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Post by Cortney Smit on Dec 31, 2012 17:51:40 GMT -6
"Well I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah..."
Cortney's soft voice filled the stale air that surrounded her in the stacks at the back of the library. She gently ran her finger over the spines of book as she read the titles.
"Baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor (you know)
I used to live alone before I knew you
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
and love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah..."
She was doing an assignment on religion for History, well, more so the religious persecutions over time, so she was trying to find the right book, but wasn't able to find anything.
"Maybe there's a God above
all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah...
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah"
She finally found a book on the Salem witch trials and pulling it off the shelf, she headed through the stacks over to the study table that she had her folder and pens set up on.
Sitting down, she checked her watch and saw that she still have half an hour of the hour she had set herself to get the project started before she headed to the dance studio.
I only used the 1st, 3rd, and 5th verses of the song, Hallelujah, by Jeff Buckley
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Post by Kate Holden on Jan 4, 2013 22:33:34 GMT -6
When Kate first heard a voice coming from the back of the library she'd though she'd imagined it. It was quiet from where she stood near the front, and it drew her further towards the back. She'd come to the library out of curiosity. She'd found that she could judge a place pretty well by its library, and hoped that Blue Ridge's was as good as she hoped. In the past she'd gone to libraries as a sort of refuge when everything was crowding in on her too fast and it seemed that she couldn't see anyone without something crawling up on her that she should have done or would have to do.
The singing, which she'd now decided was not in her head, was certainly making a good impression on Kate as she joined in, but not loud enough for anyone to year, singing in broken verses along with whoever was singing just loud enough for herself and anyone standing close to her to hear. Her visit to the library had turned from a sort of evaluation to something else as she wove through the shelves of books. From what attention she paid to the library, it was lovely, with a lovely number of older books but a good amount of new ones as well. Tapping a finger idly on the top of a spine of every couple books as she moved down each aisle, she kept following the voice, and was disappointed when it reached the end of the song. Kate had been singing the last of the Hallelujahs softly to herself, and the silence that filled the air afterwards was sort of smothering in the moment.
Emerging from the books, she finally spotted a girl, who was the only one in the back of the library. It had to be her. Tilting her head to the side a bit and smiling softly, Kate stepped over to the table and spoke up, "You're the singer?" She rose on her toes slowly up and down unconsciously, waiting for a reply.
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Post by Cortney Smit on Jan 6, 2013 2:41:33 GMT -6
Cortney read through the book that she had taken off the shelves. The more she read, the more a frown marred her flawless complexion. She had grown up with Catholicism, and in a sense was always taught what she needed to know, but she was now beginning to wonder if what she had been taught was really the complete truth.
After her friend had sent her the books on dragons, she had received a few more packages from the same friend. More books that Emera needed stashed away where her parents wouldn't find them. Cortney had been through the boxes, reading the titles of the books, a majority of them from the same author: Kate West, and all of them on the same topic: Witchcraft. Like Emera, she didn't want her parents to know that she had the books in her possession, so she kept them hidden - even from her dorm mate - and read them under the covers of her bed at night.
She glanced up from the book, her features smoothing out as she looked at the girl who had spoken, someone who couldn't have been much younger than herself. "That I would be." She said with a warm smile as she studied the girl, watching how she balanced on the balls of her feet - something Cortney did herself without even meaning to. "And if I am not wrong, you are a dancer, a ballerina to be more to the point."
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Post by Kate Holden on Jan 6, 2013 14:27:02 GMT -6
Kate was rather impressed with the library, for which she was grateful. Had she not found it to be to her taste, she may have not been as impressed with Blue Ridge as a whole, as odd as that seemed. Libraries told a lot about a community. This one seemed to be quite well stocked, and Kate was eager to go exploring. She hoped that the poetry section was as full as the rest of the library seemed, and that there were still children's books despite the fact that it was a high school library. She could spend hours reading through poetry books, spending a good amount of time on each poem. She'd written a fair amount herself, but much preferred reading it to writing it. Her other genre she loved, children's tales and fables, were something she indulged herself with. She'd never lost the love that she'd had for them as a young child, and her bookcase, both at home and now at Blue Ridge, were stuffed with the horizontally lying books, since many had been too large to stand vertically.
Kate only noticed that the girl she'd spoken to was frowning after she'd already spoken up, and was a little worried about it until the girl looked up, creased brow gone with a smile taking its place. "You're very good," Kate complimented, smiling back. Being a singer herself, she knew better than most what what good and what was bad, and this girl was certainly very good.
Her brows shot up when the girl remarked about her being a dancer. It took her a moment to realize how she'd known. Settling back down to stand fully on the floor, she smiled. Yes, it would be obvious to any dancer that she was a ballerina. When she was standing her feet were always in first or third position, and when seated, she would often stretch her legs out, pointing her toes in front of her. "Yes, I am. And you must be a dancer too, to have noticed that. she replied, now grinning. She already liked this girl, a singer and dancer, just like Kate. She also had a nice smile, which was usually a good sign.
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Post by Cortney Smit on Jan 7, 2013 21:22:34 GMT -6
After she had spoken, Cortney's mind went back to what she had been reading. She couldn't believe the number of people who had been murdered by those who were working in the name if God. And that's what the witch trials really were, they were murders of hundreds of people. They tied someone up and lowered them into water; if they floated the person was a witch, and were put to death - more often than not, tied to a stake and set alight. If they stayed down, they were innocent. Although by the time the person was lifted out of the water again, they had drowned. It was a matter of if anyone turned against you, and you managed to survive the torturous questions, no matter what, confess or not, you ended up dead.
She blinked as she looked up, realising that the other girl had spoken again. It took her a heartbeat to register what the other's words had been. "Thank you." She replied to the compliment.
She laughed softly when the other teen countered her comment about being a dancer. "I am." She replied. "It was something to do to keep busy while the parents were doing other stuff." She was careful not to mention her sister, who was the real reason for them doing dancing.
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Post by Kate Holden on Jan 8, 2013 18:14:53 GMT -6
Kate smiled in response to the thanks, "You're quite welcome. She liked that the girl didn't deny that she was good in modesty like some would. She was clearly comfortable with her talent, just as Kate was, and Kate respected her much more for it. She wished she could have heard the girl sing more, but figured that hopefully she'd be able to hear again sometime in the future. Apparently she didn't have any refrain from singing in public, so if she didn't end up seeing her somewhere else, Kate would just have to keep attentive and listen for singing.
Kate couldn't help but tilt her head a bit when the girl commented that "It was something to do to keep busy while the parents were doing other stuff." Dancing was much more to Kate than that, more than just something to do to keep busy. She suddenly hoped very much that it was more to this girl that that. She'd been having such good feelings about her, but something like that might just ruin it. Hopefully it was just an idle little comment that one shouldn't pay much attention to. Forcing herself to maintain her pleasant smile, Kate continued, "Are you a ballerina?" She hoped to coax the girl into talking more about dance, and laced her fingers together while waiting for an answer, beginning to rise on on the balls of her feet once again. It wasn't something she did purposely, nor was it a nervous habit. It just made her feel comfortable and in control, which was important for a girl who sometimes accidentally let herself go.
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Post by Cortney Smit on Jan 12, 2013 23:54:36 GMT -6
Cortney made some notes on her paper about what she had read, as well as her own opinions on what happened and what could have been different. Her handwriting quite possibly looked more like chicken scratches, but this wasn't the sheet she would hand in. She write it out tidier and then again on the final copy - she knew that their teacher liked them handing in their notes as well as the finished copy.
She tried to imaging herself back in the times during the witch-trials, the idea of those thick busy skirts didn't appeal to her too much, but she was trying to work out what side she would be on; would she be one of the accusers or one of the accused? She didn't know, but she had a feeling that she would have indeed been one of the accused. She love gardening, and most of the woman who were accused were the ones who tended to their herb gardens a little too much, and offered herbs to people who were feeling poorly.
She looked up at the other student as the girl spoke again. "I studied classical ballet for a good five years, so yes, I guess you could say I'm a ballerina." She replied. "I hope that Ms Warner moves past just the basic steps in class and really gives us a chance to move beyond the barre."
She closed the book she had been reading and stood to return it to the shelf she had taken it from. She had pretty much now formed the outline of the assignment and was happy with what she had so far. Of course, she made sure to jot down the names and authors of all the books she took information from so that she could add them to the reference. She made a note to go and use the computer and look up a couple of books on witchcraft, so she could get both sides of the argument... well,the last bit was her argument for her curiosity anyway.
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