Chapter 1 - songs and wishes
Paris’s cold winter meant that sunsets were early. Desiree has just stepped in front of the Palais Garnier Operahouse with her friend Sharon and was looking up at the grand structure. She couldn’t believe that she is at the birthplace of the Legend of the Phantom of the Opera. She has been obsessed with the story since she was 10 years old and her feelings and opinions of the tale grew and changed with the years. One unchanging prospect is the deep sorrow and despair she feels for the Phantom (or Erik, as she’d like to call him). Every time she re-watches musicals or the movie, she smiles with his romance, catches her breath with his mystery and cries with his pain, always wishing for an alternate ending other than the one she knows by heart. The anger she felt for poor Erik, with no one to guide and explain the outside world to him always left her feeling drained and depressed for days after each show, yet she cannot help herself from watching it time and again.
Now, as she looked at the building in front of her, she couldn’t help recalling the scenes and imagining the Phantom here. The columns and arches go up, topped by intricate sculptures. Golden statues with wings and the green glass dome stood grand and tall on the roof, like the jewels on a monarch’s crown. Desiree thought with a smile, “No wonder Erik can hide on the roof, the statues are HUGE!!’, In the twilight of the evening, she can almost picture a desolate Phantom singing his heart out on that roof, his cloak billowing in the cold night air:
“I gave you my music
Let your song take flight
And now!, how you’ve repaid me,
Denied me and betrayed me...
He was bound to love you
When he heard you sing ….”
“Hey! Hello?, earth to Deedee??”, Sharon nudged her hard, jolting her out of the fantasy.
“I know you are a crazy fan but can you please come out of your ‘Erik World’ for a second and take my photo?”, Sharon said, rolling her eyes.
“Ha Ha, so sorry Sharon”, Desiree smiled shyly and lifted up her camera.
“Here, stand near the entrance while there’s still good lighting. We missed the opening hours today but I bet we can book an after-hour tour for tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the inside!”.
“Easy, girl. I also want to see the Eiffel Tower, I agreed to come with you because you promised that we will divide the visiting plan. So, you can’t make this trip all about the Phantom”, Sharon laughed.
Desiree hugged her friend. “I know, and I can’t thank you enough, Sharon. You are the only friend who tolerates my rants about Erik since we were young”.
The two girls stood there, huddled together and gazed as the lights came on the Palais Garnier, making it even more ethereal and majestic. Suddenly, a muffled cough drew Desiree’s attention. She turned and squinted her eyes at a lone figure sitting in the shadows of a nearby building. There was an open violin case with some coins and notes in front and that person(an elderly man by the sound of his coughing) was now wheezing. The man wore rag-like clothes and a huge dirty scarf was wrapped around his face and throat. Being an emphatic person, Desiree inched closer to that figure, rooting around in her bag. She knelt in front of him.
“Excusez-moi, would you like some cough drops?”. She also handed him a bottle of water and put 20 Euros into his case. “You must be freezing too, please get a cup of hot coffee or cocoa and find a warm place for tonight, will you?”, she said. The man took her offerings and after eating a cough drop, his coughs subsided for a bit. Then he spoke,
“Merci, Madame. You are too kind. I would like to play something for you. Any requests?”.
“Oh, here we go!”, Sharon teased. “I know which song you’re going to ask, Deedee”. Desiree merely smiled and asked the man if he could play “Music of the night”. The man’s eyes seemed to glint under the scarf.
“Bien sûr(of course), Madame. So you are a Phantom admirer too”. He got up, picked up a battered-looking violin and played the most poignant rendition of the song, his shadow swaying on the pavement. The hauntingly beautiful melody coupled with the Palais Garnier’s view brought a painful longing and it tugged at Desiree’s heart.
When the song stopped, her cheeks were wet with tears and even Sharon was silent. “Merci, it was beautiful”, Desiree said while wiping at her tears. The man simply nodded and seemed interested in her tearful expression. Then he suddenly asked,
“Madame, do you believe in folklore and the power of faith? If you do, there may perhaps be a way to see the Phantom’s world with your own eyes…”
Desiree shared a smile with Sharon and answered, “I do believe in power of determination, Monsieur.” . The man reached into his pockets and put three old coins in Desiree’s hand. The coins looked ancient but Desiree could not guess which era they were from. The man spoke again.
“Tomorrow is Winter Solstice, madame, you can make a wish to visit his world. Go to The Pont Neuf Bridge’s middle arch at dawn and threw a coin into the Seine. At midday, go to the Paris Point zero( the centre mark of the city) in front of Notre Dame and threw another one. Finally, at sundown, come back here and threw the last one at the Opera house. You have to make the same wish three times at each location and your wish will be granted.”
He sounded so serious but Desiree only nodded along politely. Well, surely, she was a dreamer but even she had a hard time believing it. He warned again “Remember, madame, what happened and recorded cannot be reversed. So, you are not allowed to prophesise any event to them. If you break this rule, you’ll face serious implications”. He then picked up his violin case and walked into a nearby alley.
Sharon turned towards Desiree with a raised eyebrow. “Talk about bizarre, madame. Please tell me you don’t believe it!”. Desiree was unsure, but she replied cheerfully,
“Well, we already planned to visit all these places tomorrow, right? So, there’s no reason not to try. We just have to get up a little early to catch dawn!”.
Sharon just groaned.
