𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚃𝚘 𝙼𝚢 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚜 - 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎

"...𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬

𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞

𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡..."

Alexandra Lawson was a typical model student. She got good grades in all her classes, was mindful of her manners, and usually kept to herself. That is, until the day her mother died. Alexandra's mother was a kind and beautiful woman, who cared about her neighbours and family, and gave back to the community in every way she could. She was a florist, and owned her own local flower shop, and used her business to spread positivity throughout the world. She would sing while she worked, and used to bring Alexandra along and teach her about the meaning of flowers. She was wonderful.

She was, however, married to a not-so wonderful man. He came home late after work, drank enough to fill a bathtub each night, and was never known for keeping his hands to himself. He would beat Alexandra and her mother, using his methods to teach them a lesson about behaviour, manners, or not breathing too loud. As you could imagine, it was not a pleasant environment to grow up in.

The day Alexandra's mother died was the day her life got worse. Around a month after she turned 15. The small part of her life that held the warmth and love her mother carried for her had disintegrated, and it showed. Alexandra's grades started slipping, her father grew more violent and drank more, and she no longer cared about anything.

Except for the music. It was her only escape, the only refuge, the only place she felt truly herself. Music was Alexandra's passion, and the one thing she learned from her mother she refused to let go of. Not for the world. She practiced every spare second, and put her heart and soul into every bit of it. It was all she had left. It was also what got her in trouble, that one fateful Friday afternoon.

♦

Alexandra was late for class, which was not unusual for her. She calmly walked down the empty hallway, her hand tightening around the strap of her backpack. When she arrived at the math classroom, all eyes turned to her, and her teacher frowned.

"Miss Lawson, how nice of you to join us. Please take a seat." Her teacher motioned to the back of the classroom, where the only empty desk was left sitting by the window. Alex nodded and silently went to her desk, pulling out her notebook as her teacher carried on with the lesson on the blackboard.

After what seemed like an eternity of equations, algebra, and graphing, Alex was finally freed from her math class. She made no moves to talk to anyone, and left the class quickly, heading straight for the music room. Her music teacher always left the door unlocked for her, and she dropped her backpack down and sat at the sleek piano. Her fingers made to rest on the keys, and she took a deep breath before pressing down.

Her fingertips passed over the ivory with effortless grace, honed by years of practice. The melody was quiet and mournful as it flowed with melancholy ease. It breathed with her as she closed her eyes and listened. It took her away for hours, most times, to back when her life seemed simple and carefree. When her mother would whisk her away to the flower shop and sing the world away.