April 2015 April 2015 | Page 48

Sonata Pathétique

The room was dark. The curtains were still. I sat on the piano bench. The only audience I had were the overgrown grape vines twirling outside the window and the little black spider hanging in the sunlight. I opened the piano and hit a C sharp. The note dangled in the sunshine, pirouetted off the walls. A brief recollection skimmed across my mind in full forté: the waves of rich red, the glaring spotlights, and the gazes of families and friends beneath as their applause resounded in the music hall. Conscious of them, I tripped over the trills and stumbled across the arpeggios. My chords unwound into broken steps peu à peu. I let my fingers dwindle with the diminuendo, wondering why I was hesitating over each and every note. I know now that it all happened from my perfectionist desire to play to impress and not to please. You may ask, is there a difference? There is, and I only realized this in that tiny room with that tiny audience. In that room, I played the triads with ease, with a sliding, effortless tempo. The flow of the crescendo, the plié of each tremolo - they fluttered in the air. I played a duet with the sunlight, striving to show the grape vines and the little black spider that the most beautiful art isn’t perfect, but finds a way to harmonize its flaws with the melody of its virtues.

— Elisabeth Clemmons, Class of 2016

Friend Or Foe

Coming out of the darkness, you open your eyes - it’s the start of a new day. I wake up hearing the chirps of those spring robins, but the house hasn’t stirred, for I am alone. The wind crashing against the windows of the house, whistling into the open backyard. No plans, beautiful day. I decide to spend it alone, outside in my labyrinth. Being outside, I observed the ever growing flowers of marigolds, the wisps of wind hitting my face and right next to me, my shadow.

How strange the feeling was, almost as if it was staring right back at me, as if it could see right through me. At this rate, it seemed as if it was almost testing me. As swift as a thief, it vanished, as did the sunlight. With a quick turn of events, alone I was not, but time will pass as will the clouds. Being reunited with my friend once again- but no, my friend wouldn’t leave me. Friends are loyal, trustful, there.

Time seemed to be frozen, eternal in that moment. Why does such a powerful, and beautiful shining bright light create such a dark and simple foreboding part of nature? As life begins to get tough, there will always be light at the end of this problem, a shadow cast by a light. Or in times of distress, looking for an answer from the creator to the question of why put us in this position of darkness? And it’s then when we soon start to lose faith. It’s these dark shadows on earth that give us this feeling of insecurity. Light in the end should conquer all, for those who stay in the shadows decide to stay blind and those who seek the light will find a way out. Just like most things, at some point it will come to an end, just as shadows in the morning are so large yet almost completely disappear at midday. Shadows seem to be superior over the human mind, but we tend to forget that light “awakens” the shadow. Joy and despair in one’s life, how can that be? How can one truly enjoy being happy if they haven’t encountered sadness?

The sun began shining brightly once again. I decided to tread closer to the edge of my forest. There was a break between me and my destination, light. The forest seemed intimidating, but no one around this province seemed to notice, as if I were the Cinderella.

My father would always tell me to never trust anyone, not even my own shadow, for even shadows can be deceiving. My thoughts directed me to turn and go back inside, but my shadow kept me there, I’d never seen this side before. I could not escape this. I took those daring steps slowly as the forest swallowed me whole. “Everyone has it, but no one can lose it. What am I?”