“Chariots of Fire”
Listen to “The Winners Announced”
When Bonnie preceded Jim onto the stage and sat down at the piano, there was a brief, tense moment before the clear cool notes of Jim’s clarinet once again drifted through the silent hall. It was just like they had always practiced it—first the plaintive melody-theme, then here and there a fast difficult run that faded into a harmonic work of art and swelled into the full rich overtures, then once again a lone soft voice, a colorful variation, a frilly bit, and majestic tones until the listener was in a different world. Then once again the audience swelled the applause.
Backstage once more, Jim sighed silently; but Bonnie sensed his deep relief. He put his clarinet away when she touched his arm. “Don’t do that,” she said. “When they take your picture with the cup, you’ll want to have your clarinet with you.” She giggled a little as she spoke, and he just had to smile.
“You funny girl,” he said, putting his finger lightly to her chin. “I won’t win.”
Jim and Bonnie, with the others who had already performed, went to sit in the audience. While the judges were deliberating, the community comedian and the Music Club’s skit made up an interesting program. But to the five—and the ones close to them—it seemed like an eternity before they decided.
At long last, the emcee once again stood on the stage. His voice rang, cutting through the silent hush that settled on the entire crowd. “As you know, the time has come to announce our three finalists. The two remaining will automatically receive the consolation prize—the $50 check which we will send to them.
“Now the winner of the crystal cup—the music lessons—a deserving young musician, Julie Scott!”
There was applause as the young accordionist walked on stage to accept her prize. But Bonnie and Jim exchanged puzzled glances as if to say, “Was Julie that good?”
“Well,” Jim whispered to Bonnie, “Ted Jones and Mary Lind are sure to get the other cups.”
But Bonnie said nothing.
“The silver cup,” the emcee continued, “belongs to a very skilled young lady—performer of Beethoven’s Intermezzo—Mary Jo Lind!”
Again there was applause, and Mary Lind walked on stage. “As you know, Mary Jo, you have your choice between a year’s music lessons and a $500 scholarship.”
With every word the emcee spoke, Bonnie grew more and more tense. For those fleeting moments, she didn’t care that Jim was going away to get his education, even though it meant losing him. Jim had to win. But now the doubts were growing in her mind, too. Ted Jones was pretty good….
“And the winner of this year’s grand prize—the scholarship, the music lessons, and sheet music—is a young man whom I think we all will agree is worthy of the gold cup, a young man who is rightly a credit to our community, and whom I’m sure we can with great pride esteem this honor. Congratulations to—” The emcee paused drastically, and Jim had almost whispered, “Good for Ted!” when he heard— “Jim Barker!”
Something like a bolt of lightning struck him as he just sat, stunned, his clarinet still clutched tightly in his hand. Bonnie almost had to push him toward the stage. Then she sat, beaming, as she watched him—her Jim—standing in the spotlight. The applause was loud and long. Cameras flashed as the mayor and the principal shook hands with Jim.
The program was over, and reporters flocked around Jim. Other well-meaning congratulators swarmed about him.
When the crowd thinned out, someone called Bonnie to the front “for a picture of the hero’s piano-player.” But before she had time to speak to Jim, some big shot took him away to interview him or something. Even to this day, Bonnie cannot quite explain the feeling inside. Her pride of him was mingled with a bit of sarcasm and even loneliness. Mixed all together was the ego, the left-out feeling, the love, the bitterness, the sympathy, the frustration, the hopeless hope—it was all there. Like a run-down clock, the time passed until Bonnie realized, dazedly, that she stood alone just outside the door of the empty hall. Seeing Jim nowhere, she started for his car to wait for him there.
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