Read Online Music From Standing Waves by Johanna Craven - Free Book Online Page B

deep purple
bruises on the folds in his arms.
     
    I opened my eyes the next morning to an
orange glow seeping through the matchstick blinds. The red numbers
of my clock radio glowed eleven-thirty. I rubbed my eyes; glad my
parents had let me sleep.
    I turned onto my back and stretched. The rest
of the house was silent, but I could hear voices coming from the
park. I pushed aside the mosquito net and swung my legs out from
under the covers. My feet touched something hard. I looked down in
surprise. Beside my bed lay a long black instrument case. I knelt
down and opened the lid. Let out my breath. Inside lay an antique
violin, polished in a deep chocolate brown. Beside it, a bow and
new block of resin. I threw on my clothes and carried the violin to
school.
    I swung open the music room door when
Andrew’s piano lessons had finished. I held the violin out to him.
“Here.”
    “What’s this?”
    “I already told you I can’t take your violin.
You know what my mum would say. Besides, if I take this, you’ll
have nothing to play on.”
    He stood up. “What are you talking
about?”
    “Someone left this at my house last night,” I
said. “And I have a feeling that someone was you.”
    “Someone left a violin at your house? Are you
kidding? Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and find a Ferrari in my
driveway!”
    “Don’t be stupid! Just take it back! You know
I can’t accept it.” I forced it into his hands.
    “It’s not mine, Abby. My violin’s in my
basement. I’ll show you if you don’t believe me.”
    I paused. “It wasn’t you?” I opened the case
and ran my fingers over the glossy wood. “Then who was it? Maybe I
have a guardian angel or something.”
    “Maybe,” he laughed. “That’s a Pollastri. It
must be worth a fortune.”
    I lifted it carefully out of the case and
bowed the bottom string. “It’s beautiful,” I agreed. “But I feel
bad just taking it.”
    Andrew smiled. “How can you give it back when
you don’t know where it came from? Take it, Abby. It was obviously
meant for you. Just keep it out the way of your mum.”
    I looked him in the eye. “You really had
nothing to do with it?”
    He laughed a little. “You think I’d be brave
enough to come to your house and drop off a violin?”
    I smiled.
    “Come round tonight and have a play. We can
go over the Elgar.”

TWELVE
     
     
    Until I was fifteen, there were two
certainties in my life. One was that I would eventually escape
Acacia Beach to perform in the concert halls. The second was that
Justin and I would one day be together. Both seemed inevitable.
    We walked home from school together in
awkward, not-sure-if-we’re-boyfriend-and-girlfriend-yet
silence.
    “Did you watch The Simpsons last
night?”
    “No.”
    “Me neither...”
    I could hear the bubbles popping in Justin’s
Sprite can.
    “You going to Simon’s party?” he asked.
    “Dunno. You?”
    “Dunno.”
    I missed the days when we could talk crap for
hours.
    I started to play my pieces in my head. I
floated away from Justin, out of Acacia Beach, to the world I had
only ever imagined. I stepped on stage to play for a packed
theatre; three thousand people holding their breath, waiting for my
first note. The music rose into the domed concert hall ceiling,
while outside, snow fell; the same sparkling white I had imagined
in my Antarctica.
    Justin elbowed me. “Hey. I’m talking to you.
You ignoring me?”
    “Huh?” We were at my front gate. “I have to
go.”
    “You going to practise?”
    I chewed my lip. “Yeah.”
    “Can I come?”
    “What?”
    “Can I come? You’re always on your violin.
And you never tell me about it. I just want to see what you’re up
to all the time.”
    My heart fluttered at the thought of him
hearing me play; the thought of no longer having to hide my passion
from my best friend. I tried to act blasé. “If you want.”
    He followed me into the van and sat on the
bed while I set up my music stand. I decided to play him the