Downtown - Everything's Waiting For You

Downtown - Everything's Waiting For You

Nancy wiped away the mist from the bathroom mirror and gave herself the evil eye. Her blue eyes kept that icy stare for a few moments until a raised eyebrow ended the standoff and back came her usual wide, dazzle-the-world smile.

“Hey you, why so serious?” she spoke to her reflection. “Don’t you know you’re going downtown?
She grabbed her hairbrush and sang into it ‘Petula Clark’s Downtown’:
“When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go, downtown,
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?”
Soon, she was out of the bathroom and changing into street clothes. Then she walked to the window, pulled aside the curtains, leaned forward, and gave a little gasp. New York City was certainly a sight. She had arrived in the city that morning. Nancy, who had spent all her life in rural rocky mountain Montana, was now in the Big Apple. The neon lights spread out before her and each one twinkled and beckoned to her…
It was 13 July 1977. The date held significance to Nancy – for it was also her birthday. And this day, this year, held all the more significance for her, for it was the day to a brand new start. She had moved from her native Montana – the majestic mountains, green pastures, and azure lakes – to the hustle and bustle, the energy, the pulsating heartbeat that is New York City. She had always yearned for the vibrant high life and the world of fashion. New York was the answer.
As Nancy bounded downstairs from the apartment building, she continued her song –
“The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, where all the lights are bright
Downtown, waiting for you tonight
Downtown, you're gonna be all right now”
Nancy took in everything she saw as she walked along the street. She looked forward to a great night. Overhead were the bright lights of lamps, buildings, and shop signs. Cars honked all around her. A red-faced man poked his head out of his car and waved his fists angrily at a yellow taxi.
“Watch where you’re going, you lousy bum!” he yelled.
Red-Face’s spittle hit Nancy in the face.
Along the sidewalk, people shoved and jostled each other. Nancy was manoeuvring her way through the people, a little flustered. By this time, she had stopped her singing. She stopped in front of a corner store and breathed in the stale steamy air.
All of a sudden, everything around Nancy was plunged in darkness. Gone were the bright New York lights, and for a few brief moments Nancy was back in Montana again. Montana at night was quiet and peaceful, and only stars dotted the night sky.
Nancy waited, and waited. Soon, distressed voices and pleading cries rose from the streets. In the distance, Nancy made out the silhouette of a mob. They swept through the streets, shattered car headlights, and plunged New York deep into pitch-black darkness…
Nancy’s heart was beating wildly, fear gripped her – she had never experienced such panic and violence before. She looked for a place to hide…any place so she could hide! All around her, pandemonium pounded and hounded the city streets. Fires started. Once again, New York was lit, only this time with fiery bonfires. The arsonists whooped and danced about like wild flames of an inferno that licked against the dark shadow of the city.
Nancy looked on as a group of men with baseball bats broke the glass of a shop window and they started to loot the store, as they carried off televisions, stereos and all sorts of appliances. Nancy stood in astonishment, a witness to mobs going berserk, police officers chasing looters, and so many looters carrying away their prized booty.
In every street corner, sirens wailed. Fire engines tried desperately to subdue the raging blaze caused by arson. Nancy met havoc at every turn. People were running wildly around her, pushing and shoving. It had been many hours since the blackout started yet Nancy still scampered about, aimlessly. Earlier that evening, she was looking forward to a sumptuous dinner in one of New York’s fine restaurants. But now, she felt extremely hungry and thirsty. For the first time in her life, she had realized that she could die in the midst of a great city, not only out of being mugged but also out of hunger. She felt that this metropolis turned out to be a jungle as well as a desert, a place where she could die of thirst, while the mob stampeded like a horde of wild animals in the city streets. She saw a group of men helping themselves to some boxes. She could only hope that the boxes were drinks. Nancy picked up one of the boxes when someone grabbed her from behind!
“All right, that’s enough, you’re coming with me,” a firm voice spoke to her.
She screeched, squirmed, and tried to get out of the grasp… Hours later, giddy and dazed, she found herself holding bars – she was in a cell. Bewildered and confused, Nancy soon realized that she had been arrested as a looter.
“Let me out of here!” she yelled.
There was no answer.
“Please, let me go!” she cried, “I didn’t do anything!”
“Yeah right, you and every other looter out there tonight! Now shut up!” a voice answered her through the dim corridor.
Nancy sighed and leaned her head against the bars. In the distance, Nancy could hear music playing. She strained her ears and felt a sickly sensation of recognition. The song was ‘Downtown’.
“We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares,
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown, everything's waiting for you…”

-M(P)