Previously:

There’s been an animated discussion at the restaurant regarding who’s going to perform at Karaoke. We find out how it went and if anyone chickened out.

********

Cordelia smiled, directing her words toward me. "See, she doesn't want to do it either."

Both Karin and I simultaneously wailed. "Come on."

Karin was so strong in her protesting and what followed it, I was surprised. "Cordelia, not you too. Cyndy and I have been through this already. I did get her to agree to sign up, though." The next part was in staccato. "You two are not going to let us be the only ones going up there. 

"You will have to play your harps in front of strangers in a hospital or nursing home. You might as well get over your stage fright tonight, in this place with your dear friends." She was really pouring it on.

Cordelia sheepishly laughed. "But we will never be playing in front of two jam-packed rooms."

I looked toward Cyndy. "So, what did you have in mind? I'm doing 'What's Up' by Four Non Blondes." I was hoping her having to announce the song name, would persuade her to join us.

“I signed up for Cher's 'Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves', but I don't know."

I continued with more encouragement. "Oh, I love that one. It will be good to hear it with a new rendition."

I was wearing her down. "Oh, alright. But...only if Cordelia will commit."

The pressure was too much. Cordelia buckled under. "Okay, the non-harpists win." The two of them grabbed each other's arm. "We'll do it."

******

We tore the house down. When Cordelia got up to sing, her shakiness could not be perceived, because the room was standing, swinging, and swaying to ‘Mustang Sally’.

They had just sat down to reconvene their chatting and drinking when I appeared on the little stage. All motion ceased, ice cubes rattled into place to settle, where the drinks were set down. It was as if they’d never seen ‘What’s Up’ performed before, at least not my style. 

They cracked up when I lowered to one knee with the verses, ‘And I pray, oh I pray to the saints all day for a revolution’. They raised one or both arms in the pleading tone of my singing, ‘Hey, hey, what’s going on?’ and with encouragement, even joined in.

Next came Cyndy who had them standing. Her ‘Gypsys, Tramps, and Thieves’ had couples twirling arm-in-arm on their dancin’ feet. And lastly, it was the women who joined with Karin singing,’girls just wanna have fun’. It became a bit riotous when they continued the singing chant even after the music stopped. 

They toned it down when the next ‘Karaokist’ got up on stage. They must have been thinking, ‘what an act or acts to follow’ but the guy persevered and did not disappoint with ‘Rockin’ Robin’ by Bobby Day. As the song suggests, we were a’rockin’ plenty. 

What a great night. Tomorrow would hold the answer to the quandary of whether they bring their harps. It would reveal the answer to why there were chills when anticipating the Glastonbury trip. And yet the images seemed light-years away.

*****

A nice switch was that we had invited Karin and Cyndy to ride with us. Karin had jumped at the opportunity to let someone else do the driving. I had said I might drive this jaunt, but that wasn’t happening. 

I felt for some reason I needed to steady myself for something unanticipated, although, I’d anticipated something, just didn’t know what. The object of anxiety was always cloaked in some cold darkness.

When I saw Karin and Cordelia were empty-handed, I deduced they had decided to forgo the harp ceremony. “So, no go on the harp?”

Cordelia explained further. “The alleged labyrinth is at the top of Glastonbury Tor and reportedly makes its way down the decline in a labyrinthine manner. This place is the source of several myths, with stories of ceremonies carried on during King Arthur’s time.” 

Cyndy jumped in. “We have no idea, if the labyrinth really does exist, if it has been maintained or groomed to make it easy to follow. None of us wanted to get our hopes up, to be disappointed. So, our harps will remain here.”

“Well, let’s fasten our seatbelts and get this show on the road.” Cordelia sounded anxious. Four snaps and we were off. The extended presence of the fluffy Mary energy seemed to calm us all.

Everyone was reflective, but it was a comfy quiet. The ride through the Mary ley line was delicious, as we floated on a fluffy, refreshing, renewing energy. We had been told there was quite a difference in the feel of the Mary line as opposed to the Michael line. The Mary line did not disappoint. 

I swiveled my torso and head slightly to be able to connect with our friends. “The sweet feeling you are experiencing is from the energy of the Mary ley line that runs alongside another harsher energy called the Michael line. We’ll know when we hit that one.

Fortunately, they’d heard of ley lines, so I didn’t have to worry about explaining what they are. They admitted they’d never knowingly experienced the energy of either the Mary or Michael line. They did agree they were enjoying the soft sensation Mary showered them with. For me, the feeling was helping my mental anguish melt.

Just as the energy felt light, our conversation was light. Then ‘Bam!’ Bam!’, Michael hit us and hit us hard.