La Voce

They were puppets in the hands of a master puppeteer...

His voice penetrated the atmosphere which was rank with fear and disbelief. The first few notes shook the hearts of the audience and forced them to sink into their seats, reeling under the pressure of the passion and anger of his voice. He played with them…giving them hope and respite before plunging them back into sorrow so deep, it seemed like there would never again be joy in their lives. He raised them up to the heavens to show them the pearly gates…before bringing them down crashing through the doors of hell. They tried to close their ears to shut out the beautiful sound that threatened to strip them of their souls…and yet…they paid to be seated in front of this young man who exuded such sadness, anger and hate.

He had sworn to make them all suffer as he had. He was too weak to hurt anyone physically but what he was doing instead was just so much worse. He was drilling into their psyche and unraveling them like a ball of yarn thrown into the thick of a hurricane…twisting them…turning them inside out…making corpses of living flesh.

They walked in silently confident that they were stronger than those that went before. Friends and family had come back completely changed and frightened of their own shadows…they had stories to tell…tall lies and fabrications. The newcomers were always those who had decided to see for themselves. They walked into the auditorium wearing expensive clothes and jewelry apart from a knowing, smug expression on their faces. They held hands and laughed in glee, whispering about the stories they would carry home, the taunts they would channel towards their hapless friends…

He would show them all how base and evil life could be if it wanted to. He would epitomize his tragic past and make it their present. He would show them the nadir of humanity as he had seen it. He would do all this with his beautiful voice. He was gifted with the kind of voice that would melt butter…and he turned it into the kind of voice that would freeze a flame into unmoving attention.

They would suffer as he had…

All of them…