Page 36 - Contrast2008

Notes on a Piano
Hidden in her place behind the blue cur-
tains, she surveys him with nervous grey eyes.
It surprises her when she sees him that he is
only six feet tall. In her dreams he is twice
that size, looming and strong. She watches
his erratic movements as he puffs on a ciga-
rette and slams his car door shut. She expects
more grace in the ordinary toss of his hand as
he flicks sparkling ash away from his wrist and
more charm in the way he bluntly carries him-
self. She watches him roll back his shoulders
and settle better into his dress shirt. He inhales Music
deeply and then looks up, finding her form
tucked away in the window beside the door.
He stares squarely at her trapped in this blue
house on top of a windy hill, surrounded by
flowers barely visible on this starless night.
He rings the doorbell, but it does not
register to her as noise. Instead she hears her
daughter scream and retch inside her mind, and
her stomach clenches in a spasm. She quickly
jerks open the door, breathless now and mo-
mentarily blind.
Her husband, Mike, calls from the kitch-
en, "Is that Pete?" He tries for upbeat, but the
heaviness in his words sinks the rising inflec-
tion. She flinches as Pete extends a hand, and
instead gives a tight lipped smile and a whisper
of hello. Her face seems to Pete as he knew it
:,ould, ten years older than last year, lines rak- on MI.kes, leg, and a 1i·tt1e too muc h
lUg her skin where pathways of tears have left
their mark. Her hair is shockingly grey, and
~er eyes have taken on a constant puffY, heavy-
lidded look.
"Hello, Marian," he says with a sigh, let- ian fights against their sinking sensatldo~. 0 the
ting his expectant arm drop to his side.. f
She bites her tongue against the Strlng. 0g
questions bubbling for th th at sh e has been .saVidIn
for so long. Instead, she curt 1y no ds.himas IhneSfIoel-,
and her chest is a tight expanse of pam, hall
lows her over the threshold and down the .
is playing, ...- the car . h Jo.c1ed-
filling
~lt
lyn's favorite song. Brown cur 1so"fhalr are pIsehe
on top of her head. "Here, in your arms'd fill
belts into the car, feeling the carefree s~~~ art
the air around her. It's the most beaut~llu sme
of day, a fleeting day, wehre tehsta rs WI C.O
out early and chase the sun i.nto th e mornlllg·
...- ch across
Mike and Marian sit. on the cou all hold
from Pete in an arm ~chair, and they h nd
drinks in a sensitive way. Marian has her re is
dporewsdsnuMI.natrO-
flowing from her fingertips, b eann. g
him. The couches are big and fluffY, .an 1bey
were purchased when they first rna ve int. and
house, twenty years ago. Mari.an use d toh SIltittle
snuggle into the folds of t hHe ecrusdhai1u0gn,hstderWeroIIuulpd
girl crawling toward her.
giggle, and her big brown eyes wo ul wlee even
with excitement. Marian would snulg hter's
deeper into the sofa, waiting for her :u~nallY
soft body to reach her. And when s he chest
did, Marian would scoop heerr cclase (0 eIrd traCe
and breathe in her baby smell. She wou cheek
her knuckle over her daughter's smoot h
and make small fluttery noises of lov:. firmly
Now Mana.n S.ItS upng. h t, her leet