Free Descended by Debra Miller Page B

vocals, allowing her depth and power to build and develop. It was mind-bendingly beautiful and clearly the only two things Henry noticed missing from Vivian were her wings and a halo. Henry knew this was the voice of an angel.  He just couldn’t fathom where that voice came from. Outside, Carter Stone was passing by. He heard Violet singing and was captivated by every note. Carter wanted to enter the church but couldn’t. He had not been inside a church since he was a little boy. No one knew why but Carter had a terrible phobia of churches called Ecclesiophobia and could not bring himself to even open the doors. He felt a pull that was strong er than anything he had ever felt before. The voice beckoned to him, almost calling his name and inviting him to enter the beautiful stained glass doors of the church. Violet’s brilliant tone produced a complete harmonic spectrum of vibrantly beautiful and desirable sounds.  Carter felt chills running down his entire body and he wanted very much to know who or what was attached to the amazing voice.
     
    He walked up the steps and placed his hands on the handles of the doors, but he just couldn’t pull them open. The doors felt heavy, too heavy for him to pull. It was as if they were locked. But the doors were not locked. The only thing stopping Carter was Carter himself. His heart began to pound, his hands began to shake, his forehead started to sweat, and suddenly he felt dizzy. Carter could not overcome his anxiety and he removed his hands from the doors and stepped slowly away from the church, taking the sound of her voice with him as he crossed the street.

From a distance he watched and waited for the service to end so he could find his family, who also attended Henry’s church, to find out who was singing.  Just then a car stopped where Carter stoo d waiting. It was his friend Bull and he offered to give him a lift.  Carter couldn’t think of a reason why he was standing there in front of the church, so he took the ride from his friend and headed back home, all the while replaying the sweet melody he had heard over and over again in his head. “Who was that?” he thought to himself. Carter knew he had to find that voice or rather the person attached to it, but he decided it could wait until later. Today he had plans to spend his last day of summer vacation doing what he loved and he had gotten a late start already.
     
    When Violet finished, the entire congregation was on their feet clapping and cheering and Henry was brought to tears. “Who knew Henry’s little angel had the voice of one?” the parishioners all whispered amongst themselves. Henry certainly didn’t.  Neither did Jeremy, who sat watching in the front row in disbelief of what he just witnessed….Vivian singing. Jeremy wondered what was going on with her. Watching her take the stage like that made him feel as if he never really knew her at all. He left before mass was over, sad and confused about everything.
    Church service had ended and the parishioner’s couldn’t stop praising Violet for her “angelic performance” as they referred to it.  Violet thanked them all and asked Henry if he was ready to go. Henry looked at Violet proudly and said, “Any other amazing hidden talents up your sleeve I should be aware of?”
    “I don’t think so, but if I notice any I’ll be sure to email you in advance!” She grinned and winked back at Henry. Henry didn’t care where her new talent came from, he was just glad to have his little girl back, healthy and happy. “Come on sweetheart. Let’s get out of here!” Henry put his arm around Violet and the two of them left for home.
    They arrived minutes later and Violet went inside to change her clothes. She couldn’t help but notice what a gorgeous day it was in Newcastle. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. She decided she needed to get out of the house and told Henry she was going out for a while. Henry threw the keys to the