The instrument chart disappeared. Lili moved like he was pushing sleeves up his bare arms and flexed his wand.
“Are you sure with this one? No take backs this time!” he grunted.
“Yes. I’m sure,” I said with a look of intent.
“Promise to be happy with this instrument and use it to spread joy!”
As a child I would imagine many things. One creature that I made up was a plant-like person sprouting out of the ground with a harp. She would play and sing to nurture the surrounding area. Although confined to where she grew, that was a creature I loved to pretend to be, and now I would be able to play music just like I imagined the creature was able to play.
“Of course!”
“One double-action pedal harp coming up!” Lili announced.
He twirled in the air with his wand overhead. Sparkles flew out everywhere. The magical violin sitting on the piano trembled then rose. It floated to in front of me where the sparkles converged and I saw it morph into a full sized harp.
Lili flopped on top of the piano. I patted his head with my finger. I then turned to look over this instrument of wonder. First thing I noticed was that some strings were colored. They seemed to be spaced in an even patterned so they must mark the octaves or something. I ran a hand across the smooth wood.
“Go on,” Lili heaved a sigh, “Try playing it.”
I went to the other side where the chair was and pulled it up and sat in front of it. Lili rolled onto his tummy and started to chuckle.
“Wrong side,” he informed.
Slightly embarrassed, I maneuvered the chair to the other side so I could sit where I was supposed to be and sat down. I closed my eyes and raised my hands while taking a deep breath. I paused for a moment.
“Um, what should I play?” I inquired.
Lili propped his head up and dangled his feet behind him as he answered, “The magical harp is like training wheels for music, so whatever melody is in your heart will come out. But if you can’t think of anything right now, you can start with the first song you learned on the viola.”
Twinkle, Twinkle, okay. I thought of the melody. While doing so, my arms were drawn to the strings. As if I were possessed, my fingers naturally positioned themselves between the strings and started plucking.
My mind recalled a jazzed up version that I would sing to myself of the song. I found myself playing this made up counter-part when I finished going through verse once. The music began to build and I felt my foot tap below me, but it did not just tap, it pushed on a pedal.
Lili rocked his head side to side to the beat of my tune. When I was done, he flew up in excitement and did a flip.
“Just continue to practice different music tunes on here and you’ll do wonderfully!” Lili cheered.
“My goodness! It was like it took on a life of its own, I was drawn to play the notes and what I could hear inside me actually came out! I didn’t even know that harps had pedals and yet my body used them as if it were second nature!” I enthused.
While I went off on my experience, Lili waved his wand again and a case formed around the harp. It shaped around it nicely with a handle facing me and a pair of wheels at the bottom.
“Now I’m counting on you, Refi Chan. Do your best!” Lili shouted and disappeared in a ball of light.
When the heat of the moment passed, I thought of what I should do next. My thoughts, however, were interrupted as the door opened. I turned to see the blue haired kid I met earlier in the music department.
He glared at me and questioned, “You’re just a general student, what are you doing here? I have this room reserved today, so get out. I don’t need a superfluous person listening in on my practice.”
I grabbed the handle of the harp case and yanked it. It barely budged, but now really wasn’t the time for me to be worrying about being too weak to move it, I was too embarrassed about being found somewhere where I apparently shouldn’t have been.
“I was just leaving, the room is all yours!” I spouted as I dragged my harp out of the room with me.
