Musical Jeanne - Aafiya Noora M S [COMPLETED]

Musical Jeanne

A wonderful flute music echoed through the forest. The nature seemed to be dancing in rhythm to the heavenly blissful sound. Jeanne was sitting under a white willow tree leaning against it's large trunk which was right next to a beautiful lake, playing the flute which her mother and Aunt made with her Grandfather's help when they were young according to her aunt who gave it to her before leaving her in a bus stop. She played it for the first time only five days ago but she turned out to be a natural at it.

It was about a week ago that her whole life was turned inside out. She was living in a camp she set up herself alone, with no one but animals around. Living like this made her feel free, she liked it. It all started with her Aunt Lucy taking her shopping to buy everything.

At first she thought they were shopping for her cousin Nancy or someone else. But then her Aunt asked her to try on a few casual outfits and shoes. They didn't stop there either. Aunt Lucy went from shop to shop dragging her along, buying her things like good study and story books, sweets, bags and so on. Every little thing she had always wanted but never received. Her parents had died when she was young and she was left with her mother's sister and her husband. But she was never treated as a part of the family, more like a slave. Her uncle Tom was cruel. He made her work day and night, punish her if she couldn't complete the mountain load of work on time and would have starved her if it wasn't for Aunt Lucy feeding her whenever she could without getting caught. Nothing she owned was new. She usually had her cousin's hand-me-downs. Nancy wasn't good to her either. Then her aunt confused her by buying camping items. The day was becoming weirder as the minutes went.

It was over the most delicious lunch she has ever had that Aunt Lucy finally told her why she was doing all this. She told her that she had watched helplessly as her husband mistreated her only niece and the last connection to her deceased sister she had left. She couldn't stand up to him because after all this she still loved him and even if she did voice her opinion she wouldn't be able to bear it if Uncle Tom decided to leave her and take Nancy with him. So she became selfish and did the only thing she could - get Jeanne out of the house as soon as possible. She has apparently been thinking about doing that for 2 years and made up her mind after Jeanne was hit continuously once until she fainted from pain. She couldn't forgive herself after that. So she had been saving up money and finally put it to good use.

Jeanne now had enough money to feed her for another week or so if she adjusted but how will she survive after that? She can of course work as a maid or a server but what is the point in working for her 'family' first, running away from them because of that and doing the exact same thing elsewhere? So no, that is off the list. What other decent job can she do? She could draw and sing but she was just average at that besides who would want to buy the pictures drawn by a 9 year old? The only other thing she knew was to play the flute. Wait. That's it. She will busk in the closest street from where she was now and earn money. Now all she had to do was to put her plan into action.

So next day Jeanne walked for a bit until she came to a small busy village. She went to the least crowded corner and put her flute to her lips and played. She closed her eyes enjoying the sound it wass producing. She only removed them after about 30 minutes or so. When she did, it was to find that her hat which she had upturned and placed in front of her before she started was almost full of money and a huge crowd had gathered around. It took a moment for her to comprehend that about 50 people were clapping for her. She blushed. She was rather shy. The crowd shouted for her to play another, so she did. The rest is history. She is none other than Jeanne Baxtresser.

A/N - Jeanne Baxtresser was a well known American flutist and teacher. Please note that everything written here is for the sake of the story and completely fictional. Jeanne Baxtresser was the eldest of 6 children and lived a happy life. The events from the story are made up.