The night was cold and the sky was clear. But this didn't bother the young, orphaned, fourteen year old Acappella. She lay in the alley with her two sisters of the same age, Melody and Carol, listening to a lovely ensemble of piano notes. Acappella loved this time of night when she could just forget about everything and listen to the gentle sounds of the piano. Melody and Carol however, could care less. "That Mr. Chopin, if he would quiet that playing down maybe we could sleep!" Carol complained. Melody nodded her head. Both sisters looked at Acappella, waiting for her to agree with them. They agreed on everything. Yet Acappella remained silent. "Ella what are you doing?" Melody asked. "Would you both hush?" Acappella didn't want to hear their complaints; she wanted to listen to the heavenly melodies. Both of her sisters stared, surprised by her harsh answer. "I appreciate Mr. Chopin's songs." She explained. "As a matter of fact, it's my favorite part of the day. If you can't respect that then please go to the other side of the alley for the night!" Acappella turned on her side, facing away from her sisters. "Sorry Ella… We'll stop our bickering." Acappella thought to herself, if only I could meet the man in front of the keys, Frederic Chopin, just once.
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The next day, it was still chilly outside and Acappella's dirty, torn, and worn out simple white dress didn't do its job of keeping her warm. The shoes she wore weren't any better either, they were beat up from being warn so much. Her sisters looked the same. All of the girl's long, light blond hair was dirty, and matted in places from not being washed in quite a while. Their green eyes dull with exhaustion from day to day surviving. "If mother and father were here, we would actually have somewhere to call home." Melody mumbled. "You know we don't talk about their deaths, Melody." Carol murmured. "They didn't know that their lives would end so soon. We can't blame them, even though it's hard." Acappella reminded her sisters. They were all silent for a moment before Acappella spoke up "So, what's on the to-do list today?" She tried to sound cheerful for her solemn sisters. "We could always go look at dresses we can't afford." Melody joked. The other girls laughed even though they knew it was true. Acappella stretched and got up. "Well, I'm tired of this alley, let's go to the market in Andantino and see if we can get food this morning." Acappella headed for the sidewalk. And maybe catch a glimpse of Mr. Chopin.