Little Drummer Boy
"Bang, bang, bang!" A small voice squealed with delight as his tiny hands hit the plastic toy drums in front of him. "Look Mommy!" He raised his head to look at the woman that was sat in an armchair on the opposite side of the room, smiling at her little boy.
"I'm looking Harry, that's great." She told him and watched as his adorable smile grew bigger as he beamed with pride. Harry turned back to his toy drums and starting hitting them again, surprisingly producing a steady rhythm even though he was young. It was clear right then to his mother that her little boy had talent; that playing the drums would just come naturally to him.
_._._._
"Mom! Can I play them, please? Pleaseeee?" Harry begged her, pointing to a drum kit that was set up in the corner; his uncle had got him it for his birthday and he was dying to try it out.
"Sure sweetie, but only for a little bit until your Dad comes home, it's very loud and I don't think he'll appreciate the noise." She smiled at him.
"Yey! Thanks Mom!" He gave her a quick hug before running over to the new kit. His mum smiled at her now 11 year old son as he beat out a complicated rhythm on the drums. Her pride for him was overwhelming, he'd never been taught - he just had this natural flair for music. She had tried to keep her husband in the dark as much as possible as she knew he wanted Harry to study science at university when he was older, he certainly wouldn't be happy if Harry was to go down the music route. Watching him play she knew how happy the drums made him, ever since he was a toddler with his plastic set playing the drums would bring a smile to his face and his bright blue eyes would shine with glee.
She sighed as she knew her husband would be home soon and she knew finding a brand new drum kit in the living room was not going to go down well.
Just as she finished that thought she heard a door slam shut followed by a deep voice,
"What is that awful racket?" Her husband walked into the room mere seconds later and the banging stopped almost immediately.
"D'ya like it Dad? I got it for my birthday." Harry asked him, a gleeful grin still plastered on his face. "Look, Dad." He told him before returning to playing the same rhythm as before.
She glanced at her husband's face and, just as she expected, he was not impressed, his features drawn in a tight line and his eyes shone with anger. Harry stopped then, looking up at his parents before exclaiming,
"Did you like it? It's so cool! I wanna be a drummer when I'm older." His expression of pure joy was beautiful but her heart dropped at those words, his Dad was not going to take that well.
"WHAT?" He screamed and both his wife and his son cringed at the anger in his tone. He stormed over to his son and yelled in his face,
"NO SON OF MINE IS GOING TO BE A DRUMMER! I WILL NOT LET YOU BE A FAILURE! YOU WILL GO TO UNIVERSITY HARRY, DO NOT THINK I AM PAYING FOR YOU TO GO TO A PRIVATE SCHOOL IF YOU ARE JUST GOING TO THROW EVERYTHING BACK IN MY FACE, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BOY!" He shook with anger as he held Harry by the scruff of his neck. His wife watched the ordeal with tears streaking down her cheeks as her husband crushed her little boy's dreams, she saw Harry wriggle out of his father' grip and flee the room, tears pouring down his cheeks and small whimpers emitting from him. She turned to her husband then,
"How dare you shout at our son! How dare you call him ungrateful! All he wanted to do was show you what he got for his birthday and you screamed at him like he had committed a murder! I cannot believe you!" She raged at her husband before turning on her heel and following her son out of the door.
She found him lying on his bed, curled into a ball and facing the wall. Her heart broke as she heard the sniffling coming from his small frame.
"Harry?" She called gently before sitting on the bed and pulling him towards her so he was cradled against her chest.
"He h-hates m-me!" Her son whimpered, clinging onto his mother as his body was wracked with sobs. She stroked his dark hair lovingly as she clutched him harder,
"He doesn't sweetie, he was just shocked; you know how much he wants you to do science."
"B-but I don't want to!" Harry uttered defiantly, "I like playing the drums; it makes me happy!" He snuggled further into his mother's embrace, his sobs finally dying down.
"I know sweetheart, and if you want to play drums I will support you all the way; it's your life Harry not your father's and anyone can see you have amazing talent on those drums." She smiled down at him,
"And shh, don't tell your Dad but I think you'd make an amazing drummer Harry and that you should go for it, you have a talent that shouldn't be wasted sweetie." She told him, hugging him tight.
"Thank you mom." He giggled at her, his eyes relit as a smile graced his features. His mom smiled in return, her heart swelling with joy as she saw his little blue eyes light up again. She hugged Harry close as she scuffled his hair,
"I love you Harry; you'll always be my little drummer boy."