Big and Small, part 4My roommate was still passed out, so I figured it was safe to assume it was morning, and laid back down. I had barely closed my eyes when I heard voices in the hall, and suddenly it was 9:00. I got up and headed over to the main hall for breakfast. I had left all my gear there the night before, so set up was easy. I drank a couple gallons of coffee, and started putting out my Ukuleles. People straggled in, wearing crooked smiles and sunglasses, exhausted and happy. Heaping plates with bagels and pastries, drinking coffee and OJ, bracing for the day. It was not over yet. Sunday was much like Saturday. People went to classes and lectures, wandered and shopped, or sat in small groups, swapping tales from the night before. Today was another open Mic, and many people took advantage of the mass distraction to slip away quietly. None of us wanted to say goodbye.
The event officially ended at 5:00 PM, but a hand full of us were staying over, and we met in the dorms again that night for one more go around. One by one a small group gathered, bringing food and beer, and refusing to really let it end. I was doing pretty well for having had almost no sleep in three days, but suddenly the couch was became very comfortable. I blinked and the song changed abruptly, and I knew that as much as I hated to leave, it was time to go to bed. I thanked my fellow players and said a quick good bye, and went back to my room.
I got ready for bed and turned off the light, and for the first time saw that the last inhabitants had covered the ceiling with a glow in the dark constellation. My small cell of a room became the big outdoors, and I fell asleep under the stars.
And it was evening, and it was morning, on the third day
I awoke excitedly to the sound of singing and Ukuleles playing, but as I sat up it faded, and I realized it was a waking dream. A ghost sound left behind by the shear amount of music that had inhabited the halls over the last few days. It felt a little sad.
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