Pretty Music

"The stuff on the paper doesn't make any sence to me," quelyn admited i watched your fingers and how they moved. then it ended up sounding the same. was it?" She looked up at the older boy with hopful eyes. she had wanted to play it right. She looked down at the keys again and replayed what she had just played this time studieing her hands to see if it was playing it right. "Yes it was," she whispered to her self before asking , "was it?" Again doubting her self

He smiled and replied with a slow nod. It did, indeed. “I think that you should be more confident about yourself. If you can play what ever you see me playing, then learning the piano should be a piece a cake for you,“ he said thoughtfully. Was it just with a piano or could Quelyn play any other instrument the same way?
Darius looked around, searching for a guitar or something that he knew how to play, but there was nothing. Perhaps they were hidden in the cases, but he decided that one instrument was more than enough for the girl to learn. He smiled:“Yes it was.“

He then stood up and approached the piano. “Okay, I will play you a beginning of another melody. I introduced it to you earlier today. It is called „Für Elise“ by Beethoven. So, here...“ Darius said as he slowly demonstrated how to push the keys and then he started playing. He did not finish it though he really had a wish to. Instead he lowered his hands and assuming that Quelyn was paying attention, Darius gestured with his hand. “You try it now.“

Quelyn had been watching as he played a bit of the song he had played earlier. Giving a half smile she placed her hand on the keys and bit her lip as she slowly began to play what Darius had just played. But, some how she had gotten a key mixed up. Sighing in disappointment in herself her little hand fell away from the piano. "I messed up," she whispered before trying again fixing the note on which he had misplayed the first time. "Was that it?" She asked looking up after the second time unsure of herself even more now that she had gotten something wrong

As mentioned, he did not expect her to start playing like a professional right away, though Darius' hopes were high. This kid had a great talent. It was sad that she kept it hidden away only because of the fear of ruining the memory of her lost mother. He'd play all the songs he'd hear during the day if he'd have the same ability as Quelyn. It sounded so easy and when he looked how she tried to play „Für Elise“ for the first time, he had to smile to himself.
Alright, he made a right choice of making her his first student. He still kept thinking of himself as a greater talent, but if that little girl was truly becoming his apprentice, he'd be more than happy to hear that one day she succeeded him and many other good musicians.

“No. Don't expect yourself to play everything perfectly on the first time. It all takes some time, just be patient and learn.“ His encouragement did not matter now anyway as Quelyn tried for the second time and this time succeeding, replaying the song without any mistakes. Darius smiled again and nodded, clapping his hands:“Flawless!“
Alright, now he knew what to do: he had to encourage her to keep playing and teach her many new songs. “You're doing great, but I strongly reccomend either learning this melody by heart or at least try to study the notes so that you could play the songs in the future. That's what I reccomend, but as I can see that you're working the other way around, I don't really think that its necessary. Maybe few basic rules how to hold your hands when you're playing to make the process easier, but that's all. Have you spoken to your music teacher? Does she know your interest in music and about your talent?“

My music teacher was mummy," Quelyn said, "And if she is still watching over me as you said then she should know." she turned and looked up at Darius and tilted her head to the side. "Why do you like music?" She asked blinking up at him. She felt comfortable with him now. He wasn't like her papa, he like music and seemed to be paciente. "What drew you to it when you were just starting like me?" she played with the ends of her hair as she waited for him answer her questions and her thoughts strayed to those about her father and how he had set her mothers piano on fire after braking it apart and hitting it with a Muggles baseball bat.

He fell silent.
People never asked him such question. To be honest, they never even seemed to care why he was so obsessed with music or why he chose to start playing. When Quelyn asked, he did not know what to say. Was she even old enough to understand? No, but she's been through a lot, making her a bit more wiser than any other kid her age. Darius bit his lip, tilting his head a bit to the right, thinking about what actually brought him to the instrument in the first place. He could not remember. All he knew that time was that he needed to do something in order to keep his sanity.

He looked at Quelyn:“You see, when I was a child, much younger than you, me and my family, we used to move around a lot. That meant that me, my brother and my sister – we had no friends. I suppose that acting as an older brother figure has always been in my blood so all I did was taking care of, but you see, I needed to do something as well. Moving around like we did was not only getting on my nerves, but it also drove me to stress and I needed something that would help me keep my mind busy with something. And I found it all in music.

I knew nothing about the sheets, notes and famous composers. I just started playing. I don't know where it came from, I just know that I got the attention with my newly discovered talent. I kept practicing because by the time we had a stable home, I could not afford myself to leave the only friend I've made like that. So I kept on learning, practicing and having those childish dreams that one day I will be as known as Mozart.“

Darius looked away and frowned. He did not like talking about his past nor did he really like to share his thoughts, but at some point he believed that Quelyn deserved to know a bit from him. And after all, he was certain that after this year they would never see each other again, so why not share something about himself? Darius' eyes found the girl again.

"You used it to escape?" She asked, that is something Quelyn could understand, escaping is why she danced, escaping and remembering. She turned back to the piano and played a few notes at random. "My daddy destroyed our piano one night really late after mummy passed away. He was angry and lonely. Seeing it reminded him of mummy. Just like seeing me remind him of her." she spoke quietly seemingly deep in thought as her legs idly swang back and fourth and her fingers seemingly dance across the keys at random. "He gets angry a lot." She said almost in another world.