‘Morning’..’ morning’ l replied battling through the wind and rain of this dreary brighton street, another day on my way to work, another day of the same old routine. l arrived at work and sat down.
I grabbed a coffee and wished away the next few hours until my lunch break.
Sure enough 12pm came around and l grabbed my coat and headed out the door,
I headed straight for ‘the vinyl tap’ a great used record store that l frequented almost every luchtime and spent most of my wages in there.
‘hey stan’ l shouted as l walked in, stan was the owner and older than prob all the records in there but he kept the prices low and was a nice guy, ‘ hi dean, hows work?’ he replied.
‘ ha the same as ever, l swear l’m gonna go mad one of these days’ ‘why don’t you retire and let me run this place?’
‘haha’ stan laughed out loud ‘ you would bankrupt me by taking all the stock before anyone even came in’ no chance’
l laughed because l knew it was true, l glanced around and asked stan if there was anything new in.
‘They were just brought in’ pointing to a box in the back, ‘l havent had time to go throught them yet so have a look’
I wandered over to the box and had a look through, a few good records, some decent stuff.
Just then while browsing through l looked up and something caught my eye, a record on the wall, l had been in here a thousand times and never noticed it, there was something about it, it shone brightly and looked so precious that l had to look at it.
Hey stan, whats this record, l’ve never seen it before’
‘I found it in a box of old records l got at an auction. I don’t know much about it’
l took it off the wall and stared at it, l could see my reflection in it and it had a warm glow to it that l had never felt , l had to have it, l had no idea what it sounded like and it had nothing on it apart from the words ‘amore perso’ so it could have been anything but something inside me had to have it.
I gtabbed it and gave stan some cash and left for my way back to work.
I got into work late and saw her walking towards me, she was the most beautiful woman l had ever seen and l had admired her from afar for years but never had the nerve to talk to her, she walked towards me and my heart started pounding, l put my head down and quickly brushed past her, l don’t know why l couldn't talk to her, her name was isobell and l had been in love with her since the moment l saw her.
She was the only reason l still worked here.
The next few hours passed and l rushed home, l pulled out the record and put it on, the most beautiful sound came out of my speakers, a haunting yet magical melody, l’d never heard anything like it, it was so sad yet so beautiful at the same time, l constantly listened to it and the more l did the more it sounded like a women singing was crying out for something, l tried to find some information on it but there was nothing.
Even when the record was off it constantly played in my head.
My dreams were filled with the sound of this record and the images of a beautiful women walking through the streets crying.
I woke up covered in sweat, l could not get the sound of the women out of my head.
At work the next day the sound of the record drowned out everything, it kept getting louder and louder until l couldn't concentrate anymore.
I went to get a drink of water and saw isobell, everything seemed to stop around me and the music in my head quieted down, l started to feel different as if something was pushing me to go over to her, l slowly approached her desk and started to talk, she looked like a rose, she sat there so precious, so beautiful, the sun shone onto her hair like the fires of apollo himself. As dark as the night sky and as soft as a thousand feathers. l slowly asked if she would accompany me for a drink tonight and to my surprise she agreeded.
l walked back to my office on cloud 9, it felt like a dream.
On my lunch break l ran to see stan and tell him the good news but when l got the the store it was boarded up, l looked thought the window and it looked lke nothing had been there for years, l was so confused, l was only here yesterday, Stan didn’t say anything about shutting down . l didn’t know what to think. l asked a guy painting the next building if he had seen the shop close down but he just looked at me strangely and replied ‘there’s been nothing open in there for years’
Hmm, l couldn’t figure out what was going on so...
l skipped work and went home to get ready for my date.
l put the record on and it seemed more intense, the womens voice getting louder and more sullen. My head started thumping so l switched it off but it still played round and round in my head.
l quickly got ready and went to meet isobell, we had a great time, l felt like another person had taken over my body, l wasn’t nervous or scared and it just seemed to go so well.We had a lot in common and it turns out she was a music lover so l quietly asked if she wanted to come back t mine and listen to some records.she agreed and we headed back to my place.
We sat down with a couple of drinks and l decided to put ‘amore perso’ on , as soon as the first few seconds came throught the speaker isobells eyes were wide open and started to well up, she started shaking and looked shocked.
She started crying.
‘Isobell, are you ok?, whats the matter?’ l asked
‘n-n-nothing dean, ermmm l have to go’
She grabbed her coat and ran out the door.
I stood there baffled and confused, had l done something wrong? l couldn’t figure it out.it was going so well. l felt horrible and just climbed into bed.
‘bzzz,bzzzz’, l woke up with a bolt and heard the doorbell , l looked at my watch 2.47am. who would be coming round at this time?
l got dressed and opened the door, it was isobell.
‘Dean, l have to show you something.’
‘isobell, are you ok? You just ran out earlier’
‘l’m ok, l need you to listen to something’
We went to my room and out of her bag she pulled out a record , it was identical to mine and had the words ‘amore perso’ inscribed onto it but there was something about it that was different.
‘ hey where did you get that from, l have the same record’
‘Please dean just play them together’
l got my spare record player and and placed her record on it, it started playing and the same sad sound came out of the speakers, just then a mans voice,deep and tortured came out of the speaker and this brilliant light filled the room.
My record player started and both records started playing.
A brilliant sound so beautifull filled the room lounder than anything l have ever hear, a brillaint red light filled my eyes and the sound that was once so sad suddenly changed to a happier sound,the record player started shaking and the music kept getting louder and the light brighter, l couldnt see a thing.
The music kept getting louder and louder until it was unbearable, l put my heands over my ears and closed my eyes.
A few second later the room was suddenly quiet and dark like nothing had happened, l turned to isobell.
‘ermm ,what just happened’
she looked at the record players and both records were gone.
Isobell was crying ‘l have to tell you something’
She started talking about a tale of forbidden love between a king and a servant girl in the 13th century, both were exeucted for adultury and somehow their spirit had been searching for each other ever since, Isobel inherited the record from her grandfather who told her the story and she hadn’t believed it until the moment she heard my record.
l didn’t know what to think about what l had just heard and seen, it all seemed so far fetched, l walked over the the window saw the sun rising up , it seemed to rise directly above my window and it shone so brightly throught the room, l looked at Isobel and her eyes sparkeld like diamonds and her hair was as golden as the sun and she had never looked so beautiful, l leaned in and kissed her lips.the room lit up blindingly bright just as my speakers started up and the most beautiful sound came out filling up the room.at that moment nothing else mattered.
