Movement one: Alive
Pianissimo, Lento,
berceuse Breath, play-
I was born, in a family of mixed race, which takes a family history project to explain. They were always kind, always there, talked, and ate a great bunch. I never knew the strangeness of the world; I always had my family and I didn’t need anything else.
Then as I grew up, I discovered books, music, and the way the sunlight feels if you lie in its path. I shared this with my family but they never understood my love for any of it. They seemed to only think books give paper cuts, music is sad, and the sun’s rays give burns.
Movement two: Discovery
Accelerando, Slight Crescendo
Every day after school I would come home smiling, and my mom would ask, “Ok sweetie, what do you want to start with, piano or homework?”
I would immediately run to the piano and carefully pull out the bench and turn the light on. (sigh) I slowly put my hands on the keys and played. I could transpose any song, memorize it, and do it with my eyes closed. I practiced as much as there was to practice. At first, I thought it was to avoid homework, but then as the months passed I found that I had a passion for music. I couldn’t part with it. I would finger scales on my desk, and hum my music until my sister threw a pillow at my face at night.
Later my mom took me to the local library. I instantly loved the smell of all the books. I would spend hours there and always end up taking home too many to carry out to the car. I would escape from these stories for hours reading all of them only a few hours after I had just picked them up.
I was always captivated by sunlight. The sun was warming, and letting clouds explode off the world around me-it was the sanguine sign of a new day. I would sit on my back porch: hot, painted wooden panels. Letting the sun warm me till I felt heat seep to my toes.
Of these three things, I constructed my new world. The sun was always out even in the rain. Music played every day even if it were some simple background noise, just something to inspire at the moment of course. I married my own made-up guy{s} and created new friends from the stories I devoured. I would get lost, adrift in mirrors talking to myself for hours…
My sister barged into my room. “- Emma”
I jumped up startled
“What are you doing?”
I wonder how long she had been there. “Oh nothing, just talking to myself.”
I looked back into the mirror and could’ve sworn I saw my reflection wink back as I ran out to catch up with my sister.
Movement 3: Alone
Strepitoso, Fortissimo, sortsando
During the whole summer of sixth grade, I would read, play piano or sit in the sun and do nothing else. I was too scared to play with any of the other kids, even some of my closest friends at times.
I had been told by one of my best friends that they no longer wanted to be friends because I was too “Sassy” for them. I was never a talkative person after that. I just thought no one would want to be friends with me, or that when I talked it would make people dislike me. I would play with my sisters outside sometimes but when a neighborhood friend would come outside, asking if I could play, I would sneak back inside to my room, back to the world where all of my book character friends were, back to my piano.
“Hello there, Emma” Anne of Green Gables said with the sweetest smile. All of my favorite characters came around taking turns to greet me.
“Hello”, I smiled, rushing to grasp onto the only people that understood me.
Movement 4; Freedom
Con Passione, mezzo piano,
After feeling so alone for so long I almost gave up. I thought there was nothing meaningful in practicing the piano, lying in the sun, or books. Year after year passed when 8th grade came, and I met my best friends: Emma, Ellie, and Evy.
I met them at a youth group and they were always affectionate and brought the greatest out in me. They always talked about how convivial and maybe even sometimes astute I was. I never before realized I could be loved by people other than my large family or the world I created. We would talk about music, lay in the sun, laugh, and talk about the latest books that we‘d read. I could finally share my world with other people.
Finale: Love Maestoso,
Mezzo forte
After all of my years of friendship, even with fictional characters, I have never felt so loved. As my worlds were tearing apart, my friends were always there to keep me standing. They understood me almost more than I did myself But I will always give credit to the sun that gave me warmth, the music that gave me life, and the books that first gave me something to hold onto.
Emma is a hard-working student busy with marching band, piano practice, and of course, writing. She hopes to continue this pursuit of writing and to teach the next generations the power of words. This is her first published writing with Blue Marble Review and is excited to do more!