I couldn't begin to tell you about all that I've seen, sitting behind these 52 white and 36 black keys. The stories I could give life, through words, all of them combined would be more to cover this floor end to end. I've had the chance to see the full spectrum of human emotion, most of it not pretty. They pay me in nods and occasionally a smile, maybe a few coins tossed in, clanking in my little tin can, but for the most part, I am the lonely ghost that haunts the air of this small bar, the notes suspended in the air.
Fingers dance as drinks clank and liquids pour. The music swells as conversations and tempers rise. The chords plink into higher octaves as laughs and jokes are exchanged. The world slows as my all songs come to an end, time and time again, I'm left to stare into my blank expression reflected against the glossy black of this old grand. But on this particular night, my eyes happen to flick from my own to another set looking on from across the way. The rain drumming against the roof mixes with the hum of conversation. Hazel meets blue and old emotions bubble to the surface, despite our best efforts.
Clearing the thoughts and hopes away, as one would fog on a bus window, my hands prepare to march their way through another melody. As they dance, pushing and moving about the keys, my minds not with them, at this point it's all muscle memory. But the soft mellow chords fade away and the marching band is left without a drum. Twitching and posed they wait, but their conductor is gone, replaced with worry and doubt. Wood scratches wood, the keys are abandoned, and I'm already putting distance between those watching set of eyes, slipping through the crowd and leaving them behind.
Concrete flies underfoot as flight after flight of stairs are conquered and the heavy metal door is opened, letting the chilling air into the stairwell. Rain hits me, as do the city lights and dreary sky, a grey and yellow universe in and of itself, my own breath creating rain clouds to join in as well. Silently, just like the ghost that played the piano, I glide over to the railing, the water drowning out the sounds of those below. Another breath and my thoughts are finally free to wander without me.
I wasn't sure how long I let my thoughts occupy the driver's seat of my mind, but when I felt the rain stop I was instantly thrown back to the real world. Looking up I could see that, yes, It was still raining, but I couldn't feel it. Above me, blocking out the fluorescent constellations and their grey canvas, was the underside of a lone red umbrella.
"Hey." I knew it wasn't much, and I knew it couldn't make up for what I did, but when mixed with warm arms around my waist and a chin rested upon my shoulder, I knew that this is what I had been missing, the thing I had tried to push away with song upon song. My love.
