Sing me a promise

by Dulani SIDDHISENA

Samantha was a gifted child, born to a lower middle class family who had enough sense to nurture and nourish her talents from the moment they were discovered. The discovery was made quite accidentally by her mother, who, when attempting to lull the 8 month old baby off to sleep with a classic lullaby, found that, miraculously, the little baby joined along, humming the notes to near perfection.

At first, her mother thought she was hearing the humming of a passer-by, but alas, the sounds were indeed emanating from none other than the little baby cradled in her arms! Presently, she thought she must be dreaming.

This thought was too alarming, for any sane mother to remain asleep with a baby on her lap, so that possibility was instantly dismissed. And when the humming still continued in perfect harmony, and she realized that there was no mistaking that her little baby girl was the one who produced such sweet sounds, she was in tears of joy and bewilderment.

For the next couple of days, Samantha displayed her talents to an astonished father and grandparents, prompted by her mother who began each session by humming the first notes of a lullaby. And each day, the little girl sounded better and better.

Her parents began playing soft music and songs to her for hours and hours each day. Samantha began uttering her first words within the next few weeks, as she tried to imitate the sounds she heard from the records being played for her.

By the time she was 18 months old, she sang like an angel, utilizing her unbelievable memory to recite back songs after listening to them just once.

Music became her life from then on. She was admitted to a voice training and singing class at the age of three. The teacher was extremely reluctant, as any would be, at the first sight of the tiny little girl, and was already shaking her head and telling the parents to come back when she was older, when her mother prompted little Samantha to start singing.

An immediate hush followed, and by the end of her song, both mother and teacher, and the cleaning lady who had pricked her ears in the hallway and then came in for a closer listen, were in unabashed tears.

Fame and fortune came upon the family at a rapid and alarming pace. By the age of ten, Samantha had won many prestigious awards for her original songs, and had a multitude of successful records under her name. The whole world seemed to be in love with the sunny little girl with the heart melting voice.

Before long, Samantha had blossomed into a beautiful, charming and poised young girl. The media became more and more obsessed with her every activity. Mother Nature had not only enhanced and illuminated her beauty, but also had nurtured her talents. She now sang powerful heart-breaking songs, and was a world-wide success.

And then one day, she woke up and realized that her voice was....... gone. Lost, completely inaudible, except for a low rasping sound as one would get with a very bad throat infection. But Samantha had been sick before, and this time, her instincts seemed to scream at her, telling her that this was not a simple laryngitis.

For a few days, the atmosphere was naively calm and peaceful, everyone assuming that she had contracted a common bug, and leaving her with the time and space, and exquisite comfort and care that a celebrity like her would naturally be entitled to, in order to recover.

Even Samantha, although reigned in by the ever-looming knowledge that her distinctive voice which had charmed an entire world would never, ever come back, was falsely stilled, for a couple of days, into thinking and hoping that her ‘illness’ would pass.

As weeks turned into months and months into a year, Samantha had effectively managed to disappear from the world. Her public relations crew spent countless hours every day and night trying to masquerade her disappearance behind a story that would do her no harm in terms of future success, as well as put an end to the mounting public interest.

Various tabloids had their own respective field-days publishing bizarre stories about her disappearance, ranging from an illegitimate childbirth to being abducted by aliens. The world was restless and worried, but most of all, they were curious.

After some time, as all things eventually do, this frenzy died down, and people began focusing on other concurrent issues. Within a short period of time, they had actually forgotten the musical prodigy, and her music was rarely played on any of the radio stations anymore.

Samantha, however, was a total wreck. She didn’t eat or sleep for days on end, and had to be treated with intravenous fluids when she came to the point of collapse, as happened on several occasions. She lost a massive amount of weight. She passed through the various phases in her reaction of grief, before finally ceasing on a state of reluctant acceptance.

A few weeks later, she started developing the horrifying symptoms that were a harbinger of her demise. She wasn’t surprised or shocked, and there was a haunting lack of physical pain or emotion. She was sent home from the hospital to be in peace. Samantha spent more and more time outdoors by herself, preferring to be amidst Mother Nature who had created her and would soon reclaim her to its earth.

It happened one day as she was sitting in the park, reading a book by herself while children played in the grounds beyond her. A little girl just walked up to her and told her these words:

“My mama used to sing me your songs. When I was as little as her thumb, she said, and lying in a glass box in the baby room at the hospital.

When she brought me home, she played your records for me. I remember them so well. I had bad dreams every night and cried, but your songs chased them all away. She said your music brought me to life, when all the doctors and nurses had given up on me. She told me that if I could find you some day, to tell you she said thank you”.

Samantha was so alarmed when she heard these words, and so surprised that such a young child would be able to recognize her when all the rest of the world, who had obsessed over her, had not. But then she began to realize why she’d been given such an awe-inspiring voice.

And she now knew, finally, after so many torturous relentless ruminations as to why this was happening to her, the reason her voice was taken away. She had served her purpose, and her work was done. As pale and thin as she was, the little girl’s illuminant eyes substantiated a miracle.

A few weeks later, after battling through a tough terminal stage, Samantha passed away, from a rare form of laryngeal cancer. If she were still famous, the medical terminology for her illness may have even been revised in her name. But no one really knew her anymore, or remembered her.........no one but one sickly little girl with bright eyes and a courageous heart.