The Music
“Spare change sir?” pleaded a voice that was simply drowned out by the noise of the busy snow covered streets. Even though there were crowds and crowds of people, no one looked; they just stared at the ground, letting their feet take them to their destinations. I was forced to walk with them; I both stood out and blended in. My name is David Ilyich, I didn’t have much, just my fuzzy ear hat (ushanka hat), a patched up coat, worn out scarf, and some of the normal necessities; I’m by myself, as usual. I don’t have much company. I lived alone in the cold tundra of Russia in the city of Ufa. The bitter cold is rather nice when you get used to it. Some must think I’m crazy for enjoying such weather, they are slightly right, the whole story is...I enjoyed the orchestra. There was a huge building where music was just simply made; usually the music would play from the evening till the middle of the night. It brought me immense joy whenever I heard the beautiful music being played. All my worries melted away; I had a bit too many. I wanted to get rid of them all. I could hear the beautiful composition coming from the opera house. I would always grin…a slight grin. That was all about to change for me. I kept hearing rumors about the opera house closing down. My heart sunk down to the icy, damp ground; it shattered into a thousand pieces. ‘Impossible,’ I thought. ‘I can still hear the strings of the harp, the crashing of the cymbals, and one of my favorite things, the harmonious sound emanating from the violin.’ The next day, I heard the exact same story, but with a bitter taste. I heard that they will bring down the opera house. Tears started to fill up my eyes, I tried to pull myself together but nothing would work. I ran back to my favorite spot, in the alley of the opera house. I crouched down, then I promptly fell, I grabbed my knees and pulled them closer. I couldn’t help myself, and it didn’t make things any better when you live in a frozen wasteland. I started sneezing, coughing and sniffling. This was all I could hear in the dark and cold alley way. I grew tired, my eyes felt dry and my face felt like it was on fire…which felt very nice actually, it was sort of warm. I leaned my head against the wall behind me and I shut my eyes, with the thought lingering in my mind, this may be the last time I heard this wonderful piece of music. I was too tired to get upset; I fell into a deep sleep with the music playing in the background.
The sun rose ever so slightly, and so did I. My eyes darted around, it was the next morning and all I could hear was the sound of people walking, running and jogging to place to place. I sighed and got up, my back creaking with every attempt to get up. The opera house won’t start playing music until the afternoon, or something like that. I didn’t have any way of telling the time. I decided to walk around just to kill time. I tried my best not be carried away by the crowd of people passing through. I was very unsuccessful, I was very tired, and who can blame me? There was no stopping, if I tried to stop, people would simply knock me over and start trampling on me, and I tried my absolute best to get to the side of the edge of the crowd. I made it, after tripping over someone’s foot, why must everything be so icy?
I looked up to see a quaint little shop, I rubbed my eyes, I was wrong it was rather big and expensive shop. Preferably, I didn’t want to go back towards the cluster of people, so I went inside the building, without knowing what was inside. A tiny bell rung inside, my curious little eyes darted from place to place. Everything was so shiny, even the decorations on the wall. I took a closer look at an object to get my bearings. My vision was slightly blurred from the snow outside, I saw shine, no, I was wrong, it was gloss. It looked like an hourglass; I then was able to see four little lines, no… strings. A violin?
My hand slowly moved toward the instrument, they stated to shake. They finally reached the glossy object; it started to lift in the air, the gloss shinning on the rather dim lights. I turned it over to be greeted with a beautiful painting of a radiant sunflower; it looked like it could warm the entire earth. Then next to it was a music note… I think? I listened to music, which was all I knew. I realized that the violin bow was tied together with this beautiful instrument. I wanted this, I needed this! I knew this would be too expensive, especially getting violin lessons. I looked over to the register, there was a big tough looking man, talking to a frail old lady, carrying a big ol’ tuba. I gave a slight chuckle, and then I looked toward the door. “I’d make a run for it!” I thought, “They won’t be able to catch me; I’ve done this for years.” I smirked.
My palms became sweaty, I held on to my scarf just in case. I rammed the door open, maybe I broke the glass on the door, but I didn’t care, it makes me even harder to catch. I ran into the crowd, trying my absolute best to blend in. At first I could hear the angry yelling of the man, and then I just heard the conversations about the weather. I lost him, I started to chuckle, I didn’t know how but I lost him.
I followed the crowd of people for a long while, and then I found the opera house again. I would learn by watching and listening. Now the problem was how was a boy like me, going to get inside such a fancy place like this. I had to think, by my estimation the opera house would be gone in about a month. I sighed. The backdoor? No to obvious. Front door? I would be thrown out and humiliated, so no. I looked up, a ventilation? I thought to myself, “Don’t mind if I do.” Carefully, I placed my violin on the ground; I found a big old dumpster and pushed it under the ventilation unit. I grabbed my newly stolen violin and a metal pipe that was sticking out of the dumpster, I climbed up the dumpster. I took a deep breath; I raised the metal pipe and struck it against the ventilations opening. Slam! The metal was slightly twisted and on two hinges, once more! Whack! The ventilation opened … it was finally opened.
“That shop keeper may still be looking for me, I better bring the metal pipe along with me,” I thought to myself. I placed the metal pipe inside the ventilation and pushed it further away from me. SCRREEEEECHHHH! I looked around, everyone on the street looked right at me, all of them glared at me. I gave off a nervous chuckle as I climbed inside the ventilation. “Why did I climb in?! People were looking at me! Oooh noo…,” I quietly yelled at myself. No matter I must go on! I was going forward, crawling of course. I kept bumping my head, about three times. –Ack!… no four. Then I heard something wonderful… the exquisite sound of the violin. I was going the right way! I smiled; it was more than a gleeful smile. I made to my destination. I could hear the pleasing music and see, oh I could finally see the violin player, and she was rather pretty.
I gulped, I’m supposed to be discreet, and I can’t make a loud sound with the violin. I raised the violin to my neck, I looked over at the lady, and I tilted the violin. I raised the violin bow and… RRRNNNKKKK! Bow off, I began to sweat, oh no, oh no, oh no! I looked over, the girl was still playing and the audience didn’t hear a thing. A wave of relief washes over me. I tried again, and, again. I don’t get a lot of tries. “Thank you, this was our last performance, the building will still be up but for other uses unknown to us,” The lady with the violin stated. I stared off, blankly. This can’t happen.
I waited for everyone to leave; I took my leave as well. I carefully get out of the ventilation unit and down onto the dumpster, I almost slipped but I was too depressed to care. I shuffled toward the back door, it’s unlocked. I burst it open and ran toward the stage, dodging things on the floor, from rope to extra clothing. I was on the stage, it was polished to the extreme, and the curtains looked so perfect.
There I was, a little 10 year old, with a fuzzy hat, patched up coat, worn out boots and a ripped scarf, in my hand was a shiny violin. I didn’t have any experience, with musical instruments. I raised the violin to my neck, slightly tilted. Each time I played, I started to sound slightly better. But each day, the curtains would look worn out. Each time I walk around in frustration the stage would lose its shine, so boot prints were always present. Wrappers, cans, and tiny crumbs were easily viewable from the stage; it was in the chairs where the audience once sat. I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings, I couldn’t tell what time it was let alone what day it was. I was all wrapped up in my violin. I was finally able to play like a professional. I looked at myself in front of a broken mirror. I didn’t see a little 10 year old boy, just a boy at the age of 15, or 16 I can’t tell, I looked taller than I remembered, it hit me, years have passed me by and I couldn’t tell. My eyes looked tired, but my mind wasn’t. I went back to the faded stage, the curtains were almost non-existent, there was no audience to please, and I was in the middle of it all. I smiled.
“Spare change sir?” pleaded a voice that was simply drowned out by the noise of the busy snow covered streets. Even though there were crowds and crowds of people, no one looked; they just stared at the ground, letting their feet take them to their destinations. I was forced to walk with them; I both stood out and blended in. My name is David Ilyich, I didn’t have much, just my fuzzy ear hat (ushanka hat), a patched up coat, worn out scarf, and some of the normal necessities; I’m by myself, as usual. I don’t have much company. I lived alone in the cold tundra of Russia in the city of Ufa. The bitter cold is rather nice when you get used to it. Some must think I’m crazy for enjoying such weather, they are slightly right, the whole story is...I enjoyed the orchestra. There was a huge building where music was just simply made; usually the music would play from the evening till the middle of the night. It brought me immense joy whenever I heard the beautiful music being played. All my worries melted away; I had a bit too many. I wanted to get rid of them all. I could hear the beautiful composition coming from the opera house. I would always grin…a slight grin. That was all about to change for me. I kept hearing rumors about the opera house closing down. My heart sunk down to the icy, damp ground; it shattered into a thousand pieces. ‘Impossible,’ I thought. ‘I can still hear the strings of the harp, the crashing of the cymbals, and one of my favorite things, the harmonious sound emanating from the violin.’ The next day, I heard the exact same story, but with a bitter taste. I heard that they will bring down the opera house. Tears started to fill up my eyes, I tried to pull myself together but nothing would work. I ran back to my favorite spot, in the alley of the opera house. I crouched down, then I promptly fell, I grabbed my knees and pulled them closer. I couldn’t help myself, and it didn’t make things any better when you live in a frozen wasteland. I started sneezing, coughing and sniffling. This was all I could hear in the dark and cold alley way. I grew tired, my eyes felt dry and my face felt like it was on fire…which felt very nice actually, it was sort of warm. I leaned my head against the wall behind me and I shut my eyes, with the thought lingering in my mind, this may be the last time I heard this wonderful piece of music. I was too tired to get upset; I fell into a deep sleep with the music playing in the background.
The sun rose ever so slightly, and so did I. My eyes darted around, it was the next morning and all I could hear was the sound of people walking, running and jogging to place to place. I sighed and got up, my back creaking with every attempt to get up. The opera house won’t start playing music until the afternoon, or something like that. I didn’t have any way of telling the time. I decided to walk around just to kill time. I tried my best not be carried away by the crowd of people passing through. I was very unsuccessful, I was very tired, and who can blame me? There was no stopping, if I tried to stop, people would simply knock me over and start trampling on me, and I tried my absolute best to get to the side of the edge of the crowd. I made it, after tripping over someone’s foot, why must everything be so icy?
I looked up to see a quaint little shop, I rubbed my eyes, I was wrong it was rather big and expensive shop. Preferably, I didn’t want to go back towards the cluster of people, so I went inside the building, without knowing what was inside. A tiny bell rung inside, my curious little eyes darted from place to place. Everything was so shiny, even the decorations on the wall. I took a closer look at an object to get my bearings. My vision was slightly blurred from the snow outside, I saw shine, no, I was wrong, it was gloss. It looked like an hourglass; I then was able to see four little lines, no… strings. A violin?
My hand slowly moved toward the instrument, they stated to shake. They finally reached the glossy object; it started to lift in the air, the gloss shinning on the rather dim lights. I turned it over to be greeted with a beautiful painting of a radiant sunflower; it looked like it could warm the entire earth. Then next to it was a music note… I think? I listened to music, which was all I knew. I realized that the violin bow was tied together with this beautiful instrument. I wanted this, I needed this! I knew this would be too expensive, especially getting violin lessons. I looked over to the register, there was a big tough looking man, talking to a frail old lady, carrying a big ol’ tuba. I gave a slight chuckle, and then I looked toward the door. “I’d make a run for it!” I thought, “They won’t be able to catch me; I’ve done this for years.” I smirked.
My palms became sweaty, I held on to my scarf just in case. I rammed the door open, maybe I broke the glass on the door, but I didn’t care, it makes me even harder to catch. I ran into the crowd, trying my absolute best to blend in. At first I could hear the angry yelling of the man, and then I just heard the conversations about the weather. I lost him, I started to chuckle, I didn’t know how but I lost him.
I followed the crowd of people for a long while, and then I found the opera house again. I would learn by watching and listening. Now the problem was how was a boy like me, going to get inside such a fancy place like this. I had to think, by my estimation the opera house would be gone in about a month. I sighed. The backdoor? No to obvious. Front door? I would be thrown out and humiliated, so no. I looked up, a ventilation? I thought to myself, “Don’t mind if I do.” Carefully, I placed my violin on the ground; I found a big old dumpster and pushed it under the ventilation unit. I grabbed my newly stolen violin and a metal pipe that was sticking out of the dumpster, I climbed up the dumpster. I took a deep breath; I raised the metal pipe and struck it against the ventilations opening. Slam! The metal was slightly twisted and on two hinges, once more! Whack! The ventilation opened … it was finally opened.
“That shop keeper may still be looking for me, I better bring the metal pipe along with me,” I thought to myself. I placed the metal pipe inside the ventilation and pushed it further away from me. SCRREEEEECHHHH! I looked around, everyone on the street looked right at me, all of them glared at me. I gave off a nervous chuckle as I climbed inside the ventilation. “Why did I climb in?! People were looking at me! Oooh noo…,” I quietly yelled at myself. No matter I must go on! I was going forward, crawling of course. I kept bumping my head, about three times. –Ack!… no four. Then I heard something wonderful… the exquisite sound of the violin. I was going the right way! I smiled; it was more than a gleeful smile. I made to my destination. I could hear the pleasing music and see, oh I could finally see the violin player, and she was rather pretty.
I gulped, I’m supposed to be discreet, and I can’t make a loud sound with the violin. I raised the violin to my neck, I looked over at the lady, and I tilted the violin. I raised the violin bow and… RRRNNNKKKK! Bow off, I began to sweat, oh no, oh no, oh no! I looked over, the girl was still playing and the audience didn’t hear a thing. A wave of relief washes over me. I tried again, and, again. I don’t get a lot of tries. “Thank you, this was our last performance, the building will still be up but for other uses unknown to us,” The lady with the violin stated. I stared off, blankly. This can’t happen.
I waited for everyone to leave; I took my leave as well. I carefully get out of the ventilation unit and down onto the dumpster, I almost slipped but I was too depressed to care. I shuffled toward the back door, it’s unlocked. I burst it open and ran toward the stage, dodging things on the floor, from rope to extra clothing. I was on the stage, it was polished to the extreme, and the curtains looked so perfect.
There I was, a little 10 year old, with a fuzzy hat, patched up coat, worn out boots and a ripped scarf, in my hand was a shiny violin. I didn’t have any experience, with musical instruments. I raised the violin to my neck, slightly tilted. Each time I played, I started to sound slightly better. But each day, the curtains would look worn out. Each time I walk around in frustration the stage would lose its shine, so boot prints were always present. Wrappers, cans, and tiny crumbs were easily viewable from the stage; it was in the chairs where the audience once sat. I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings, I couldn’t tell what time it was let alone what day it was. I was all wrapped up in my violin. I was finally able to play like a professional. I looked at myself in front of a broken mirror. I didn’t see a little 10 year old boy, just a boy at the age of 15, or 16 I can’t tell, I looked taller than I remembered, it hit me, years have passed me by and I couldn’t tell. My eyes looked tired, but my mind wasn’t. I went back to the faded stage, the curtains were almost non-existent, there was no audience to please, and I was in the middle of it all. I smiled.