Chapter 5: The piano-playing

September 29, 1968

That late-afternoon, the Rogers were preparing for their dinner party over at the Blake mansion across the street.

"Like, I sure can't wait for tonight's dinner party over at Daph's place, right Scoob?" Shaggy asked as he sat on his chair practicing his guitar.

"Right, Raggy!" Scooby replied excitedly.

"It sure was groovy of Daphne to invite us over, Norville." Sugie commented.

"I agree." Shaggy nodded as he played the solo guitar part of the final movement of Giuliani's A Major Guitar Concerto.

Later at 17:30, the Rogers, all dressed formally, arrived at the Blake Mansion across the street.

Sam, who was dressed in a suit with tie, knocked the front door and was answered by the Blake family butler.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, I presume?" The butler asked, his British accent being noticeable in his voice.

"That's right." Sam nodded before gesturing at his children and Scooby, adding, "And this is our son Norville, daughter Maggie and family pet Scooby Doo."

"Excellant. Master George Blake and Lady Elizabeth Blake are expecting you in the living room." The butler nodded as he motioned the family to enter.

The family were soon greeted by George Blake and his family in the living room.

"Chief Rogers." George smiled as he offered his hand to the chief of police.

"Mr. Blake." Sam nodded as he shook George's offered hand. "Thank you very much for the invitation."

"Oh, we should be the ones thanking you, especially your son and Scooby for being nice gentlemen." Elizabeth said after she and Wendy shook each others hands and gave each other a hug.

"Like, it was really nothing, Mr. and Mrs. Blake." Shaggy smiled. He was wearing a green dress shirt with a brown ascot, along with a pair of brown trousers and black dress shoes. "Scoob and I just enjoy helping others."

"Well, nonetheless, Norville, you and Scooby should be rewarded for helping our daughter Daphne break out of her shell." George said as he placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder while the police chief and both ladies smiled.

Shaggy nodded shyly before Elizabeth suggested, "Daphne, why don't you go and join the Rogers and Scooby and have fun as dinner is prepared?"

"Groovy idea, Mom." Daphne smiled before moving to join Shaggy, Sugie and Scooby.

As the adults stayed behind to chat, Daphne turned to Shaggy. "Shag, you look really handsome in that outfit, especially with your ascot!"

"Like, thanks, Daph." Shaggy smiled as Daphne led them to another section of the living room. "Maggie suggested me to wear it, even though I haven't have an interest in dating."

Daphne and Sugie both laughed at Shaggy's last remark as he gestured at his brown ascot.

"Well, nonetheless, Norville, you at still looked handsome with that ascot and it really goes well with Daphne's ascot." Sugie smiled.

"Yeah, it really matches your typical outfit well, with my green ascot and your brown ascot going with your typical green shirt and brown pants." Daphne added.

Shaggy nodded as he took a seat on the stool in front of the piano.

Noticing the way he was looking at the piano keys, Daphne asked, "Do you play the piano, by the way, Shag?"

"Like, I do, Daph." Shaggy nodded. "I've taken piano lessons when I was younger, starting at the age of five."

"Norville's really talented on the piano, Daphne." Sugie added. "He occasionally teaches me and Scooby to play a few pieces."

"Rlay ra riece, Raggy." (Play a piece, Shaggy.) Scooby encouraged.

"Like, alright." Shaggy nodded before turning to face the keyboards.

After a brief thought on what to play, Shaggy gently placed his hands on the keys and after a pause, his fingers pushed down on the keys as he began playing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor.

(Note: Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 is the piano piece Tom performed in the Tom and Jerry short The Cat Concerto, a piece that was also played by Bugs Bunny in Rhapsody Rabbit and Mickey Mouse in The Opry House.

Also, while reading this passage, go onto YouTube and search the piano piece and listen to it and try to picture Shaggy on the piano playing the piece)

There was some silence as Shaggy performs the famous piano piece flawlessly, key-by-key.

Outside the mansion, Tom and Jerry were chasing each other on the nearby sidewalk when they heard the familiar-sounding piano music.

The playing of the music refreshed their memories as they remembered the duel they had while Tom was performing the piano piece at the piano during a concert.

The duo then resumed their chase, but not before coming close to crashing into an orange ascot-wearing blond-haired boy.

"Watch where you're going, guys!" Fred, who is accompanied by his parents and an older brother, said to the duo.

"Say, I wonder who's playing that piano music?" Fred's older brother Geoff asked.

"Whoever's playing that music on the piano must be talented." Skip Jones replied as they entered through the main gate.

His wife and two sons both nodded in agreement.

Back in the mansion, Shaggy started playing the friska second section of the rhapsody, and he seemed like he's really enjoying the music.

Sugie, their parents, Scooby and the Blakes also enjoyed his piano-playing and listened silently as Shaggy continued with the playing.

A few minutes went by and Shaggy eventually played the final fifteen notes before lifting his hands in the air in a ceremonial fashion.

"My word! That's really marvelous!" George Blake said as they all clapped their hands.

"Norville's really talented, Wendy." Elizabeth added.

As the adults carried on with their conversations, Daphne went to Shaggy.

"Jeepers! That was really good, Shag." She said.

"Like, thanks!" Shaggy smiled as he got up, but Daphne decided to keep him seated by saying, "How about playing another piece?"

Before Shaggy could answer, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, it must be the Jones." George said as the butler went to the front door.

Sure enough, the district attorney and his family were on the other side of the front door as the butler went to open it.

"District Attorney Jones." The police chief greeted as he and George walked over to greet the Jones.

"Chief Rogers, Mr. Blake." Skip smiled as he shook George and Sam's offered hands. "A nice evening for a dinner party, isn't it?"

"You got that right, Mr. Jones." George smiled. "Glad you can come over."

"So am I." The district attorney nodded.

As the adults were chatting, Fred and his brother Geoff walked over to join Shaggy, Sugie, Daphne and Scooby.

"Shaggy." Fred said as he shook Shaggy's hand. "Nice seeing you here, and nice-looking outfit."

"Like, same here, Fred." Shaggy nodded before gesturing towards his sister and added, "And thanks for the compliment. My sister Maggie suggested me to wear it."

Turning to his sister, Shaggy continued, "Like, Mags, this is Freddie Jones. He's a classmate and friend of Scoob, me and Daph."

"Nice meeting you, Fred." Sugie said as she offered her hand.

"Likewise." Fred smiled as he shook Sugie's offered hand. "And gang, this is my brother Geoff, who's currently in second year in business studies at Big City University."

"Hello, everyone." Geoff smiled as he shook everyone's hands (A paw for Scooby's case).

After the greetings, Fred asked, "So who was playing the piano when we arrived a few minutes ago?"

"Oh, that would be Shag." Daphne replied. "He's really talented in the piano."

"I see." Fred replied as he and his brother nodded. Turning to Shaggy, the latter added, "How about you play another piece, Shaggy?"

"Like, sure." Shaggy nodded before turning to face the piano keys again.

After a brief thought on what to play next, Shaggy's fingers pushed down onto the keys as he gently started playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

(For this section of the chapter, go onto YouTube and search Beethoven Moonlight Sonata and listen to the music as you read along. Also, try to picture Shaggy, and for the final movement, Daphne seated in front of a second piano facing Shaggy and his piano, seated in front the piano as they play the piano piece)

It was mostly silent as Shaggy gently played the adagio sostenuto first movement, which was mostly very quiet.

The allegretto second movement was mostly calm and sounded more cheerful than the slow-moving first movement, and Shaggy couldn't resist the temptation to raise his hands a bit during the playing of some sections of the movement.

However, it was the playing of the stormy presto agitato final movement that was the highlight, with Shaggy completely absorbed by the intense playing of the stormy notes.

During the playing of that movement, Shaggy heard someone else playing the same notes as him on another piano and when he looked up, he saw Daphne seated in front of the second piano across from him, playing the stormy final movement of the piano sonata.

Daphne smiled as she looked up to Shaggy, who smiled back at her as they continued playing.

After five-six minutes of playing, the duo finally ended their playing of the Moonlight Sonata as they hit the final three notes.

"Wow, very impressive!" Fred said as he, Sugie, Scooby and Geoff clapped their hands after Shaggy and Daphne finished their piano-playing.

"Like, thanks!" Shaggy smiled as he and Daphne got up. "Daph, you sure are talented!"

"Yeah! You did good in joining Norville halfway through that stormy movement, Daph, and your notes were together." Sugie added as Fred nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Sugie." Daphne smiled.

It was then that the family butler entered the living room from the dining room and said, "Dinner is served!"

"Oh, groovy!" Daphne smiled. "I sure can't wait to eat."

"Like, same here, Daph." Shaggy added as the kids and Scooby made their way to the dining room.

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