Time Warp

[Quick background note: I'm back home in Vancouver for the holidays.]

This evening, I went with Phi to our old high school's Christmas concert.

It's been 11 years since my grade 12 Christmas concert, so it was a little mind-blowing to be there. Most of the songs were familiar, as they were songs I had done in my last two years of school. Mr. O. and Mrs. Roberts were still leading the band and choir, and Mrs. Mulder was in the audience, as always.

The highlight was the last number, Silent Night. The concert always ends with a really beautiful choral arrangement of Silent Night, performed from the balcony at the back of the church. The program said that all alumni of the concert choir were invited to participate, so we went up to join the group, and stood in the back row. I'm pretty sure we were the oldest ones in the lot.

Just like 11 years ago, we had picked up candles which we would be holding during the performance. I shook slightly as I tried to light mine, once again feeling the slight nerves before singing. Then, the most fantastic thing happened. Mrs. Roberts was looking around to make sure that everyone could see her. She noticed me, and mouthed, "oh my God, it's David." I mouthed back, "oh my God, it's Franny."

We performed the song and, of course, I still knew every note. Phi later confirmed that she did, too. The last note rang across the church, ending an amazingly exciting experience: a brief trip back in time.