The Secret of Music: Chapter 1

The Secret of Music

Chapter 1: The Greatest Discovery

I live in a world where everything is the same. Everyone is the same, sure there are jocks and nerds and the artistic people, but that’s the extent of it. I heard from someone that there used to be something else in this world but they weren’t alive to witness it.
“They say that it was something that you would hear and it is said that it was beautiful. It was something that defined people, that made people unique, but they never knew the name of it. They say that this is what made people different from others and that this brought out the best in certain people. It is said that a long time ago, there was a riot of unspeakable violence, and this beautiful subject was eventually banned. This devastated many people, and, legend says that it may still live on somewhere out there.”
“Is this a true story?” my brother asked in slight disbelief.
“Of course it’s true…at least I hope it is.” I looked out the window. “But anyways, you should be already asleep.” I winked at him as I went to go shut off the light. “Good night, love you.”
“Love you too, Lilly.” I shut off the light and gently closed the door.
It was past ten when I looked at the clock. I was in my room. I knew it was past my bedtime but it was a Friday, so I didn’t really feel like turning in for the night yet. I looked at my empty canvas, then at the paints and brushes. “I need some inspiration…” I whispered. I opened the curtains on my window in hopes of seeing either something in the sky or something on the ground. Anything that could be used as inspiration, I needed it. Then I heard a faint noise. I opened my window to see where it was coming from. Now, where I live, our house is pretty close to where the border is that cuts us off from…whatever it is that’s out there. I slightly stuck my head out the window. In the distance, I saw something, or rather, someone. They weren’t on our property, but they were close enough to the point where I could see a silhouette. They were holding something on their shoulder and moving their other arm back and forth. I couldn’t tell what they were doing, but the noise came with every stroke of the arm. Whatever the sound was, it sounded really nice. My next thought was “this…could be my inspiration…” so I went back to my canvas. The sound was faint, but just loud enough to where if I was quiet, I could hear it just fine. I grabbed my paintbrushes and my pallet. I started to mix the colors that first came to mind whenever I heard each differentiation of the sound. The first colors I mixed from listening were a sky colored gray and blue, a faded violet, and a very soft shade of pink. I started to let the brush touch the canvas. With every sound, I made a stroke, caressing the canvas. There were brief silences between the sounds. Whenever I noticed that I couldn’t hear the noise outside my window, I would check to see if the figure was still there. It was. With every glance out the window and watching the figure do whatever it was that they were doing, I would look at my progress and continue on. Before I knew it, I was done. I’ve always been a quick painter, but this was the fastest thing I’ve ever painted. It only took me about two hours before I realized every inch of the canvas was covered and colored with my emotion. I glanced out the window again, and the figure was still there. I decided I wanted to see who this figure exactly was and what it was that they were doing. I walked down the stairs and slipped on a pair of shoes that were by the door.
“And where do you think you’re going at this time of night?” My mother asked with her arms crossed. “It’s almost past your curfew.”
“Oh, I was going to go on a walk…just to get a look around for some…inspiration or something…” I managed a half smile. “You know how us artists are.” I shrugged humorously.
She silently chuckled. “Well, just make sure you don’t take too long…you should be in bed already, but I’ll let you have a little free time.” She unfolded her arms and went to the kitchen to finish up some cleaning left over from dinner.
“I’ll try not to take too long.” And with that, I was out the door.
When I reached the end of our driveway, I cocked my head to the side to try to listen to what the direction the sound was coming from. I walked down the sidewalk, cut across a couple lawns and there it was, or should I say, there he was. I was probably twenty feet from where he stood. I couldn’t get a good enough look at him, but I’d say he was around my age, but taller than me. I never caught a glimpse at his face, so I decided to get closer. I went behind a tree that was maybe ten feet away from him. He was practically right next to the border. We were surrounded by trees and maybe a couple of pathways that were nearby but other than that, we were basically surrounded by a forest, but with fewer trees than what you’d expect to be in one. But it was thick enough to where I could use it as a hiding spot. This one specific tree was my happy place, only because I was able to listen to this boy. I poked my head around the trunk and saw that he was making noise with this…thing? I don’t know what it was, but it sounded interesting. I inched my head just a little closer, but then. Snap. I had stepped on a branch.
The boy stopped abruptly. His eyes widened as he tried to find where the noise came from. “Who…who’s there?” he lowered the thing that he had been holding.
I shrunk away from his sight, or at least tried to. He started walking in my direction and then he looked around the trunk. When he saw that it was a person, he started to back away. “Oh, I’m…I’m t-terribly sorry…I know I’m not supposed to be here…” He was about five feet away from the tree.
“W-wait! I’m not going to hurt you…I heard you from my window and I just wanted to see what it was…” I tried to not frighten him.
“I-I’m sorry, but I have to go…” the boy said.
“Please, wait! Will you be here again tomorrow? I really enjoyed listening…” I reached out my hand from behind the tree with desperation.
“I…I don’t know…I don’t want to get in trouble.” He slowed down his pace.
“I haven’t seen you here before, where do you live?” I came out fully from behind the tree.
“I…I’m not from around here…” He turned his head and began walking again.
“Hey! I didn’t even catch your name!” I spoke at a slightly higher volume.
“I’m sorry but I really have to go.” He sped up his pace.
“I’m Lilly…” I started to catch up with him, only to find that every time I sped up, so did he.
He stopped and slightly turned his head. “Arco…now if you don’t excuse me, I really need to get going…”
“Arco? What kind of name is that?” I asked.
“An interesting one…I guess…”
I nodded.  “So, why are you out this late?” I tugged on the sleeve of his jacket.
He turned around. “I could ask you the same…” he said with a childish smile.
“Well…I…I…” I sighed. “I just wanted to see what was causing the noise I heard from my window.”
His tone became rather serious. “I guess I just…got carried away…” He looked off into the distance.
“Carried away in what, that thing?” I pointed to the oddly shaped object that was in his hand.
“Yeah, but I’m not allowed to talk about it…” He looked at his feet.
“Talk about what?” I asked.
“This…” He lifted the wooden object. “And what it does…” it sunk back down to the height of his knee.
“Speaking of which, what exactly is that?” I pointed to it again.
“Well I guess there’s no harm in telling you, but this here,” he raised it again, “is a violin.”
“A violin?”
“A violin.” He reiterated.
“And what does this violin do, exactly?” I was rather intrigued.
“It does exactly what you were just listening to.” He scratched the back of his head.
“And what might that be?” I asked with a curious smile.
“Sorry, can’t quite tell you.” He looked down then back up to me.
“Why not?” I was confused.
“It’s…complicated.” He paused then started to walk away from me again.
“B-but…” I just stood there.
“Sorry, but I really got to go!” He started to run.
I started to slowly follow. I ran at the same pace but only yards behind. Every time he’d slow down, I’d find a place to quickly hide. Our chase finally came to a stop an end when I followed him behind this abandoned building. I hid behind the mass of machinery and watched him as he ventured toward the back. He looked in every direction to make sure he wasn’t being followed and then disappeared. I went to the same area. It was extremely dark out, so it took me a while to find exactly where it was that he had ventured off to. I slid my hands across the brick wall that surrounded the city to feel for something that didn’t seem right. I came across a divot and followed the crack down until I felt the top of a big crate at the bottom. I slid my fingers inside and tried to move the object. I managed to move it a whopping four inches, but it was enough to where, if I stuck my arm in far enough, it broke through to the other side. “Whoa…” I whispered to myself. But then I started to hear some footsteps and saw a flash of light around the corner of the building. I gasped slightly and pushed the crate back to where it was.
“Aye, who’s there?” It was a gruff voice.
I started to head to the other side of the building but before I could turn the corner, he saw me.
“What’re you doin’ here? Don’t ya know dis place is dangerous?” he flashed the light at my face.
I was slightly blinded, but I continued to run. I ran a completely different route home than I would have, but I wanted to make sure he wasn't following me. I made it to my neighbor’s lawn and that’s when I stopped for a breath. I looked around and continued to my house. I opened the door. It was dead silent when I walked in. The lights were out, and there was no trace of anyone being downstairs recently. I slipped off my shoes and silently walked up the stairs to my room. I walked over to my painting and looked at it. I looked at the colors and the shapes that were portrayed on the canvas. I lightly touched some of the paint. It was dry. I took it off the easel and put a fresh canvas up. “I’d better get some sleep, I can always paint tomorrow.” I smiled, yawned, and got changed into some comfy clothes. I walked to the light switch, shut it off, and then headed to bed. From there, I dreamt. I dreamt of the creation of my painting, the listening of the boy, meeting the boy. I dreamt of everything that had happened.