Just Relax

Just Relax

by Cleve Taylor

Myra lay in her bed drifting in and out of sleep with the sound of the trio streaming Music to Relax By from the television. She found the channel feature well named because all the music was recorded by three young women playing a cello, a piano, and an oboe. Much of the music consisted of single notes held for multiple chords like the ahmmmmmm of a chant but an occasional melody slipped in, particularly when the pianist was featured. This particular album was theorized, planned, and produced by Dr Melion Grabul of the Swiss College of Science in 1948 for his research on sleep disorders. The musicians were all advanced students at the Swiss Music Conservatory.

On the TV screen with the album notes was a black and white picture of the three instrumentalists sitting with their instruments. Myra noted that they looked very young, which was consistent with their being students. She was particularly engaged by the cellist seated with her cello and looking at it adoringly as if it were a lover come home from the war.

Myra was staring at the girl, when the girl stood up, laid her cello aside, and stepped out of the TV picture into the room with Myra. She did not approach Myra, but instead appeared to be walking to the far wall.

"Pardon me," Myra called out. The girl stopped and turned toward Myra.

"Yes?" she queried.

"Do you have a moment? Could we talk a bit?"

"Of course," the girl responded. "It's your dream. You can do anything you want to do."

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that your music is very relaxing, just as it is advertised to be. And I was wondering, where were you going?"

"Ah… There are long stretches where my cello sits idle, and I occasionally take that time to visit other music venues. For instance, Music of the 70's is just next door and that is where I was going. Would you like to come with me?"

"May I?"

"Your dream, your call, Ma'am. Why don't you dream up a dress and a younger age, and let's see what's playing tonight."

"I, I, Yes," and she was out of the bed, seventeen years old, in a wonderful new flowing white party dress.

"Wow, you clean up nice. Come with me, and they walked to and through the wall. "By the way, my name is Giselle"

They emerged into a room where several couples were dancing to Debbie Boone singing '' You Light Up My Life'. One of the couples was two girls, just as it has always been when there was a shortage of boys at a dance.

The song ended, and was followed by the Bee Gees singing 'Staying Alive'. "I don't have much time, let's dance" and Giselle moved to the floor. Myra followed.

Myra had her own style of interpretive dance, not dancing to the beat, but moving to the words of the music, and displaying by form and motion the emotions that the music and words engendered. She stretched, she twirled, she bowed, whatever and wherever the music led her.

Giselle watched and shuffled enough to justify taking up floor space, but was entranced by Myra's dancing. There was no two step or box step in that girl's repertoire.

Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' followed and Myra had fun spoofing Carly's arrogant antagonist. "The Way We Were" by Barbara Streisand was starting up when Giselle motioned that it was time to leave.

They left the way they came through the wall and entered into Myra's room.

"You know, you were really good" said Giselle

"I loved it so much. I always wanted to be a dancer, but…"

"I know but life gets in the way. Right?"

"I've got to go," Giselle hesitated. "Why don't you come with me? You could be our dancer to our Relaxing music. And we could go dancing like tonight whenever we got the opportunity." She extended her hand toward Myra.

Myra, with no hesitation, took Giselle's hand and followed her into the picture on the TV Screen.

The morning nurse checking on all her hospice patients found that Myra had passed during the night. "She must not have been in pain," she thought, because there was a big smile on Myra's face.

The nurse looked to see what Myra had been watching on TV so she could relate it to the family. "A Relaxing Music channel," she noted to herself. "Good choice."

She looked at the picture of the four performers on the TV screen, an oboe player, a pianist, a cello player, and a dancer. She looked more closely at the dancer. "Darn, that girl looks enough like Myra to be her granddaughter," she mumbled to herself.

She went looking for the remote to turn off the TV. Had she continued looking at the picture, she would have sworn that the cello player winked at the dancer and that the dancer nodded back.

But the nurse did not see the wink or the nod. She found the remote and turned off the TV.