# Our Songs



## Underd0g (Aug 3, 2018)

*Our Songs* 
by Underd0g​ 
Music has always played a major role Theodore's life. Everything seemed to remind him of a song. When natural gas was found on his property in the mountains of the state of Washington, it was no surprise when he started singing the theme song from 'The Beverly Hillbillies'. "Come listen to a story 'bout a man named Ted..." substituting his name for Jed. The fracking made him rich and soon he had plenty of time and money for travel.

Theodore made all the stops in the best music driven cities; Detroit, Nashville, Austin, Chicago... if it had studios or a museum, he was there. Finally he found himself in Los Angeles listening to local talent in a relatively unknown bar on Sunset Boulevard. This is where he first gazed upon a cocktail waitress named Michelle, the love of his life though she didn't know it yet. Theodore found his window of opportunity and played his trump card. They were relatively isolated and he belted into song, "Michelle, my belle. Sont des mots qui vent très bien ensemble, très bien ensemble." His voice was perfect, the a cappella rendition was flawless.

Michelle wrinkled her nose but couldn't bring herself to reject him. "It's been done before, not quite as good though. You have a beautiful voice," she said. 

That was all the encouragement he needed, from there it was a whirlwind romance complete with travel, fancy restaurants and Broadway shows. Michelle was overwhelmed at the attention. Theodore invited her to his home in Washington. It was a small town, far from the hustle and bustle of the cities they had just visited. The contrast was stark; the calm so pronounced. She felt at peace, possibly for the first time in her life.

He told her he wanted to show her something. He brought her to a trail and they walked for about an hour listening to Theodore's playlist on his iPod. On their journey up the mountain they were regaled with mountain and tree themed songs from Alabama's 'Mountain Music' to Marshall Tucker Band's 'Fire on the Mountain'. That's sweet, he's really trying to set the mood, she thought. 

He had taken her to a rock formation called Aphrodite's Window. The view was unbelievable, colors not found on the spectrum were streaming through the clouds washing their faces in a vibrant mask. They found some soft grass and sat down to watch the sunset. A John Denver song, 'Sunshine On My Shoulder' started to play. Theodore chose this moment to offer Michelle his heart and ask for her hand in marriage. When she accepted, the next song she heard was The Dixie Cups singing 'Going to the Chapel'. Michelle flinched and Theodore laughed and said, "Good thing you said yes, that could have been embarrassing." 

On the walk back it was songs like Bryan Adams' 'Everything I Do' and Peter Frampton's 'Baby I Love Your Way'. She excused it because she assumed he thought it would be endearing and just didn't have any idea how it would come across on the hour's long hike back.

When the wedding day came his music choice seemed to make sense, she walked down the aisle to Shania Twain singing 'From This Moment'. The real Shania Twain; he paid to have her serenade Michelle at the ceremony. She couldn't complain about that. When she got to the honeymoon suite however, it was The Beatle's 'The Honeymoon Song' this and Rascal Flatts' 'Waiting All My Life' that. It started to wear thin but she didn't want to say, "Ted, you're starting to get on my nerves," so soon after the vows. She'd wait until the excitement had passed for him.

As time went on the focus indeed seemed to pass on romantic wedding songs, but they merely evolved into other types of music. Theodore would accent the pertinent lines to songs with that beautiful, silvery voice which began to grate. The first time she chose to speak about it was while the John Mellancamp song 'Small Town' was playing. "Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town, now she's small town just like me," he sang.

She saw her opening and said, "You know one of the lines in that song talks about how little opportunity there is in small towns. Why don't we take some trips like before we got married; see some sights and visit some of my friends?"

Theodore continued to sing, "Got nothing against a big town... but my bed is in a small town, oh that's good enough for me."
Frustrated, Michelle grew quiet.
From there it only got worse. If Theodore spotted a dust whorl, his iPod was soon playing Kansas' 'Dust In The Wind' or when they're working in the kitchen together he'd play 'Don't stand so close to me' and playfully bump her with his hips.

She tried to talk to him about it. She used logic and reason but couldn't get through. She pointed out that the songs weren't in context, and sometimes he'd force them to fit. Theodore wouldn't listen, she could see it was his "thing" and part of his identity.

After a while Michelle determined that her Ted was mentally unbalanced. He was eventually unable to relate to her in anything but song lyrics. She finally approached him with determination and made demands. They would receive counseling and visit L.A. for extended trips.

Theodore was indignant. He barked back singing, "You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you. I picked you out I shook you up, turned you into someone new."
Not missing a beat, she sang back to him, "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, that much is true; but even then I knew I'd find a much better place, either with or without you."

Theodore replied, "Don't you want me baby? Don't you want me ooohhh?"

Finally she ended the song duel with, "The two years we've had have been such good times, but now I think it's time I live my life on my own. I guess it's just what I must do."

The last thing she heard was "please don't go...don't gooo..." by K.C. and the Sunshine Band.

Theodore didn't make it easy, he had the money and time and over the next few months made Michelle's life a living hell. Finally she brought a restraining order against him. With the divorce settlement money she found a nice home near the beach.

One day, on her way to eat out, she started her car and the CD in the stereo came on automatically. As her head jerked up and she looked around, Ted knew she heard the familiar rift by the Police... 'Every breath you take... Every move you make...'


----------



## TuesdayEve (Aug 3, 2018)

I liked it and I thought it was funny, there were a 
couple of stumbles for me though. After the wedding
is the first we hear of her frustration. That seemed
a little odd to me. Par13 L1 instead if the first line be
third or fourth. 
I like the end...a little creepy but good.


----------



## Underd0g (Aug 4, 2018)

TuesdayEve said:


> I liked it and I thought it was funny, there were a
> couple of stumbles for me though. After the wedding
> is the first we hear of her frustration. That seemed
> a little odd to me. Par13 L1 instead if the first line be
> ...



Was it because it seemed rushed? I feel like I was rushed when I wrote that part. Was it rushed? I wanted to make a point but didn't want to spend a lot of time on it and it felt rushed. Did it seem rushed to you?


----------



## TuesdayEve (Aug 4, 2018)

Yea, I think a little rushed


----------



## Leke A (Nov 29, 2018)

Hey, you write well but I am not sure about this in my opinion? Is this supposed to be a short story? Things just seemed to happen. One minute Theodore meets Michelle and the next minute, they're married. Also, the use of the content references to songs was jarring for me and the ending while creepy, was not effective because I don't think you built up to it enough.


----------



## Underd0g (Nov 30, 2018)

Leke A said:


> Hey, you write well but I am not sure about this in my opinion? Is this supposed to be a short story? Things just seemed to happen. One minute Theodore meets Michelle and the next minute, they're married. Also, the use of the content references to songs was jarring for me and the ending while creepy, was not effective because I don't think you built up to it enough.



Oh yeah, I agree.
It was for a contest on a song theme. I didn't have much time to write it.
I think it has potential to be built up into a decent suspenseful short story, but I don't know.

Thanks.


----------

