A Story Excerpt From "The Silent Note"

“Launching the Story’s Setting”

Word of the old piano traveled across town by the efforts of a certain librarian who telephoned the owner of an antique store about the arrangements for the old instrument. The piano, the librarian informed, was to be donated to an upcoming auction hosted by the City of Aurora . And the proceeds, she added, would help fund the new performing arts theater.

The following day, Maria Weisman, an avid antique collector, couldn’t get to the library fast enough. As soon as Maria entered the lobby, Jane Harris, the librarian, escorted her across the main floor and into the east wing where the piano sat.

Neglected and aging, the old instrument resided by itself against the back wall. Taken by its senescent beauty, Maria brushed her fingers across the instrument’s timeworn mahogany surface. As she studied the piano’s features and determined its age, she decided that it would be an important addition to her collection.

The piano indeed was vintage—a rarity. Its handcrafted exterior of intricate wood designs marked the instrument with pristine character and with uniqueness. Pianos of this quality appraise as classic pieces of art. But, strangely, this particular one had gone unnoticed for years.

Maria respected antiques because, at one time, the inanimate objects had been a part of someone’s past—useful things belonging to individuals who existed in an era of time when the tapestry of life was woven with fashions that had expired decades ago. But, too often in fact, people leave legacies behind that are never told. And old relics, incapable of containing life or spirit, are often the only remaining objects that contain the fragments of someone’s past.

As Maria fell in love with the piano, she inquired about the day, time, and location the auction would take place. She wouldn’t miss the event for the world, she told the librarian.

Weeks later, Maria listened to the voice of an auctioneer while seated in the front row of an excited crowd. When bids opened for the piano, the young woman suddenly found herself pressured into a bidding war for the old instrument. Yet, determined to rescue the aging piano, she threw her bids higher. As some began to lose interest, Maria persisted all the more, until she stood alone. The auctioneer gazed over the silenced crowd, then shouted “sold.” The elated antique dealer then claimed her new prize.

By mid-afternoon, the instrument, now safe, occupied space in the back room of Maria’s little shop. The antique collector, with gleaming eyes, adored her new addition while she pampered it with a dust cloth. But, unbeknownst to Maria Weisman, the old piano contained a daunting secret—a secret that had been hidden for years … for decades. She had no idea that an untold story quietly dwelt beneath the ivory keys and had gone undetected for so long. Most of the people who once had title to the instrument had been unaware that such a story even existed. But the tale’s time in hiding—which had originated from the piano’s original master—was soon to end.

Maria’s passion for antiques, which had begun after her grandmother had passed away, had opened her eyes to see these old relics in new ways. Old pedal-driven sewing machines, century-old egg beaters, kitchen gadgets, antique radios with outdated technology, and ornate furniture seemingly possessed the fingerprints of a bygone era. Maria Weisman surmised that the way of life a hundred years ago must have been slow, easy, and un-frenzied—all so unlike today’s fast-moving society.

Maria even remembered lessons she’d learned as a schoolgirl recounting how growing technology—some time after the turn of the century—influenced society to overrun the old ways and fashions of life in pursuit of new and better ways. Now, a century later, these simple and seemingly forgotten relics left behind were the only reminder of those simpler days gone by.

Today, the influx of telecommunication gadgets with their advanced technology, Internet, video games, and the popular demand for music players keeps society immersed in a sea of noise—and with sounds that continually beep and ring in people’s heads all hours of the day. As Maria spent special moments with her antiques, she saw more profoundly how society had forgotten what peace and tranquility feel like—a much-needed sedative the world needs. She wished her husband would slow his routine to enjoy those important special moments with his wife and daughter.

(Excerpt from The Silent Note reprinted with permission from the author, Patrick Davis).

(Originally published at GoArticles and reprinted with permission from the author, Patrick Davis).