Four thirty-three

Chapter 6

They walked down again. On the way, Katie explained what they were going to do next. "We're going to go and try some different instruments, see what speaks to you. Don't feel too pressured about it, just... try whatever you feel like playing. And when we've found your type of instrument, I'll talk to one of the teachers and they'll help you find the right one for you."

Brett nodded, a bit nervous. What if he could not find the right instrument for him? What if there was none? What if he got kicked out?

He pushed his feelings down as they entered the room again. He had to focus. He glanced around, but nothing really spoke to him. He sat in front of one of the pianos and played a little. He'd learnt a bit of piano when he was a kid, but he'd never been particularly good at it, so he let it go. He glanced at the harps, nope, not for him. Percussion? Nah, he could barely clap on beat, and he was so uncoordinated, there was no point in trying. He skimmed through the woodwind cases. He figured it would be easier to learn an instrument that was closer to the flute, so he hoped one of them might do the trick. Clarinet? Nah. Oboe? Too much like a duck. Bassoon? Too much like a duck with a sore throat. Saxophone? Too jazzy. Piccolo crossed his mind, but who was he kidding, he'd hated it since he was a kid. Recorder? Nah.

He moved on to the strings. He saw some cellos and wondered if he should give them a go. He had always liked their sound. He was walking towards Katie to ask her permission to try one when his foot hit something, and a hollow sound resonated in the room.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Shit, I'm so sorry!!" he said, and he wasn't sure if he was apologizing to Katie or to the violin he had just kicked. He picked it up and held it, studying it intently.

"Oh, don't worry, it must've fallen from the roof. Is it damaged?" Brett shook his head. The wood was in pristine condition, and the varnish shone under the lights. It was so pretty, Brett pondered. Had violins always been so pretty?

He realized then he'd never actually seen a violin this close up. Where he lived, you were only allowed to join a youth orchestra after you were 13 or 14, so he'd never actually known any kid who played the violin. And his parents had never taken him to a concert. So maybe he had seen them on TV and in pictures, and that was it.

He was very intrigued by the sound it had made when Brett had kicked it. He gently tapped it with his finger, then with his knuckle. He then plucked the strings a bit. Every sound resonated marvelously through the whole instrument, and for a moment he wondered if he would actually be able to feel it against his face if he put it in the right position.

"Brett. Brett. Brett!" he jumped. "You still with me?"

He chuckled nervously. "Yeah, sure," he answered, and went back to looking at the violin in his hands.

Had Brett not been so enthralled with the instrument he was holding, he might've seen Katie's cunning smirk when she said, "Okay, then. Let's put the violin back and keep looking. You were heading towards the cellos? Anything in there that might interest you?"

Brett blinked at her, violin still firmly clutched in his hands. "Yeah. Cellos. Yeah, I, uh, I actually would like to try one, if that's alright."

"Okay, no problem. Give me the violin and I'll get one for you."

Brett reluctantly handed the violin to her. Katie was surprised that he hadn't flat out refused to, but quickly mastered her features. She hung the violin back in the ceiling with the help of a portable stair, then headed to the cellos.

Brett shuffled, uneasy, and looked up at the violin longingly. Suddenly, he seemed to have come to a decision. "You know what, forget about the cellos. I...," but he didn't know what else to say. Instead, he climbed up the portable stair, unhooked the violin, got down, and stood there, clutching the instrument and looking like a child who doesn't want to let other kids play with his toy.