• tab My fingers cascaded gently down each of the taught silver strings. I closed my eyes, and lifted all else from my mind as the noise filtered through not only my mind, but through every part of my body. Music was something that I felt in my bones, something that never failed to bring a little sunshine to a night time meadow within me. Again and again my fingers flowed following the same path across the small creeks, until I lost control and they seemed to go off on their own, no interruption from my mind. A melody began to unfold within the small room. There was no beginning and no end, just the middle and now of the blanketing tune.
    tab A small cough interrupted from somewhere to my right, and my song came to a stop with an abrupt note. I opened my eyes to see everybody had stopped to look and listen, including the red haired beauty stood wide eyed at the entrance to the small room. A moment passed as we stood there, staring, summing each other up. Suddenly she blinked, seeming to have reached a silent conclusion and passed the threshold, entering the room. All eyes, including my own, followed her as she swiftly made her way towards the instructor. The teacher and Lawliete quietly exchanged a brief conversation until finally she turned away and took an empty space on the floor.
    tab “Right then. I’m going to go ahead and assume you have all already met the most gracious Ms. Rosehart here,” Mr. Netis shot a greasy smile toward Lawliete that she tried, half heartedly to return. Mr. Netis was a short, squat, pot bellied man with a kind heart and unfortunate breath, but when it came to music he had a voice that could bring tears to the most a**l of opera audiences and that in itself demanded great respect.
    tab “Today I will ask you all to play or sing a short piece of composition on an instrument of your choice. It can be an original piece or maybe something you know of a favourite composer or artist. Who’d like to volunteer to go first?” With eyes, spilling with hope, he looked at the students one by one. As expected not one hand was raised in the air. Sighing, Mr. Netis began to reach for the class register, disappointment evident in his stature.
    tab “Mr. Netis?” The voice was a mix of mass emotion and English heritage all shook together. It gave me the sense that it could hold such woe as to make the most conceited man cry or such joy as to make a pauper dance. It was accompanied by the erupting of one elegant, long finger from the sea of bodies, soon followed by the emergence of a whole arm. I placed the acoustic guitar I had been clutching down next to me, and leaned forward on the table.
    tab “Lawliete?” clearly stunned the teachers mouth hung open, then as if realising this it quickly rearranged itself into the formation of words,” Are you certain? I couldn’t possible expect you to feel obliged on your first day!” He stuttered and shook his head, as one in denial from a shock of mass proportion might act, but the look on Lawlietes face said one thing; resignation.
    tab “I’m quite sure Sir,” her words followed by a curt nod and the bundling of fists. Immediately Mr. Netis ushered the girl into an upright standing position and off towards the instruments. People moved from their path as an aura of complete tension and expectancy began to rise. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I had been holding, trying to prompt myself to remember to breathe.
    tab Her frail body took its place in front of the standard piano. Figures hustled as everyone jostled forward for a better view. Jabbing and squirming I worked my way to the front, a position where I had a clear view of her face and fingers. Silently she brushed her fingers along the keys, her mind somewhere in a foreign land. Then on the last key, her finger pushed down. The single note acted as a knife would act to bread; it sliced through the tension splitting it in two. She was away, her hands lost in the blur of movement. We, the audience, stood mesmerised and speechless. We were incapable of emotion; incapable of anything, but it wasn’t until her voice rang out that we understood the true depth of Lawliete Roseharts talent.
    tab When the two influences joined together for one harmony I knew at that moment there was no dictionary word to define what exactly we were encountering in this music room. She sang words I didn’t recognise; yet it was simply too perfect to possibly be an original work piece of a 15 year old student.
    tab Then just as suddenly as she had started Lawliete stopped on a deliberate and most dramatic note. A slight sweat lined her brow and her breath came in short shallow gasps like that of someone who had just run a mile. There was no applause and no communication; just pure deep silence. Finally she stood, mumbled an excuse and promptly exited the room.
    tab “Who’s next?” Mr. Netis prompted, his voice sounding dirty and impure compared to that of the angel who had just performed. Class resumed as normal. No one spoke of the performance of Lawliete Rosehart.