Karen sat with her fingers resting
on the keyboard. Snatches of songs ran through her head, came out her
fingertips, but she couldn’t remember the words. A tear traced a hot line down
her cheek. She jumped at the knock on her door. Without glancing at her clock,
she called, “Come in, dear.” Must be time for her next lesson…
Sharon slipped into the apartment,
frowning as the woman called out. If she was expecting company, things could get
complicated quickly. Scanning the room, she took in the country décor in the
small kitchen, the table set for one, the lounge chair and sofa with
needlepoint pillows, and the lady at the piano, only now looking around with a
tremulous smile.
Karen couldn’t put a name to the
sharp face in her doorway, but that wasn’t unusual these days. Her students
never seemed to notice that she didn’t call them by name until she had their
workbooks in hand – mercifully labeled in her own neat handwriting. She glanced
around her guest, but saw no bag or notebooks. Well, that made it a little more
challenging. Not only did she not have a name, she didn’t know this student’s
level. Standing, she motioned to the woman as she moved to the chair next to
the piano bench. “Come on in, dear,” she echoed. “Are you ready to play today?”
Sharon raised her eyebrows, then
shrugged and moved across the room. Did the woman mistake her for someone else?
Well, she needed a place to hide out for awhile, and she had always wanted to
learn to play piano. Mom Bertha used to play the rickety old piano in the
cafeteria, and sometimes Sharon would sit with her when the teasing was
particularly fierce. No one messed with Mom Bee.
Sitting at the piano, Sharon
remembered her first lesson, a fingering piece, Mom Bee called it. She started
with her left hand at the far end of the piano and found the “C” key with her
left thumb. She stumbled a bit over the first few keys, but then she remembered
the tune and relaxed, letting her fingers run more smoothly through the
pattern. When she reached the right end, she replaced her left hand with her
right, and ran back across the keyboard, playing the pattern in reverse. Nearing
the end, she glanced up and saw the teacher’s wide smile. She couldn’t help
smiling back.
As she played the final chord, the
woman clapped her hands with a laugh. “What a marvelous Hanon, my dear!” She
stopped short, and stared down at the keyboard. “Yes, Hanon. That’s it. I
remember…”
Note:
I struggled with this one. I had a half-baked idea spring to mind when
I read the prompt, but I feel like my wheels spun in place. So I give you a
prelude, or a scene setting. Didn’t do more than hint at Sharon’s role. Where
could I go with this? Maybe nowhere, and that’s okay, sometimes. It’s an
exercise, and they can’t all be winners…
|
Dogs in house:
|
Brindle
|
|
|
|
|
Music
|
The Avengers
|
|
|
|
|
Time writing
|
~40 minutes
|
|
|
|
|
June word
count
|
4,913
|
No comments:
Post a Comment