Your Song

Dorinda

The Daily Prompt challenge is:

Language evolves. The meaning of a word can shift over time as we use it differently — think of “cool,” “heavy,” or even “literally.”

Today, give a word an evolutionary push: give a common word a new meaning, explain it to us, and use it in the title of your post.

Your Song

Dorinda hummed an old Elton John tune, drumming her fingers over her heart every so often. Her cousin’s husband, Lamont, called her on it. “Why do you do that?” She gave him a questioning look. “That,” he said, tapping four fingers over his heart.

“What, ‘song’?” During the final verses, she repeated the gesture as the word was sung.

He shook his head as he moved his flat hand back and forth like a pendulum. “I know the sign for song. That isn’t it.”

“I say it is.” She grabbed the last of the pastries. “Song is more than melody, more than lyrics that hold different meanings to different listeners. It’s heart, in the most simplistic sense.”

Lamont stared at her. “Maybe you’ve been listening to ‘Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ a few too many times.” He alternated between the sign for ‘song’ and tapping the center of his chest for ‘heart.’ “How can ‘song’ mean heart? Why confuse your father like-?”

Dorinda brushed her hands of the crumbs before she leaned back, propping her head on her hand. She couldn’t help but stare at him the way Heloise glared at them all the time. “It’s because of him, for him, that I say that word means what it does. Think, Lamont! How often has he been wrong in making a recommendation to someone at the shop? ‘Song’ is heart, is the beating of the soul, the measure of the mood, the barometer of faith. He might not hear the instruments, but what he reads in the words, – that’s why he’s seldom missed.” She paused. “Unlike you.”

Lamont scoffed. “So, what you’re suggesting is the next time I open the shop, I should say ‘have a song,’ to someone? Or ‘suffering from a broken song?’ or-.”

“Its ‘heart’ in the most simplistic sense,” she repeated. “If I have to take the time to explain it to you, it’s pointless.”

“Use it in a sentence; I might get it.”

Dorinda smirked as she said and signed, “You’ve lost your song.”