I couldn’t resist jumping in this week. Thanks to Julia for all these great challenges. They help so much with the “discipline” of writing, don’t they? This week’s prompt is “… the notes from the piano ….” So here’s my take:
THE SILENT NOTES
Lucy couldn’t understand. One whole octave silent … dead. She’d been gone 20 years, but surely someone else played ….
Lifting the lid, she spotted the wad of papers — old — torn — wedged under the strings. Prying the papers loose, she studied them: Letters! Letters and notes! And all signed by … him!
One whimper escaped. Then a sob. He really had written! Father had hidden them, and when she’d gone, he’d stuffed them here. Cruel joke!
Twenty years suffering a broken heart, and all that time ….
That’s what Father had meant when he’d whispered his dying words: “The notes … from the piano ….”
To join in the fun, hop over to Julia’s place and check out the challenge. (You’ll also enjoy her terrific header photo. It just pulls you in and makes you want to stay awhile just looking at it.)
http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week73/
The Happy Wordcrafter 
beautiful… creative what a great spin, it would be too cliche to describe this as thinking outside the box. This deserves better.
Thank you so much for those very kind words. And thanks for taking the time to read the story and let me know your thoughts.
Oh I see what you mean – except your story is so much richer than mine and opens so many possibilities. Excellent!
Well, I thought about sticking with the idea of musical notes. And the fact that I’m a musician makes me feel just a little “unfaithful” for not going with the musical analogy, but to be honest, I just couldn’t get a handle on anything from that angle.
I love the creative spin here too. Very sad indeed, and the disasters when parents want to control their children’s creativity.
Yes, I’ve known some families like that. But I am so grateful that I had some of the best parents in the world. They always made me know how valuable I was, and they provided the security and the encouragement for me to be as creative and as pioneering as I wanted to be in life. The longer I live the more I realize how rare that kind of parenting is.
Actually wrote a little bit to the similar effect on Friday Fictioneers today. With a disastrous effect…
I’ll be over to read it.
I love the creative spin here too. Very sad indeed, and the disasters when parents want to control their children’s creativity and love life.
Well done for creating a complete story in 100 words. Such a poignant one, too.
Thank you so much. I appreciate your taking the time to read it and let me know.
I like the twist you put on the prompt! And nice suspense as the real story sneaks up on us. Then you top it off with three clearly sketched characters – all in this tiny space. I’m impressed!
Those are very kind words, my friend. Thank you so much for the encouragement.