Awake in Dreams

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Everything was perfect that evening. Amelia had finally got into semifinals of the National Flute Competition and her father had come home from his tour and taken her and her best friend, Natalie, out for dinner.

She had always looked up to her father. Despite his fame and success, he was the kindest and humblest man she had ever met — not that she had known any men other than him and her uncle; she went to a conservatory in Salzburg with other boys, but boys didn’t really count.

School had been cancelled this summer because of the war, so Amelia was now back to Friedenburg, a village about an hour away from Salzburg by horse, a village so small that no one who hadn’t lived there would remember if not for her father.

Siegfried Wechsler had been the chief conductor for several world-class orchestras in Europe; he had taken Amelia with him on numerous tours when she was younger, but since she had to stay in school all year now, they hadn’t been able to see each other more than two or three times a year. 

It’d been almost three months since she got back to this tiny little village. She wasn’t surprised nothing much had changed, nor was she disappointed that when she came home the first time after five years, her house was empty, a thin layer of dusts covering the floor and basically everything as if no one had set foot in this place for ages — which might actually be true.  

She knew that her father was hardly ever home and she was sure they wouldn’t see each other in another half a year because she had received his rehearsal and performance schedule along with a letter of apology from him just before she left Salzburg.  

Yet a part of her couldn’t help hoping that maybe Siegfried would be here waiting for her.

Her father would come back soon enough and take her to America as he’d promised. Now she just had to focus on the competition and nothing else.

Every day seemed to be the same in Friedenburg, at least for Amelia, there was no difference between weekdays and weekend. When she wasn’t sleeping or eating, she was practicing. 

That was, until Natalie knocked on her door one afternoon.

Amelia had a feeling that she had seen her somewhere, but then she was sure if she had really met such a beautiful girl like Natalie, she wouldn’t have forgotten about her. The girl standing in front of her door wasn’t very tall, but Amelia almost had to look up at her when they talked. Her skin was a nice tan and her silky black hair styled neatly just below her shoulders.

She might be wearing makeup — Amelia couldn’t tell if her lips were naturally red like that... like dark red rose or British phone booths... she decided Natalie was wearing lipsticks, but then she herself knew nothing about lipsticks or eye shadow or — what do they call those things you use to color your cheeks? 

“Hi, Mia!” The girl grabbed her hands and looked at her with huge, clear blue eyes. The color of the sea. Oh, now THAT rang a bell. A girl with eyes that reminded her of the sea... 

“Natalie?”

“Yes! What, you didn’t remember me? They said you were back but I didn’t believe them because I thought if you were really back, you’d have visited me first thing. Last night my mom passed by here and said the lights were on, so I thought it might be your father,” Natalie said without breathing and paused, her gaze lowered to their hands. “Anyway, I figured I’d just come here and see on my own, and you’re here.”

Amelia wondered if she had thought too much about the ocean and now she could really see water in the girl’s eyes.

“Oh don’t cry please, Natalie. I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’ve been practicing for the National Flute Competition. It’ll be in two weeks, you know how important it is to me. I haven’t really seen anyone but I was going to visit you before the contest. I’m so sorry, please don’t be angry with me.”