Loss

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I can't believe I've lost you. After so many years, it's hard to see your place empty, never to be filled with your bright, comforting presence again. I still come to bed and expect to see you there waiting for me, but alas, I am alone. I'm not sure that I can ever rid myself of the grief that came with your disappearance from this life; it's hard for me to even listen to music now! Music, that beautiful thing that used to always cheer me up. You always had it in you, helped bring it into my life. Yet when you left me, the music did too. So many songs, some of them I can’t remember anymore. How I miss you, your wonderful words, the fun games we'd play... But don't worry. I will never forget you. I will never be able to replace you. I don't think they make iPod shuffles anymore.

Magic

It was partially hidden in the back corner of the little shop, sitting there as if it were trying to hide behind the shiny new guitars that were placed in front of it. She had caught a glimpse of it as she was playing on one of the other pianos, a Steinway grand on prominent display at the front of the store. When she pointed it out to her friend, it took him a while to see it, too.

“What piano? Those are guitars, silly.” She didn’t know what drew her to it, but it was a force strong enough to make her get up from the Steinway and walk over to the back of the shop to point it out.

As she got closer to the piano, she could see that it, too, was a grand, though far less grand in appearance than the shiny new Steinway. The wood was ancient and worn. Perhaps it had once been glamorous, but whatever glamour it had once enjoyed had long disappeared. The keys were yellow with age, and a few of them were chipped. The metal pedals were no longer a sparkly gold; the paint had flaked off, leaving an ugly grey-brown color behind.

Yet none of that mattered. She was entranced, gazing at it in admiration as if it were the most beautiful instrument she had ever laid eyes on. Her friend watched her curiously. All he saw was a dinky old piano. As if in a trance, she sat down at the bench and ran her fingers over the keys, feeling them without playing.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”  She says to her companion. He shrugs, unsure of how to respond, but decides to humor her.

“Yeah, it’s alright.” She gives him a pointed look.

 “It’s not just “alright”. It’s amazing.”  She turned back to the piano and played a few notes. The sounds that came out are rich with emotion, yet sweet and as soft as a feather pillow. Her companion’s eyes open wide in surprise; if he hadn’t been staring straight at her and the piano, he wouldn’t have believed such a sound had come from such an instrument. She sees his expression and starts to laugh.

“See, I told you! It’s beautiful!”  She starts to play a song, one that both of them love. The sounds fill the entire little shop and catch everyone’s attention; the other customers stop their browsing, and even the clerk leaves her place at the front desk to come closer to listen. She plays her heart out, and he leans on the piano. They look into each other’s eyes, oblivious to the crowd that has gathered around them.

She ends the song with an artistic flair, letting the final chord last loud and long. Her audience applauds with great enthusiasm, and she turns on the piano bench to face them with a stunned look.

“Holy crap, I didn’t notice people were listening,” she says unceremoniously. Everyone laughs, and the clerk pips up, “Man, you are amazing. That piano has been sitting in the corner forever, and no one has ever made it sound as pretty as you did. It was like magic!”

She blushes and gives a little smile.

“It sure felt like it.”