Avi Kaplan: A Collection of Short Stories

Piano

She's awoken from her dream by the sound of music playing in her head. Smiling, she chases the melody until it fades from her memory and she can no longer grasp it. She rubs sleepily at her eyes and yawns, moving to roll over and go back to sleep when the music returns.

With energy she didn't have a few moments ago, she pushes herself out of bed and pads quietly to her bedroom door. She takes a quick glance back at her bed, all warm and comforting with her stuffed animals and pillows and then back to the closed door in front of her. Hand curling around the door knob, she opens the door slowly, the dim light from the hallway night light illuminating the path in front of her.

She tiptoes past the second bedroom, hearing his snoring coming from the door and softly, she giggles to herself. She always thought he sounded like a bear when he slept.

Continuing on, she goes down the stairs, taking them one at a time and scooting down on her bottom. She shivers as her bare toes hit the tile at the bottom and she skips away from the stairs onto the carpet, stopping just before the glass paned set of double doors.

The music room.

He didn't like her going in there. Too much stuff to break, he would say. But she liked it there. The music danced in her head and she liked the glide of the guitar strings against her fingers and the coolness of the piano keys against her hands.

Taking one last glance behind her, she opens one of the doors, pulling it towards her and walking in. The room is dim, the moonlight the only light in the room, but it gleams off the piano and she's instantly drawn to it.

Maggie tiptoes to the piano, her toes digging into the carpet and she sighs softly as she runs her fingers along the keys. Crawling up onto the bench, she swings her legs off the side and kicks them freely beneath her. She lifts one finger and lightly presses on a key, the soft ringing reaching her ear.

She giggles to herself as she presses another, this note lower and deeper than the first. The music that woke her swirls in her head and she tries several keys trying to find the right one. When she presses one further to her right, the note resonates in her head and she gasps out loud as the familiarity.

Maggie yelps when she hears the creak of the door behind her, her hand smashing down on several keys at once.

"What have I told you about coming in here, Maggie?"

Daddy sounds a little mad and sleepy and Maggie covers her eyes with her hands, her tears stinging.

"Sorry, Daddy," she whimpers, "I just wanted to hear the music."

Avi sighs and peeking through her fingers, Maggie sees him ruffle his hair. Keeping her face covered, she watches as he moves towards her and sits down on the bench next to her. His warm hands wrap around her sides and lift her into his lap. Maggie leans back against his chest as he leans forward to press a kiss to her cheek.

Despite her tears, Maggie giggles and says, "Daddy, your beard!"

"I know, I know. Now, what's this about wanting to hear music?" he asks, his fingers starting to play a tune on the piano.

Maggie stares rapt at his fingers as they move, her head filling with music. "I want to hear the music in my head."

Avi stops playing and turns his head to look at her. "You hear music?"

She nods. "Is that bad?"

"Is that bad? No, Maggie, that's not bad. I hear music, too."

"You do?" she asks softly.

Avi nods and hums in the back of his throat. "Want to learn the piano? Here, put your hands on top of mine," he instructs, placing his hands at middle C and waiting until Maggie settles her hands on top of his. Her tiny fingers rest along his larger ones and he can't help his smile.

He walks her through all the notes, letting her small taps against his fingers be his sign to press the key. Maggie's soft giggles and small shrieks of joy shake her tiny frame and Avi laughs along with her.

"Again, Daddy, again!"

Avi runs through the octave again, letting her guide his movements. After the fourth repetition, he removes his hands from hers and encourages Maggie to try on her own. Her little fingers barely span four keys, and tongue poking out between her teeth, she plays the octave on her own. As she finishes, she turns towards Avi, her smile stretching across her face.

"I did it! Did you hear me, Daddy?" she asks, looking up at him.

"I did, Maggie. You're almost better than me!" Avi says, laughing as she does the octave again. Once she's finished he asks, "Want to learn a song?"

Maggie responds with an enthusiastic nod of her head, her curls bouncing around her shoulders.

"Okay, hands over mine."

Maggie repositions her hands and follows as Avi moves his fingers, the familiar melody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" ringing out. After the first line of the song, Avi begins to sing and Maggie laughs and joins in. As the song ends, their voices get silly when Avi finishes the song in a falsetto and Maggie trying to mimic Avi's low notes. Maggie leans forward and laughs when Avi tickles her and presses scratchy kisses over her face.

She's breathless when Avi stops, hugging her close and Maggie leans back, brushing the curls from her face. Avi plays the lullaby he wrote for her, smiling to himself as her eyes begin to grow heavy and droop and she lets out a yawn. He finishes and glances down to find Maggie struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Time to go back to bed, Maggie," he whispers, turning her in his arms so she was facing him.

"No, Daddy," she whines, her voice slurred. "I'm not sleepy."

Avi simply laughs and goes to stand, carrying her carefully in his arms. Maggie wraps her arms around his neck and nuzzles into his shoulder as he walks from the room, starting to climb the stairs. "We'll play more tomorrow, okay?" he promises and her only response is a lazy nod of her head.

Gently nudging open her bedroom door, Avi moves to set her down and Maggie tightens her grip around his neck. "With you, Daddy. I wanna stay with you," she mumbles into his skin.

He doesn't protest, instead leaning down to grab one of her stuffed animals from the bed. Maggie hugs the small duck to her chest as Avi sets her down on his bed and climbs in next to her. She's half asleep by the time he pulls the sheets over her tiny frame and settles down himself.

Avi watches as she curls herself like she used to as a baby—stomach against the mattress, arms curled protectively under her chin, knees tucked up towards her stomach, her face turned towards him. Smiling, he brushes a stray curl from her face. Maggie blinks up at him sleepily and whispers, "Love you, Daddy."

"Love you, too, Maggie."

They both fall asleep, the delicate swirl of music dancing in their dreams.