Deadened Fingers Playing

  • castle.

    castle. (2000)

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    varkatzas.' character | Vivienne Masters, 20.
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    Tessellation's character | Sam Clearwood, 21.
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    November 17th, 2014 at 02:35am
  • nobody_home___

    nobody_home___ (100)

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    Sam watched her, his hood shielding his face. She had her headphones plugged in, she was looking out of the window distantly. Her violin case sat next to her on the train seat.

    It had been forever since Sam's fingers had gracefully danced over the neck of a violin - he longed for the feel of the slender instrument. He wondered if he could even make it sing like he used to. Sam's eyes flashed with memories of his first violin, and the stickers he had plastered on its box. He remembered the beauty of his second violin, a much more expensive piece. If he closed his eyes, he could almost recall the touch of the soft velvet lining inside its case.

    Memories suddenly clouded his vision. He remembered sleeping in a bed with heavy blankets, dinosaurs painted on his wall. He remembered waking up in the morning on Christmas, running downstairs and dashing to the tree. He remembered eating Cheerios before school. It had been years since Sam had slept in the bed with heavy blankets - it had been years since he'd slept in a bed at all.

    Sam pushed the tattered sleeves of his sweatshirt up to his elbows, glancing out the train window. He coughed lightly, and his stomach rumbled, begging to be fed. Sam remembered Thanksgiving at his grandmother's house. He remembered eating until he couldn't possibly eat anymore, and being almost sick because of it. That feeling was out of reach. He grimaced with the pain of hunger.

    Running a hand through his dirty hair. Sam closed his eyes again and imagined water rushing over him, a hot steaming shower. Memories of warmth kept him alive through harsh winters. Sam had kept moving, and he was on a train into Chicago, where he would try to find a comfortable alley to sleep at night for the upcoming spring months.

    All he had was his backpack, which contained a water bottle, a notebook, and a change of clothes for warmer weather. Right now, he wore his warmer clothes: a ratty sweatshirt, torn jeans, and a long sleeve shirt. Sam needed to fill the water bottle, there was probably a drinking fountain somewhere in Union Station.

    His eyes rested on the girl again, jealousy pumping through his veins. She probably still lived the cushioned life that he once had. Violins were not cheap. An idea stirred in the back of his mind, but he shoved it away. He had promised himself that he wouldn't steal, because he knew he could get by without it. Except when the train started to announce that they were arriving and all the passengers collected their belongings and stood, he couldn't fight the urge.

    Sam admired the pretty girl as he approached, and the doors opened. She was really beautiful, making it feel increasingly wrong to do what he was about to do. But he wanted that violin so badly. Maybe he could play it on the streets, and make some money for dinner tonight. As he passed her, he lifted the case up and tucked it underneath his arm. Quickly and expertly, Sam dodged into the crowd and disappeared into the train station.
    November 17th, 2014 at 03:47am
  • castle.

    castle. (2000)

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    Vivienne had grown up with a love of music, of which she was pretty sure came from her single father. She had learned so much from him and most everything she knew even now, had somehow come from him. All while growing up, he had been passionate about all things related to music. From his fingers dancing along a piano, to plucking the strings of a guitar, to playing a violin.

    She had always loved instruments but she had fallen in love with a particular one, the violin. And her father had taught her to play - it was the only thing that she still had that connected her to him. While she had never met her mother because she had died during child birth, Vivienne had been told that she was a wonderful woman. There was no doubt in her mind of that, her father could only love an amazing woman. She was sure of it.

    Viv sighed as she shifted in her seat on the subway, fingers moving on her knee as if she was playing a piano. She only cared to listen to classical music - there was so much more beauty in it than anything that was being produced nowadays.

    Having moved to Chicago shortly after her father's death, Vivienne had big dreams to make it famous. To play in the biggest concert halls in front of audiences of hundreds and she had just had an 'audition' to play as a back up in one. Vivienne sighed as she looked down to her dress and brushed a nonexistent speck of dust from it before running a hand through her hair.

    It wasn't until she noticed the light appear signaling they were coming to a stop that she started to stand. Vivienne let out a small gasp when she was shoved out of the way by someone in a rush (not Sam), and by the time that she had recovered and had enough time to look around, Vivienne couldn't seem to find her violin. And she began to freak out, looking under the seats and behind them, in hopes that it would appear.

    That violin meant far more to her than any other worldly possession and the longer she searched, the more frantic she became.
    November 17th, 2014 at 05:16am
  • nobody_home___

    nobody_home___ (100)

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    Sam kept looking over his shoulder, almost hoping she would see him escaping. Guilt pressed against his chest, but somehow he managed to ignore it. Swallowing nervously, he climbed the stairs and burst out of the station into the city air.

    A gust of wind nearly knocked him over as he walked to the railing by the river. He clutched her violin in trembling hands, feeling wrong about what he'd done. But Sam knew he was holding money. He was holding the very thing that could make his stomach full again. Trying to blink away images of the girl, he crossed the bridge and moved towards Michigan Avenue.

    A few blocks away from the train station, he dropped onto the unforgiving pavement. Sam pressed his back up against the window of a building and nearly had a breakdown. If somebody had stolen his violin, he couldn't imagine the rage he would feel. The case sat across the lap of his dirty jeans. He fumbled for the clasps and lifted the beautiful piece out of its case. Slowly, Sam stood, bringing the violin to his chin and closing his eyes.

    Gently, he dragged the bow across the strings, and became completely immersed. His fingers danced across the strings as he played out a mournful melody that he'd somehow never forgotten. The weeping notes carried across the sidewalk, drawing a few people towards him. The tune became more intense, building as he expertly weaved the bow along the strings.

    The violin sang as he climbed scales and dropped to low notes, his eyes watering as the immense beauty of the song revived its place in his heart.
    November 18th, 2014 at 02:37am
  • castle.

    castle. (2000)

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    Vivienne's muscles twitched as she became more frantic and instead of flagging down the nearest patrolman or station employee, she began to rush through the crowd with her eyes downcast in hopes of finding whoever had taken it. That was the only logical explanation she currently had for where it had gone because she had just had it with her. And now it wasn't there. So someone must have taken it.

    She had no real idea what she was going to do if she discovered who had it. It wasn't as if she knew how to fight, she had never been a physical person. And for the most part, she kept to herself. She didn't want to cause a scene anywhere she went, not really anyway.

    Even as she moved through the crowd and decided to head upward toward the city instead. Looking both ways, Vivienne's stomach twisted into a nervous knot as she moved. She had no idea what the hell to do, where to go, or anything.

    Continuing through the crowds, Vivienne heard the unmistakable sound of a violin beginning to play. She couldn't be sure that it was hers, she knew that. But she needed to find out, right? And so, her feet began to travel in the direction the music came from. The louder it grew, the faster she began to move. Vivienne slowed to a stop a few feet away from the musician and it only took a few moments of looking from the violin and to the case, and back to confirm it was her.

    Swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, Vivienne wasn't sure how to proceed. Because the music that was coming from the boy, it was absolutely breathtaking and she had to admin he was an amazing player. Looking away, Vivienne closed her eyes tightly as if such a thing would transport her to another time and place. She wished. And yet, it didn't.

    When the song seemed to come to an end, Vivienne's eyes began to open and she looked back to the boy with a sad sort of smile. "Breathtaking," she murmured, more to herself than anything.
    November 18th, 2014 at 03:24am
  • nobody_home___

    nobody_home___ (100)

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    Sam had shut down his perceptions of the outside world and just played. He'd felt warmth, from somewhere inside of him, perhaps from the part of him that longed to go home again. It was the same part of him that hadn't fully grasped that there was no home, not anymore, not for him. When the song ended, he'd slowly slipped back into reality, as if waking up from a dream.

    A single word snapped against his ears and he turned, his eyes flashing at the girl. He immediately recognized her, she was from the train. This was her violin. Sam's fingers tightened around it, not ready to give it back. What had she said to him? Somehow, she didn't seem angry. He'd ran off with her instrument, but she was not mad. What was it that she had said?

    She'd said breathtaking. Guilt choked him and he shifted on the balls of his feet, ready to run at a moment's notice. She was smiling at him - oh gosh, she was pretty. Sam shook his head to clear his thoughts, his long dirty hair getting tossed around. He cleared his throat as his mind raced. What could he possibly say to her?

    Sam's crystal blue eyes observed her face for a minute more before he slowly bent down. He lifted the case off of the ground, and returned the violin to it like a sad child. He flicked the clasps shut and offered her the case slowly. "I'm...sorry," he muttered. How did she find him? The violin had been as good as his only moments ago.

    "I really didn't mean to steal it," he said, knowing it would be impossible to describe what had led him to that point.
    November 20th, 2014 at 06:10am