The Inch
Chapter 4 – Eavesdropping
I finally kept my violin inside the case which I found lying on a desk at the hind part of the stage, and I exhaled heavily as I did so. Then, I’d left it there as if it remained untouched. It was still so annoying – what I saw earlier while I was playing. It made me feel worse when I realized Tambourine is a happy piece and I was full of hate, and I still was.
“Loved the dance?” asked Elina, suddenly popping into my blank view of the vacuous red carpet.
“Hated it…” I whispered, looking away from Elina.
“What?” she asked as she moved to return to my view.
“It was wonderful,” I murmured, followed by a sudden clearing of my throat.
I managed to look at her this time, and how magically was it that my hatred was replaced so fast with appreciation? Just like the speed of the final notes of Clair de Lune. Oh, how lovely…
“Elina!” called her mother out of the red, “Elina, dear!”
“Yes, mother?” replied Elina with a courtesy which I never got a good view on.
Elina walked with feet moving not far from the other towards her mother, grasping her quite long dress a bit upwards so that she could walk more easily. I followed the sight of Elina till she was finally with her mother.
Who’s that?”\ I thought as I saw a young man, probably older than me by one year.
But then, I realized that he was the one Elina was dancing with. Anger and hate and all those emotions I was feeling just earlier began to kindle inside me again. I hated both my emotions and jealousy. Just why did I feel these things? Was it because of love already? Bah! A new word got added into my barrel of vocabulary – Love.
Without being conscious of it, my feet rose forward in the direction of Elina.
A word shouted itself from the depth of my mind, Stop! I ordered my stupid feet.
Oh, how unfortunate am I that my feet cannot follow my own command? I asked myself. Too many questions are filling my head that I cannot think straight, straight as the path my feet were taking.
My mind was so troubled that I was oblivious of the crowd that occupied the hall. I did not care whether they were looking at me or not. All I knew was that I began hating myself as much as I hate this calamity, this avalanche of loathing fire, not of ice. Time was running out and I haven’t had collected myself again. My vision blurred.
Then, the moment I tried to recover my vision back, I saw a door. Not just any common door to be found back at the stables. It was elegant. It was made of wood that I do not know of.
Elina, her mother, and the ‘man’ she danced with were out of sight, and a panic unintentionally formed in my mind telling me to go find them immediately. But then, I heard voices, voices making their way through the elegant door.
“That’s ridiculous!” I recognized Elina’s voice once again. Albeit there was harshness in her tune, I was becalmed by her voice. Once more, my body moved without me telling it to. It got closer to the door, laid my head on it sideways, and listened…
“There is nothing you can do, Elina!” said her father, as far as his voice was recognizable.
“I, your father, have already made an agreement with Arcus’s father that you shall marry him as soon you turn 16!”
Then, I died…like a cold and sudden gunshot blasting my heart.
“16!?” was the last I understood from the conversation. I did not care if it was from Elina. What mattered to me is that she will be marrying that Arcus once she turns 16. I found myself laying my back on the door, hugging my knees like a boy who just lost his mother, and looking into the blankness of the void. I, myself, was shocked…and killed! …by words which cannot harm but only pierce my ears…Then, a tear made its way out of my eye although I didn’t want it to flow that way…
Once again... YOU ARE A GREAT WRITER.
