That Elegant Thing: A short story

This story is about a little girl who drops by a music store every day, after school. She, at first, feels shy to be there, since she knows she isn’t there to buy anything. She is there to look, merely look, for her money isn’t ample. The shop owner, however, accepts her amicably, perhaps, because his shop is always empty.

So this girl, as I’ve said, enters this shop every afternoon, and what makes her go back again and again is this elegant thing called piano. It is a regular, wooden, glossy piano that creates a sound pleasant to her ears. Each day, she pulls its chair and sits on it, then starts to play the keys almost incessantly.

This little girl soon grows up and begins working as a teacher. Her eyes stay set on getting that elegant thing. As usual, she drops by the shop but this time, with more pieces to play since the owner – thanks to his good heart – decided to give her piano lessons.

The girl, as mentioned, works as a teacher in a preschool. Although she loves how adorable and happy kids are, she still feels a pull within her that is towards this elegant thing. All she wants is to play piano pieces every day of her life, without thinking what lessons to teach the kids.

At home, the girl checks the coins her piggybank already heaves…until she counts the last peso that’ll finally let her buy that elegant thing.

Of course, this is the usual story where the most desired reward that the protagonist has long yearned for turns out to be bought by a rich woman just that afternoon while she is counting the last coins. Background story is, the owner was offered higher than the piano’s price tag, so he figured that it had to go.

When the girl learns about this, her dreams shatter. Slivers of glass stream in her cheeks. For the first time, she walks out of the music store with a heavy heart.

The girl’s afternoon has never been that sad. Instead of going straight home, she decides to walk along the street’s alleys while in her backpack is the burden of the coin bank she filled for years.

This time, the girl chances to see the side of the street she’s never been to before – which is the path behind the music store. This, as it turns out, has other music shops installed, one beside another. Her eyes sparkle, not with tears but with shock and brimming excitement.

The girl enters the first one in line and grazes the smoothened edges of different-looking pianos inside. She then goes out and steps in another shop, and another, and another until the sun sinks.

That night, this girl goes home with a heart so much happier than before. She climbs her bed, clutching her heavy coin bank, pressing it against her chest. Not a hint of regret in her. Sadness is all gone. Beaming, she declares that she’ll someday own that elegant thing.