Broken Keys

"My star." A soft voice said behind me, putting her bony hands on my shoulders.

I pressed the black and white keys harder as I continued to play, sighing. "Hello, Mother."

"Hello, Lily." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Good to see you're practicing."

"I do this everyday. You know that. Everyday for four hours."

She let out a small sigh. "Yes, I guess that is true."

"I have to get into this school. I must practice. You know how many talented kids are auditioning. I have to stand out." I said, pressing down on the pedal below my right foot.

"Yes, my flower. That is true. You’ll love it there. I loved it. It was the greatest experience of my life. It helped me so much for my future.”

Yeah, that’s exactly why you have a Master’s Degree and now a stay-at-home mother. Such great help.

I sighed, giving her a nod. “So you’ve told me.”

I’ve heard this all before a million times. How this Arts school was going to set my future for life. How it’s going to be the greatest experience of my life. How it’s going to decide what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. Personally, I can’t stand much of this conversation any more. I’m pretty sick of it. Mom’s always wanted me to go to this school though. Since my sister didn’t have the talent, or the passion for it, I had to quickly take her spot and make mother proud of at least one of her daughters. Don’t get me wrong, Sam is really great, but she screwed up her life with drugs and alcohol. Someonehad to step in for her. Mom has always wanted a famous daughter. Especially famous for playing the piano. It’s something she’s always had a dream for, since she never fulfilled it herself. She didn’t quite have enough talent to make it big. And she believes I do. Which, yes, to very many people, I do. One would say I’m a prodigy. I’ve been playing since I was three. I can play a piece perfectly after watching someone play it just once. I can play anything by ear by hearing it only once. It’s some type of memory thing I have. Something many people envy to have.



I held down the pedal below my shoe, the sweet melody ringing throughout the house, slowly fading away.

My mother squeezed my shoulders lightly. "That was beautiful, Lily."

I shook my head. "No, it wasn't. I missed a note."

She let out a light laugh, giving my shoulders another light squeeze. "Come on. Let's go out to lunch."



"Mom." I groaned, leaning back in my chair. "I hate it in here."

She laughed a musical laugh. "And why's that?"

"Because they don't have a single cheeseburger here!" I said, and couldn't keep a smile off my face.

She smiled at me, her eyes dancing with laughter. "I'm sorry, honey. But you'll have to live with what they've got. We'll get a cheeseburger some other day."

"Wow. I could go for a cheeseburger too." Someone mumbled from the table next to ours across the narrow aisle. The guy's brown hair was really curly under his black fedora.

I smirked. "See! They should have cheeseburgers here! Even he agrees!"

My mom shook her head, unable to keep from smiling. "Just order what you usually get and keep quiet when the waiter gets here."