Voices of Demon's

Last night I met a lady; named Gillian, for the first time. She had been invited to help our young scout troup to prepare for our forthcoming carol singing extravaganza. Being very musical herself, she accepted the invitation with enthusiasm and was sitting on a chair with her guitar, as large as life itself; picking away at a quiet rendition of some dixie land ditty.

Having accidentally thrust my bunch of car keys into her hand, while introducing myself; what followed proved to be a fun evening for all, with the exception of me and the lovely Gillian. With her accompanying on her twelve string guitar the scouts were rockin' like we'd never seen them before, it was a true revellation!

What did prove shocking was the behaviour of one young man in particular. Having found a beautiful soprano voice inside his somewhat frail body the previous week; this young fellow excelled himself by deliberately sabotaging our efforts! I was accused of singing out of tune, told I cannot sing and have even been excused from our the carrol singing on these grounds. Considering it was my enthusiasm which got the idea off the ground in the first place; I consider myself truly offended!

Gillian and I do realize that much of the young boys behaviour was in fact for show. On his part, he obviously felt more at ease with negative attention and had reverted back to his former disruptive attention seeking self. His cacophonic contribution succeeded in causing a slightly chaotic response from my vocal chords. At the best of times they struggle to keep down with the children's 'quiet' voices; restrained by my own lack of confidence. On this occasion they ranged from high to low, alto to soprano to barritone(ish!) and probably everything else in between.

Once the rehearsal was survived and my nerves well on their way to recovery we decided that BB should offer his elders a rewarding cup of tea. He did this with aplomb and soon found his over enthusiastic breaking voice forgiven as we all sat down for well deserved refreshments and a biscuit or two. I took my two magic tablets, looking forward to their effect later on; I was tired.

Eviction from The 1st & 10th Tullamore Scouts Den followed a long involved story telling session at 10.30pm which continued at home; well into the small, wee hours... Our new found friend had cordially invited herself for coffee and chain smoking while treating us to tales of old; with recitations of various poems and song lyrics. Until 11.15pm the children hung upon every word and were finally banished with the threat of Gillian never returning to our house again. They went quickley and without protest!

Around midnight, I felt it necessary to apologize for my vacuous stare; eyes were circling continuously within their sockets, the medication was finally taking effect. Unable to recall the answers to any of the simplest questions asked by our unexpected visitor; I was beginning to feel just a little distant from the conversation. Desperately, I needed my bed; unable to move I sat, I nodded and occasionally gave the odd polite grunt; a shame really...

With DG facing an early start for work the following day; Gillian finally departed at around 3.30am! Within five minutes; I directed her backwards down our somewhat curved drive. It is a challenge in daylight; let alone when tired and in an unfamiliar place in the dead of night. I can't say that I remember much after that; except for the conversation I had with DG long after he'd left for work. What makes it worse is that I was aware of it at the time...?!