The Children Were Playing
The children were
playing, the air around them rippling with peals of their clear laughter,
brightening up the meadow they were in. Just then, the taller of the two pinned
the other one down, and in one smooth motion grabbed the other one’s shirt by
the bottom hem and pulled it up over his head. “Stop doing that!!” he piped up.
“Don’t get all mad just because you haven’t
had the chance to do it to me,” the other one giggled. “I’m not! I just don’t
like it, that’s all.” shot back the smaller one. She giggled some more. A
female voice sounded in the distance, beckoning for the children to come
inside. They ran…Just then the scene went hazy…
Suddenly,..
WHAP!! The sound of a ruler striking a
desk. “Asleep again, Ira?” Ira jolted
upright, hastily wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth. “Sorry ma’am, I
didn’t get enough sleep last night. I would’ve, but seeing as how you give us
so much homework…” retorted Ira. He knew that he shouldn’t have done that, but
he was very vindictive towards those who woke him up a twinge too soon. The
class roared with laughter and a few seats away he could hear Nina, clutching
her stomach and giggling like there was no tomorrow. The same laugh she had
since they were kids. It was music to his ears. Flustered, she replied, her
voice rising a few decibels, “Oh ha ha. Let’s see what the Headmistress thinks
of your joke, shall we?”
“I’m on my way”. The
class laughed again.
“Can you try to stay out of trouble for
once, or am I going to have to pull your shirt over your head again?” said Nina
with a hint of sarcasm as she and Ira walked home from school.”Not funny.” he
replied flatly. She giggled again, the most fantastic sound he ever heard, even
more so than the piano, which Nina played with prodigious zeal. That reminded
him. “So, how’s the budding pianist doing?” he asked casually. Nina stopped in
her tracks, and Ira had already walked a few paces ahead before realizing he was
walking alone. He did a double take and saw his childhood friend grinning at
him from ear to ear. He arched an eyebrow, wondering about her sudden flare of
euphoria. “That’s right, I haven’t told you, have I?”
“That’s great!” cried Ira, upon hearing
how Nina had been invited to play with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. “I
know! I’ve been waiting for a break like this ever since I could press the
ivory keys! School’s never been my thing, you’ve always been the top gun there,
but now, I finally have something of my own. Isn’t it just awesome?!”
Acting on instinct, Ira did the
unexpected and hugged his best friend, saying, “I’m happy for you”. Still smiling
in spite of her reddening cheeks, Nina mustered a weak reply, “Why, thank you.”
From then on, he went to all of her
performances, cheering the loudest and occasionally playing conductor with his
fingers, despite having no more musical talent than the chair he was parked on.
He still enjoyed himself though, and always brought a bouquet of flowers to
give Nina backstage. Apart from these backstage moments though, he noticed that
he and Nina had been seeing less and less of each other over time. It unnerved
him slightly, but he always caught himself and reassured that nothing was wrong,
and cursed himself for not being happier for Nina. This arrangement went on for
quite some a while, that is, until Ira was attending his final year of college.
Then one night, after one of Nina’s
recitals, he went to see her backstage, as always. Tonight’s the night, he
mused. He was going to finally ask her out after all these years, and he was
confident that she was going to reciprocate; with the more grandiose than
normal bouquet of roses in his hand galvanizing his resolve. How wrong he was.
He knocked on the dressing room door and Nina peered out.
She saw him, and
said, “Hello, can I help you?”, to which Ira replied “Very funny. Listen, I’ve
been thinking, since we’v- .Whatever else he said was cut off as a rich male
voice called out from inside the dressing room, “Nina, hurry up!”
Nina looked
sternly at Ira, “Look, if there’s nothing else I can help you with, would you
kindly leave? I’m with friends.” Ira said desperately “But Nina, I AM your
friend. It’s me, Ira!” he racked his brain, wondering what could’ve caused this
strange behavior in his friend. He then wondered if the woman he was seeing was
some Nina-doppleganger. The male voice from the depths of the dressing room
called out again. He heard Nina giggle and there was no mistaking it, this WAS Nina.
Then it hit him, the realization of the situation at hand raining down upon him
faster than the speed of thought; Ira nearly lost himself in brooding
contemplation of the fact that his once-best friend was now abandoning him for
the capriciously alluring prospects of stardom.
‘So, that’s how
it is, huh?’ He thought he saw a look of sympathy in her eyes as he cast down
the bouquet of roses he brought with him. Then a flicker of desperate remorse
flashed run across her irises as he walked away, without a word.
Several long years later, Dr Ira Kane woke
up with a jolt as he heard the the doorbell of his penthouse reverberate throughout
his home, finally ending up in his bedroom. He jumped out of bed, put on a
shirt on, topping off his pyjama bottoms as he groggily walked to the front
door. He grumbled to himself “Who do I know that wanders around waking people
up at 2 in the morning? Oh, that’s right; nobody! This had better be important…”
Nina walked down the hallway of an
unfamiliar apartment building, and rang the doorbell. There she stood, waiting,
wondering how she would face the estranged acquaintance on the other side.
“It’s my only hope,” she said, hating herself for what she was about to do.
Ira
opened the door. Nina looked different, gaunt, as if the mere 10 years had been
a 100 for his childhood friend. She wore a t-shirt and a fitted hoodie over
apple-bottom jeans and a pair of Van’s. Then she spoke, “You’re right to be
angry. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did; I don’t know what came over
me. It’s just that all the other musicians look at me differently for having
you as a friend and I just wanted to fit in and ensure my career, stupid as
that sounds. What the Hell was I thinking?!”
Ira cocked his
head to one side, as if studying some alien species of animal.
Nina continued, “Ever
since you walked away that day, everything’s been going down the drain; the concert
halls have been less full, my playing’s suffered and most importantly, I’ve
lost my best friend,” at this point she raised her hand and started to rub the
back of her head, as apologetically as she could, “So, the reason I came here
is to make amends and request that you take me in, just until I can get back on
my feet. What do you say?”
Ira said nothing, but studied her
carefully. He then extended his arms as if to embrace her. A flood of memories
washed over his thoughts: of when they played as children, their school years
and finally the way she had hurt him almost a decade ago. Then the vindictive
monster inside him took control, and Ira lowered his arms to her waist. He
grasped the hem of her jacket and pulled it over her head. She did not
retaliate in the slightest.
Leaning towards
her, he whispered softly in her ear, “Goodbye”, all the while tears streaming
down both their cheeks. Ira took a step back, and closed the door. The ominous
sound of the clicking lock bounced off the hallway walls.
The next morning Nina was nowhere to be
found. Ira’s face transformed into a thunderhead of moody contemplation as he
pondered the previous night’s visit. What
have I done?, he wondered.
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