I opened my eyes to find myself lying on a filthy floor. I was on my back, and the ceiling above was tall and dome shaped and crumbling with age. I pulled myself into a sitting position, throwing a glance around the room.
It looked to be some kind of abandoned music room. Instruments of all sorts lay in broken pieces all over the floor... a piano missing its front legs, a violin with its strings curled in useless disarray, a flute smashed and covered in filth.
I stood to my feet, brushing debris from my clothes. There were shelves and other pieces of furniture scattered about as well, all of them beaten and battered beyond repair. All of it was surrounded by books and other small trinkets, and bits of plaster that had most likely fallen from the walls and ceiling.
There was a large window straight ahead that went from floor to ceiling, reminding me of the one in the music room at Gooding Academy, though the glass in this one was shattered in areas and creeping ivy curled in through the broken parts, spreading onto the walls and floor. "What is this place?" I whispered softly, looking all around.
I was completely alone, the others nowhere in sight. Even as we were passing through the gate, I knew there was a chance they wouldn't be with me once I was on the other side, but seeing that they weren't left me feeling sad, especially in this eerie, abandoned music room. "Where are they, I wonder?" I mused aloud, my eyes once again lifting toward the dome shaped ceiling.
A breeze blew through the opened window, tousling my hair and sending a strand skittering across my face. I reached up and tucked it behind my ear, looking again at the broken instruments. It was sad seeing them in this state, knowing they would never be played again. Or would they? The thought zipped through my mind, but I knew at once that it was a foolish one. How could I, even with my gift, hope to bring life back to these instruments? And how was I to know if it was what I was supposed to do? I got the feeling that this room---this first step through the gate---was somehow a test.
I approached the piano, crouching down in front of it. For a long time I simply studied it, from its once beautiful oak surface to its tarnished ivory keys, some of them permanently stuck down. I ran my fingers over them, the gentlest of caresses, and then pressed down on one of them. It was horribly out of tune, but still it made sound. And where there was sound, there was music.
Next I went to the violin, and with a closer look I realized that a couple of the strings were still in tact. The bow was damaged beyond use, but with my gift it wasn't really necessary. I plucked one of the strings with my finger, and though it too was out of tune, it still offered something. I bit my lip, glancing from the two instruments and then to the flute. I knew that it would be pointless to even try to use it in its crushed state, so I ignored it, glancing around the room for any other instruments that I might have missed.
I rose to my feet and began shuffling through the debris, and soon a glint of silver caught my eye. I pushed away the books and plaster then lifted my brows in surprise. It was a harmonica, in almost perfect condition. A strange little instrument to find in a classical music room, but an instrument nonetheless. I wasn't about to put my mouth to it, so instead I tested this one using my gift. A soft, lilted tune emerged, one that almost left me feeling saddened. I took the harmonica in my hand, turning it over and over, then rose to my feet and looked again at the other instruments. It was a helter-skelter assortment to be sure, and would produce the oddest music I'd ever heard, but I would play it nonetheless.
I glanced at each of the three instruments, and then my eyes slid shut. I started first with the piano, a sort of eerie melody from the near-tuneless keys, and then added the violin with its two strings, and lastly a bit of soul with the harmonica. It was strange and grating on the ears at first, but then I began to form a melody---as I lost myself in the playing---and soon I had somehow managed to form a sound so sweet and sad that it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
And then, all at once in the midst of my playing, I noticed a slight trembling in the floor.
YOU ARE READING
Fearless
Science FictionSome children are born with supernatural gifts. These children are referred to as "The Gifted." This strange and bizarre birth defect is extremely rare and completely random. No one knows the cause of why some children are born this way, and there a...
