, Vincent stepped forward so he could see the beautiful girl, the beautiful girl who was looking right back at him!
And as Vincent came back into view, Catherine found she was relieved the boy was still there, and so she instinctively smiled, as if to say "There you are!”
And although Vincent was stunned and humbled by the fact, that this beautiful girl was smiling at him, he managed to politely greet her in kind, with a tip of his head.
But...as fate would have it, it was time for intermission, causing an interruption, to this “time-stood-still-moment” for little Catherine and young Vincent!
So as everyone rose from their seats, to either stretch or get refreshments, the crowd got in the way, and the two lost sight of each other!
And as Catherine's parents took her hand to get some refreshments too, her mind was actually not on the hot chocolate and cookies, but rather, she wanted to search for the cute boy with the crystal blue eyes.
And Vincent was searching too, because he wanted to find the pretty girl with the beautiful smile!
Meanwhile, Devin, Winslow and Pascal, were frantically looking for Vincent! And when they found him, Devin scolded, "You scared the heck out of us, with your disappearing act! Remember what I said? We were supposed to stick together! Man, one things for sure, if you would have been killed, or kidnapped or somethin', Father would have skinned me alive! Come on you guys...we're heading back home."
And even though his comrades were tugging on him, Vincent stayed steadfast, and dug in his heals, as he stubbornly decided, he was not going to budge…not until he saw the beautiful girl, one last time.
Meanwhile, Catherine too felt the same way, and so she lingered and looked…. because she had to see this cute boy one more time!
Finally, Catherine saw him, there he was! The fairy tale type boy, with the most beautiful eyes! Oh….and she thought he was really awesome, with his lion like featured mask, and golden hair, falling way down below his shoulders.
And it was then that Vincent saw her too…the girl, with the most beautiful smile! And she was so pretty, dressed as Alice in Wonderland, with her long hair pulled back, and tied with a wide blue satin ribbon.
And again she smiled, that dazzling smile, right at Vincent!
Then suddenly she was gone. Tugged out of sight, and Vincent too was pulled and pushed in the opposite direction, in an effort to return to their safe refuge below.
Well, it was many years later…when Vincent had extended an invitation to Catherine to listen to “Grieg” in his private box seat below the bandstand.
And so, as they settled in to listen to the concert, Catherine thanked Vincent, for this perfect seat!
Vincent said she was most welcome, and then they together, sat entranced, listening to the music.
Oh how Vincent loved the music…and as he listened with such joy…it made his beautiful eyes sparkle and dance.
And Catherine, from her excitement smiled up at Vincent, conveying she was enjoying the music too!
In just that moment…Vincent looked down at Catherine…who was smiling that beautiful smile, and she, looked up at him, with those dancing crystal blue eyes, and they both in the same moment…realized they had met once before, on that one moonlit night so long ago...