Still of the Night

“I am yours. Don’t give myself back to me.” 
-Rumi-

The rehearsal for the upcoming play was over. Jake and the ensemble, all with broad smiles, took their bows and curtseys as the audience of teenagers in their Catholic youth group applauded and cheered madly. 

Jake played “Arthur,” a precocious young lad who during the play got into a lot of harmless mischief with his family.  Little Arthur had a habit of saying the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. Annoying but adorable. Exasperating yet endearing. A little like Jake.

She liked Jake. Her girlfriends knew it. He was a fine young fellow, industrious, ambitious. Perhaps even going to college. Hell, she couldn’t imagine him being drafted in a year or two.  Still, she pictured him as ‘criminally cute,’ mysterious, what with his charming smile and dreamy ‘bedroom eyes.’

There would be a club meeting after the performance followed by a dance once the boys cleared the tables and chairs. As always Richie, the group’s resident DJ would be spinning those ‘infectious grooves.’ He knew the songs on both sides of all the .45s and played all the current hits.

It was time for ‘Peppermint,’ as her girlfriends called her, to make her move. She saw herself as pretty enough for a sixteen- year-old, what with her piercing brown eyes and long brunette hair falling down her back. She thought, ‘He’s a shy one, did he ever even notice me—or any girl? Those dumb boys, will they ever grow up...a girl can’t wait forever.’

So, she marched right up to where he was sitting, and much to his amazement slid right onto one of his knees, smiling and gazing into his eyes.

She claimed him.

His mouth hung open with awe and confusion as he looked into her eager smiling eyes; complete shock mixed with a bit of trepidation bordering on fear. Yet, her cozying up to him felt like the most natural thing in the world. It was.

He saw her girlfriends jumping up and down giggling in the back of the auditorium; some of them hiding their laughter with hands over their mouths. He noticed a couple of his friends seemed amused and astonished at what they just saw. He didn’t care.

They danced all night.  They rocked n’ rolled and did the Twist. He felt clumsy; she took the lead, their eyes locked on one another.  Every slow dance she clung to him, her head against his shoulder. Their bodies knitted together. No, they didn’t leave room for the Holy Spirit as the parish priest and adult chaperones insisted.  Spirit had already done Its work. 

All too soon this enchanting evening was coming to an end. Richie played his signature last ballad, sung by the Five Satins. In the past Peppermint would be something of a wallflower when he played this song. Jake would be hanging with the guys who were preparing to clean up the hall. Not this time.

As they danced, the tune felt meditative, hymn-like, tender and romantic. It pulsed through them as they absorbed each other, hopelessly transformed…

The Doo-Wop group crooned, “Hold me again with all of your might.” 
Confused and blissfully content, he ached for more…

The Five Satins then pledged, “Promise I’ll never let you go.” 
Joyous and ecstatic, she hungered for more…

And so, they began.  Right then. Just there…In the still of that night.”

 THE END

 © 2026 Gerald R. Gioglio

 In The Still Of The Night by the Five Satins.  Written by Fred Parris. Copyright, AZLyrics.com .

Gerald R. Gioglio is the author of the social Justice and antiwar memoir, Marching to a Silent Tune: A Journey from We Shall to Hell No.  Available from ActaPublications.com, and at Amazon.com.