XXV. "so much more I wanted to give to the ones who love me – I am sorry"
He gathers his manuscripts and dusty stacks of sheet music, placing it in all in his trunk. His glance settles upon an unfinished piece, many pages long. Scribbled reminders, notes, and suggestions fill the margins around the staves; entire sections have been rewritten several times. Amid the disorder are tiny sketches of one woman's face. There is no written title, but in his mind he has always though of it as simply "Christine and Erik". The piece tells of their meeting, tutelage, and eventual love; it was to have been his great gift to her, his masterpiece and proof of truest love.
This will not now come to pass, he knows, but as he lays it reverently atop everything else and closes the trunk, he vows to complete it.
