“Chink, chink, chink!” echoed the sound of the coins banging together. Anna was at it again. It was her daily night routine. She used the money to pay for her bus ride to work. The small room reverberated her voice as she sang a tune. Since the window was opened, the old brown wooden door slammed with a bang. This did not startled Anna at all as she was engrossed in singing and she concentrated on counting her coins. The room walls were covered in posters of old singers and bands. She had a fondness of the band The Doors especially the lead vocalist Jim Morrison. “ Well I just got into town about an hour ago. Take a look around, see which way the wind blow.” she crooned. The name of the song was “LA Woman” by The Doors and it was her anthem. “ Where the little girls in the Hollywood bungalows. Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light? ” she continued. Anna’s dream was that she always wanted to be a singer. She especially loved to sing rock and the old blues. She hated the feeling of being restricted. She wanted to wander to the end of the Earth like a bird who spread its wings to soar across the high sky. Every opportunity that she could grasp with her calloused hands was seen as part of the ray of the bright future that she desired. Similar to the song, she always wanted to go to Los Angeles, the city of light and angels. She longed to set sight upon the enormous, bold and white letters of the Hollywood sign.
Unfortunately, like any other she had priorities. Her mother was severely sick with amnesia. She stopped singing her anthem to put the coins needed for tomorrow in her torn leather coin purse. It was a gift that her mother gave her when she first entered college. It is her prized possession which prompt her to think of the period before her mom was sick. She was a jovial and witty lady. She looked at it with examining eyes as she recalled it’s print condition a couple weeks ago. She pondered on how just one circumstance can change a person’s life forever. The reason why her mom was in this shape was due to her being in a car accident. She was never the same lady afterwards and there was nothing the doctors could do because of her age.
Anna worked at a hotel as sous chef and she also helped with the cleansing of the kitchen. After that she had a part-time on the weekends as a house cleaner for the owners of the hotel. She remembered that day like it was yesterday. She was heading out for her part-time job on Saturday morning when she got a call from her mom’s phone. “ Ma, I can’t talk to you now I am heading out for work.” she hastily replied. Before she could end the call, a foreign person voice answered her. “This is not your mom. This is the Mount Sinai Hospital calling. Your mom have being in a car accident and she is in a serious condition. You need to get here as soon as possible.” the lady said in a monotone voice.
Anna rapidly shake her head to get rid of the vivid memory. She placed the coin purse in her bag which she had prepared the night of for tomorrow. Anna sprang onto the bed then gazed at the alarm clock to the left of her on the nightstand. The digits read 10:35 P.M and it is the time for her to give her mom her medicine. She existed the wooden door and ventured down the dimly lit hallways. Another wooden door lies to the right. She entered the room and found her mother asleep on her bed. She gently shook her awake and her mom aroused in a panicked state. “ Who are you and where is Sam?” she shouted. Sam was her husband and Anna’s dad who passed away when Anna was only ten years old. Anna reassured her that he was in a better place. “ I am your daughter, mom” she explained. “No!” her mom declare. “ My daughter died when she was only ten years old and all I have is Sam. Where is Sam?” her aggravation increased rapidly. The only things that could settle her at this time was a song. “ LA Woman Sunday afternoon. LA Woman Sunday afternoon. Drive thru your suburbs into your blues, into your blues yeah…” Anna chorused. The soothing sound of her voice calmed down the raging bull that dwelled within her mom. She was able to give her mom her medicine and now she slipped into a deep slumber. Despite the fact that Anna was not a renowned singer, her voice and song held the power to comfort her mother. For this she was extremely grateful and happy that she would be able to share her gift and desire with another. As Anna left the room she wore a big smile.
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