WC-Cier, Neil, and Chopin

When I first saw him I was still playing the piano. Whenever I could I played the piano in concerts. I loved the feeling that the piano gave to me. I always enjoyed concerts more when Kali was able to play with me onstage. At the time, Kali was still a nurse and had managed to play the cello in her brief periods of free time. It was a time when magic users were still safe from persecution from the government. It was during this time that I had begun a series of consecutive tribute concerts to Chopin. It was in these concerts that I first saw him.

In fact it was the first of these concerts that I had first saw the man. That particular night was a combination of the orchestra and me playing as the solo pianist. Kali had usually played with the orchestra-but she wasn’t there that night since she had to stay and work at the clinic. I still had the confidence to play my solo pieces though, all of them in the fluency that Chopin had intended.
I had always been in love with Chopin’s music ever since I was a child. I marveled at the ability of Chopin’s music to continue its strength in this day. Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach can all do the same thing-though they failed to captivate me the same way that Chopin does. The reason I even started playing the piano was to learn how to play Chopin’s music. And now I had the opportunity to emulate his music onstage.

The orchestra had just finished the ‘Prelude’ and it was my turn to perform. This was my first time playing Chopin for such a large and-foreign group. I was kind of nervous of playing something so personal to such a large group. My fingers embark about the piano keys as I began to play ‘Etude in E minor.’ The sound of Chopin’s Etude entered me vanquishing my nervousness, and I soon began to immerse myself in the song. I was now seduced by the sound of Chopin. Gliding my fingers over the keys, I was no longer the pianist at the concert.

I was a pianist at a ball. A grand ball with decadent extravagance. It was a large ballroom that fit what seemed like thousands of people. The room was meant to be an imitation of Versailles Palace’s Hall of Mirrors. I had thought that it was near flawless imitation of it as well. The people of the ball were just as beautiful as the room. A wide variety of suits and dresses, all as rich and eccentric as the one next to it. And all of them. All were dancing. Dancing to the music. The music that I was playing. They were all dancing to Chopin’s Etude. From what I could tell they were waltzing-Though I hadn’t seen that particular waltz before.
Strangely enough there was one figure that stood out more than the others in the ballroom. It wasn’t difficult to observe that it was a male figure. I couldn’t identify his particular facial expression. But his distinctive stare enthralled me. I found it arduous to ignore his gaze and to keep my focus on the music. Seeing my strain he began to walk towards me.

The waltzes and the remainder of the ballroom began to wind down as the music came to a close. But the man was there back with me, watching me from the audience. ‘Why is he there?’ the reoccurring thought echoed through my mind.
The concert soon ended and the people bleed out of the concert hall. The man left with the crowd, but I had failed to see him leave. I neglected the apprehension about the man’s disappearance. I was just relived that the concert was over. I had forgotten how tiring concerts had made me and I was vastly fatigued at that point. I went to the back of the concert hall, gathered up my things, and exited out the back. Arriving at my apartment I had almost immediately passed out. I didn’t have another performance for a few days so I had a chance to relax.

A few days later I had arranged to meet Kali at a café since we had been out of touch for awhile. We found a table in the back and sat down. We quickly engaged in some small talk when the café waitress appeared unexpectedly.

“You ladies ready to order?” asked the waitress.

“I think we are,” I answered.

“So, what’cha girlies be ordering then?”

“I’ll have an iced mocha breve,” said Kali.

“And I think I’ll have a latte. Decaf, please,” I said.

“Okay. Your drinks will be ready shortly” said the waitress. Who then walked away from our table to other customers. I then started to tell Kali about the concert. I told her about the performance of the orchestra, about my own performance, about the ballroom, about the waltzes, and about the man.

“That’s weird,” Kali said. “Was the ballroom a part of your imagination or did you actually create it? In either the man must’ve been a magic user—“

“Don’t say that!” I said. “It’s not safe for people like us, remember?” Both Kali and I were magic users. Even though the government didn’t have any formal programs against magic-users, the anti-Semitic views of the public can still be heard or even felt.

“Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just don’t be careless about it again.”

“Okay. I will” said Kali. The waitress brought our drinks and laid them on the table and ambled off. We both stared down at the drinks and left them untouched. We had heard of people like the waitress who would place sedatives into their customer’s drinks. Going thirsty would be better than landing in that brute’s arms.

“Will you be playing at the concert to-morrow?” I asked glancing up at her.

“Hopefully I will,” she replied.

“Hopefully?”

“Yeah. It all depends if I have to work at the clinic or not. I probably won’t be able to though.”

“Why not?”

“They’ve been working me a lot recently, so I doubt I’ll get out to-morrow. But there is always the possibility.”

“Well I hope you can make it to-morrow in case it happens again.”

“I understand. I’ll see what I can do, Cier. You know I’ll try to come,” she beamed. I knew she was telling the truth. I didn’t want there to be a maybe, I wanted her to be there for sure. We then paid the bill for the unfinished drinks and left. Kali had to go back to work, and I had some work to prepare for the concert.

This concert had a different arrangement in the venue than the previous one. The pieces to be performed were still Chopin. But that evening the plan was to integrate the orchestra and my piano for the final piece. So until that point we had continued the similar pattern as last time. I would occasionally glance into the audience to see if that man was there. I was slightly nervous since Kali had to work and wasn’t able to come and perform. However, I was quite relived not to find the man anywhere in the audience.

The orchestra had finished ‘Nocturne’ signaling that it was about time to perform the finale. Chopin’s Fantasie-Impromptu in C sharp minor.

The orchestra begun to play and I soon started soon after. My fingers began to glide over the piano keys once more. And once again I was entranced by the music, bringing forth the image of the ballroom once more.

The room was identical to its previous appearance. Casting a familiar effect on me. Though the room was the same, the dancers were not. They were still the same people they used to be, however their attire had changed. No longer did they have suits and splendid dresses. The ballroom had now become the host for a colorful masquerade party. All the dancers were bequeathed with unique masks. Though they were all unique to one another, the assemblage of masks and cloaks made a blur of them all. I was able to split the genders by looking at their masks. The males wore masks with long crooked noses, while the women were a little more-plain.

I scanned the masqueraders for the man from before. But still I failed to detect him. Though he could still be anywhere. Looking for a single person in that room was like finding the needle in the haystack. Though it gave me comfort knowing that I couldn’t see him, it allowed me to focus on my piano playing. That was when a voice approached me.

“You’re quite the pianist,” it announced.

“Thank you,” I said. “I need to focus on the music, so could you please leave.”

“Why would I do such a thing, Cier? I gave all this to you.”

“That means you’re a magic user!” I exclaimed, turning on the bench to face the voice. To my partial shock it was the man. I had then let go completely of the piano, yet the music continued to play. “You! H-How do you know my name anyway?!”

“I know all about you, Cier,” he said with a cocked grin, and then he knelt down and grasped my chin. “Everything.”

“Let go!” I yelped, shoving his hand away. “You know nothing about me!”

“Yes, I do. I know about Kali, your love of Chopin, and your wish.”

“My…wish….?”

“Yes, the one you’re living out now.”

“This…is…my wish?”

“It is. You’ve always wanted to play Chopin for people. No. For the world. And you always wanted the people who heard it to dance to it. For you. And that is exactly what I did, for you” he said. Tears had begun to swell in my eyes; I didn’t want to believe what he said, but I also knew what he said was true.

“But why did you do this?” I said staring up at him.

“Didn’t I already say? I did this for you.”

“But….why?”

“Because you wanted it,” he said glancing at his watch. “It appears it is time for me to take my leave.”

“But….How will I get out of here?!” I asked in confusion.

“You don’t. What is done cannot be undone,” he said. My knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor crying. I wouldn’t be able to leave this place. I would never get to have my own free life. I would never be able to see Kali again. I noticed the man walking away. After awhile he turned around and spoke again “Oh silly me. I forgot to introduce myself.” His gesture only seemed to hurt me even more. “You can just call me Neil.” He then smiled, turned around and walked away. As he disappeared I continued to cry, leaving a small puddle of tears on the glossy finished floor.