Concerto for Matilda

In the spring he bought a battered old piano and sat every night in his candlelit room playing Beethoven and Bach until his fingers grew tired. He would fall asleep at his stool to dream of his beloved Matilda for whom he practised.

By the next spring the man’s fingers had grown so dexterous they would jump from key to key effortlessly in a joyful dance.

It was May when he woke one morning and knew he was ready. He wrote a letter to Matilda:

The Cavern

Friday 10^th - 10pm

An Admirer

The night sky was cloudless and full of stars as he walked the half mile to The Cavern – the local club for musicians and appreciators of music. He was nervous, not to play in front of a crowd for the first time, but to perform in front of her.

His nerves soon dispersed as he touched the magnificent grand piano, centre stage. His fingers came alive. They flew from note to note with such delicate precision that the audience were entranced. Through the crowd a pale face shone, eyes aflame with lust under auburn curls. He played for her, his Matilda.

That night the two side-stepped their way home to his apartment, already intertwined - and so began their love affair. Their passion was unmatched; every night instead of the piano he would play her soft warm skin.

Every morning he woke beside his beloved, his fingers a little stiffer, a little clumsier. Months passed and every night he would wake half out of bed, arms stretched longingly towards his piano. Matilda would pull him back into the confines of her loving embrace. She covered up the piano with a cloth saying it was old and dusty, saying ‘You have me now, am I not all you’ll ever need?’

The day came when his hands couldn’t take it anymore, they took Matilda by the hair and threw her out the sixth storey window.

Too much his fingers missed the cold hard ivory they had become so familiar with.

This is the first flash fiction piece that I wrote and though it is a story that I am very fond of, I have decided to not try and publish it and instead self-publish it here and on my website. So, I don't know, people might see who I am... or something.