Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ALONE (10/20/22)
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TITLE: Mona Lisa | Previous Challenge Entry
By Philippa Geaney
10/27/22 -
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Expect delays on West Street.
I’d left home early anyway, knowing I’d reach Classic FM well ahead of my coworkers and be able to enjoy an uninterrupted hour or more with the Lord.
The early morning solitude of the radio station had become familiar, almost my second home, and with the soundproof walls and soft ambient musak still looping, I had the perfect setting for a time alone with God.
Lately, my prayer had become more urgent, although so far, I’d resisted the temptation to start begging over a matter I’d already laid at His feet.
The matter of my on-air ratings.
The station offered a mix of melodies – delivered to the airwaves by an eclectic bunch of announcers- covering everything from contemporary to Beethoven and Rachmaninoff.
I delivered the latter late at night, and its appreciation was limited. Which was disappointing. The city of Perth, once a significant player in nurturing Eileen Joyce, the world-recognized pianist, was now mainly oblivious to the wonders of classical music.
I thought about this and felt isolated as I sat watching and waiting. It was raining, although insufficient to send the worker bees in their orange and brown shirts home.
I focused on the nearest home. The shades were closed on the first two floors, but up high, a solitary figure stood gazing out from a dormer window.
A woman. Brownish long hair- unless it was an optical illusion, and I eventually decided my best use of the time was in prayer rather than in speculation.
But my eyes repeatedly traveled upwards to check on the lady framed in the window.
And of the solitary two, I was the first to move away.
I thought of that figure with regularity all day.
Was she waiting for someone?
I drove home using the same route that night after my time on air, but no one stood at the window.
What was I thinking?
I took the West Street route the following day and looked for a face behind the glass every morning after that.
And found it there. Enigmatic and solitary.
I began to think of her as Mona Lisa and fell into the habit of starting my time at the sound desk each evening by dedicating Nat King Cole’s rendition of the Mona Lisa song to the solitary figure in the window.
‘Mike, the managing director, who was also my best friend, tapped on the sound library one evening where I was compiling the following night’s program.
‘Good news. Excellent news, in fact. You know, the phones have been running hot with calls since you started that Solitary Section.
However did you come up with that idea?’
‘It started with a traffic jam and from looking up into the face of my Mona Lisa. I wondered if anyone else felt as alone as I thought the lady behind the glass looked.
On air, I asked folk to phone in, suggesting a classical composition I could play for them that expressed their feelings. It was an answer to prayer, to be honest.’
‘That’s excellent, Mike. It’s become so popular, Management’s getting requests from firms and clubs – florists, restaurants, cinemas, dating sites, and connect groups to run advertising in that period. Man, you have topped the charts, Mike.' He rushed on. Even the local bus company wants us to advertise your segment, free of charge for twelve months, if we use a picture of the lady on the side of the vehicle. Our promo guys are looking into the legalities. If you agree, of course.
I smiled, nodded, then told my friend my next idea.
‘Go for it,’ he replied.
The following evening after Nat King Cole had mellowed our minds, I spoke to my audience.
‘If Mona Lisa is listening, would she please phone in with her very own request?’
The phone board lit up, and I played all requests, but no one proved to be the solitary lady I sought.
I’d almost given up when Switch put through a softly spoken female voice.
‘I’d like to request a tune. If you have it, of course.’
‘Please go ahead.’ I said.
It’s the recording of my great aunt Eileen Joyce playing the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto.’
My breath caught. ‘So what is your name?’
‘It’s Alanna Joyce, but it seems I am best known as Mona Lisa these days.’
Exodus 33:11
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I enjoyed it, thank you for sharing
Blessings~