Droth
Legacy Name: Droth

What is the perfect sound? I feel that my mission in this life is to make that perfect sound. However, how am I supposed to know when I have achieved it?

I once met a girl, whose name I never learned, but she asked me that same question years ago. It was about the same time I had decided to give up music altogether.

Just playing music does not suffice; following the notes and perfectly playing them does not please me. My mother forced me to take piano lessons when she was alive. I learned to play gracefully at a very early age, however I soon grew bored of it. When I told her I was going to quit, she grew depressed. She tried to convince me to try other instruments, though none of them grabbed my interest. She died a few months later. I cannot help but feel it was my fault, and her death still looms over me. Just when I began to hit rock bottom, I met her. She had a bright smile that lit up the room, and a laugh that was pure music to the ears. She came up to me and asked if I knew how to play the piano. I told her no. I could tell though that my lie was obvious. She dragged me to the music room at our school and pushed me toward the old, dusty piano in the corner of the room.

Play, she said.

I don't know how, came my quick reply. Rolling her eyes she took a seat on the bench next to me and began to hit a few keys.

Please, she whispered. She seemed so sad. It was like she was a whole different person. I wanted to see her smile again, to make her happy. So I played for her. The entire time she sat there and watched my hands run smoothly over the keys. I could see it in her eyes, she truly loved music. That's when she asked me. What's the perfect sound, she asked, her eyes shining.

I had no answer for her and mumbled, I don't know.

The perfect sound can only come from here, she said after a minute. She was pointing straight at my heart. She continued, it doesn't matter if you have all the notes memorized, or that you can hold the perfect posture while playing. You have to bring the notes to life. You have to lift them off the page and carry them into the hearts of others. The perfect sound can only be achieved when you feel, and I mean actually feel the music inside you, she finished. The girl stood up and started to walk out of the room. I turned to watch her, and before she stepped out, she turned one last time. My favorite instrument is the violin, she said, smiling one last time.

After that day I never saw that girl again. I cannot even be sure if she was an actual student. She just disappeared. She did leave something behind though. A few days later, I walked into a music store for the first time since I had given up the piano, and purchased a violin.