Short Story - 'Strange Magic' Piano Man

STRANGE MAGIC

Piano Man

All the way through her childhood, Amanda remembered her father playing endlessly on his piano. He could play anything from a tune on the radio to a famous classic. In her eyes, he was a musical maestro. She loved him dearly, he was her world. He tried to reach her mother and looking back she realised, she played very well for a person with little knowledge for playing instruments, but her dad knew all the keys and chords and could pick up a song and play it by ear very easily after tweaking a few notes. He always had time for Amanda to teach her simple little tunes to start off with, Frere Jackques to Doh Ray me and in time, she was able to play a little of what he played. She didn't have the fist that he had and preferred him to play to her rather than her struggle to practice, but through his patience and encouragement, Amanda practiced and tried hard to reach her fathers' standards. She know she would never share her fathers' love of classical music and listened more to light rock songs.

When she felt confident enough, Amanda approached her head teacher in junior school and asked if she could play the piano while the other children marched out of the assembly to their classrooms instead of the usual routine of another teacher playing them out, but she didn't realise how nervous she would feel and all the hours of practice that she had put in were for nothing when the classic she wanted to play was played in the wrong key and sounded awful and played it in a chord that she had never learnt and the whole piece sounded so dreadfully out of tune. The other kids thought it was just their friend playing them out and thought it so cool! She wasn't asked to play again and she wouldn't have done anyway, after that disaster!

Many happy years passed and the piano was always being played. After school, over the weekends, during school holidays. Friends would gather round and sing to new pop songs that were learnt on it. Christmas was always full of fun, with dad playing new songs and the family singing. It beat watching television any day!
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When Amanda left junior school for secondary school, both her parents knew that she had potential to play piano and she stated to have piano lessons. But those piano lessons were dreadful. her teach wore bright red lipstick that used to seep into cracks on her lips and outwards and looked as if she had sucked on a bright red lollipop which clashed terribly with her clothes. her laugh was a cackle and she was very loud and abrupt. Not only did Amanda take an instant dislike to her, but having played by ear for all those years, she didn't understand crotchets, quavers, sharps, flats or scales. Reading music was alien to her and found it almost impossible to grasp. Not only that, it was clear that her piano teacher had her favourite pupils. Amanda tried hard but it took many weeks before she mastered a piece of music but even then, the timing was wrong. But she never gave up; she wanted her parents to be proud of her.

One Christmas Eve, when she was eleven, Amanda crept down the stairs to find her father sat in the armchair, she had no idea he had been ill, but a few hours later he died. Amanda's world come to an end from that day, she couldn't imagine her life without him in it.

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She couldn't bear to have further tuition on the piano and every time she looked at the piano at home, she thought her heart would break and never mend. Her mum didn't want to let go of the piano, but at the same time, found it hard to live with, but over time and many years, it begun to get loved again, with all the great memories it had attached to it. Amanda rarely played on it, just the odd moment as it was never the same. She went through the years just wanting to talk to her dad, to hear his voice, anything.

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Years passed and her mum remarried and Amanda had her share of boyfriends until she met and married her partner, Dave. They moved into a tiny flat and had together a beautiful little girl, Clair. The marriage was a waste of time. Amanda admitted she always wanted a husband who was like her dad, not in looks necessarily, but in nature. Dave was exactly the opposite and it was clear, he wasn't bothered about Amanda and Clair and so the marriage just plodded on.

After two years together, they decided to move into a larger house and it was then Amanda approached her mother about having the piano in her new house which her mother agreed to. It still rarely got played, but it was a nice comfort to have in her home. It was also a beautiful piece of furniture in mahogany with intricate details of flowers on three panels above the keyboard. The pedals no longer worked and it was now a little out of key, but considering its age, it was in very good condition. Amanda never encourage Clair to play, but then, Claire was never interested in learning.

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After another two years, Amanda heard of a good medium and gave her the benefit of the doubt and invited her over for a reading. The first thing that the medium picked up on was the piano and that the owner was a lovely, kind natured man, who passed away before he should have done, although Amanda remained open minded. It also gave her a tiny glimmer of hope that there was such things as an afterlife. The marriage just plodded along and badly as the relationship was very volatile, but for the sake of Clair, they stayed together and eventually moved into another house a few miles away to make a fresh start, but the marriage had almost completely dissolved soon after the move and one night Amanda and Dave had such a heated argument that she thought the he was going to hit her. Just as the argument reached boiling point, the flap on the front at the bottom of the piano, just fell of its own accord! This had never happened before and Amanda found herself saying that must be her dad and that he hated her husband for all the stress he had put her through.

After many years, Amanda met a new partner, someone with with a kind heart, a placid nature, someone who had patience and kindness and eventually had a wonderful son together who they named Thomas. Although Thomas looked more like his Dad, there were times she saw a glimpse of her father in him. A certain look or smile, an expression or just something in his eyes and Amanda was quite sure that her Dad lived through him in some way and drew much comfort form this. When Thomas was three, he showed great interest in music and when a colourful keyboard was brought for him one Christmas, it was clear he enjoyed playing and listening to simple songs. As time wore on, Thomas started to learn more instruments and he was so gifted because he could play by ear. He enjoyed taking piano lessons for a while and he started to read notes and enjoyed re teaching his mother the minims, crotchets, quavers, scales and staccato. The piano was being played again and Amanda found herself getting so much enjoyment teaching the little that she knew to Thomas and him just finding himself around the keyboard as if it were second nature. He would never share his mothers' love of light rock music preferring something darker and heavier.

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Thomas would play to his parents after many nights of practice and listen to new songs that he had heard on the radio stations. He would show off in front of his extended family when they had their get togethers' at Christmas. He played what he knew and he revelled in playing in front of his friends at school during one assembly and his friends thought he was cool.

Eventually Thomas would join a band through his school friends with him on keyboard. His parents were so proud. Even though the band might never be famous, Thomas was famous in their eyes, especially his mothers', who thought she saw her father smiling at her through Thomas sitting at the piano one Christmas Eve at her old home and shed tears of joy.

Copyright Linda Lawrence

17th November 2005