Vilify a Violin

Chapter 4

Elly Gotman was born and raised in Kierling, but she've been yearning for city life in Berlin or Vienna since purberty. The main reason was not fully the dearth of entertainment in her hometown, but also the world-class symphone hall and art school. Thus, when hearing the Samsas, who used to live in the center of Prague, moving in the town, and they had a daughter about the same age with her, Elly went to visit the Samsa and welcomed them with her greatest passion, without any hesitation. Though she's not the sole person caring about the Samsas, among all she's the most noticeable and undoubtedly, the most hospitable one.  This hostality left strong impression on the Samsa, while her strong interest in their story triggered their alarm. Three of them, at the first night, lodging in their relatives' house, warned each other to not leak the secret. If someone asked about Gregor, we would insist we didn't know such a person; They must take us wrong; there could be several "Gregor Samsa"s from Prague. 

Grete was not surprised when Elly said hi to her excitedly, and she did not pay much attention on the village girl for she still struggled with the inscrutable feeling burgeoned these days. She was not the social type, and all her silence and melancholia could be attributed to nostalgia. So at the beginning, when Elly paid her a visit and tried to have a small talk with her, she just nodded and gave very brief answers, as if saying another word would bring out a sequence of past time stories and miseries; yet instead of losing interest, Elly grew more concern about her and her families. She asked whether Grete's mother's condition got ameliorated after moving to Kierling or inverse, and tried not to involve into any topics related to fiance or debt after knowing how Grete's father closed his factory sadly years ago. Grete was a bit moved by her sincerity, and she showed more will talking to Elly. One day, Elly invited her to a picnic; seeing the shade overlapping with each other and mingled, out of the blue, she asked what Elly would like to do in the future. 

"Oh, me? I'm glad you ask!" the girl with bright orange hair grinned, and her eyes widened due to surprise and excitement; Sunlight pour on her gently and highlighted her outline, "To be honest, Grets, I always dream one day that I can move to big cities like Vienna, or Berlin. -Of course, Prague; only from your words I know how brilliant the city is, and you say what you told is just a piece of it, so I really can't imagine its greatness!"

"Prague, hm, indeed, " Grete replied in a flat tone, "And you plan to marry a local man and get settled? "

"Never! " exclaimed Elly and sniffed lightly the mean time, "Elly Gotman will never be married and give herself to a man! No way! Sure, I'll settle in Prague or somewhere else, but I'll make living on my own, as one of the youngest sololist in Prague."

"Sololist? "

Noticing her confusion, as if she had expected this, she raised her head and curled up her lips, added, "Well yes! Sololist. You know in an orchestra, outstanding musicians will play alone and catch the spotlight, and these people are sololist. They cooperate with different orchestras and travel around the world. What helps me making my mind to be a sololist is neither reputation nor money, but..."

"Pursue in music?" Grete broke in, gazing at Elly. The answer ran from her lips spontaneously, "In fact, I play violin; or say, I used to play violin, and all the time I feel glad I can weave my emotions into my intrument, with finite skills though. Also, I'm happy if I can reach others with my melody."

"Cool! Perhaps we can play together some other day,"giving a short response, she continued on the previous topic, "What makes sololist, this career, special to me, is my ego. My fate shall not be written by others but me; If I stay in an orchestra- no, I can't stay in the orchestra! I'm not allowed. You know in a man-dominating field, how ridiculous the reason to fire you can be. Of course, it won't be easy to be a sololist; Like pretty, super, glossly hard! But I'm not easy; never try to induce to me give in with disapproval."

Her speech seemed to provoke her ambition that she standed up and clenched her right fist, as if she's preparing for some manefesto, "I belong to myself, now and then. Elly will always be free! "*

After the picnic, they promised to meet each other next Sunday at Gotman's house, and Grete should bring her violin. Grete was not in a rush, and since Gregor's burial she rather stayed outdoor, roaming down the street which emanated a somehow solitary tranquility; What's distinguished it from what commonly refered to loniness was its snug ambiance. In this case, one voluntarily escaped into isolation to retrieve inner peace as one could go bach to a boisterous madune world if one wanted to. 

The country road was fully paved with brick. Several trail diverges by a tree or the end of a lawn and no sign guided people to a correct road. In Prague, on the other hand, particularly near the train station, signs branched on a straight, slim, iron tree; Traffic light always owned condole. Grete still remembered the fear of getting lost in the station the day they departed; Every words in bold put strain on her, and she found it hard to breath admist this forest. She sensed a duty to not make any mistakes. Otherwise they would miss the train. The time table was bumping; clock drew perfect arcs during every perfect moves. Father pointed at various signs and in a very high voice, almost shouting, asking Grete what it read since his sight has deteriorated rapidly entering 60s, and though his hearing was basically intact, trains and pedestrains have exhuasted his patient. Mother helped little finding the right direction, considering her incovinience moving in the swarm. 

It should be the first time that Grete found stations on her own, and before Gregor would often do this job. She could vaguely recalled for once, probably on a trip to Vienna or somewhere else,  at the train station, she grabbed Gregor's sleeve and asked him where they should go. Gregor was about to say, perhaps, left, but father interrupted him and pointed the sigh above their head. Not until Gregor got chance to speak, father began to chide Gregor for his "stupidity" and "inferior logic". It was a horrible scene for young Grete, so horrible that she forgot how the conflict was settled. Maybe not? She had no idea.

She saw flowers in bushes surrounded by butterflies. What's the difference between butterfly and moth, color or size, or some other factors? She was not sure, but a strong urge to get this clear popped up in her head. She planned to see if there's library open, so she tried to see where each path connected. Then she saw screens of trees; behind it were the sun sinking down. 

*"Elly is always free" is a parody of Carmen. Elly replaces the subject, Carmen with herself.