JOP - Silent Music

(This is for Jumping Off Places.) On the top of the piano sat a beautiful gilded frame with a yellowing newspaper clipping inside. The date read, July 16th, 1948. The frame sat upon a gorgeous linen embroidered doily. This was obviously the treasured focal point of the room. Everything else in the room was dated and a bit understated; a Victorian settee with a simple wool rug underneath, one oak pressback chair in front of the Steinway and next to the three legged swivel piano stool, rows of music books in a simple bookcase by the huge double leaded glass windows with mahogany shutters to close the bottom half when needed. The room's purpose was clear: it was to be filled with music, just music, during lessons and, the master's alone. Life in this room had not changed much since the late forties. I stood taking it all in and trying to imagine what had been played in this room in all those years, trying to hear masterpieces and sour notes alike--all mingled together in a symphony that no one would now hear.