Nara went to work at the
café the next 3 days without hearing from him, which didn’t surprise her at
all. She hoped his mother was doing well and he wasn’t too stressed out.
However, on the 4th day, she got a text message from him. “Can we
meet at your café again tomorrow?”
“Sure,” she texted back.
She didn’t have anything planned for tomorrow afternoon, so why not? She also
texted him the time when her shift ended.
The next day, after her
shift ended, she found him waiting on the bench where she had first approached
him. He stood. “Thank you for meeting me,” He said, bowing his head a bit.
“Sure, I wasn’t doing
anything else interesting today,” She smiled.
“So, I can’t take my
mother to see anything outside of the hospital, but I was wondering if we could
go to a few interesting places, and take some pictures? That way I can show her
what I can take her to see when she’s well. And I thought you might be able to
help me figure out where to go,” He looked hopeful.
Nara nodded, happy to help.
“Well there are few places I think we should go that your mother would probably
like to see someday.”
Quon He nodded, and they
walked over to his car and got in. As they drove, Quon He connected his iPod to
his car and the sounds of a cello and violin began to waft over them
Nara had a jolt of
recognition, “Passacaglia,” she said, smiling.
Quon He nodded. “You play
cello right? Have you ever played it?”
Nara shrugged. “I tried to
once, with a friend, a few years ago, but we were too busy and never finished
learning it.”
Quon He nodded pensively.
They were quiet for a minute or two, as the music continued. Then Quon He
looked over, a little bit more seriously this time. “Do you want to play it? The
passacaglia? I was thinking maybe we could learn it and play it at the
hospital. A lot of the people could use cheering up.”
Nara was a bit startled at
this suggestion, learning a piece like that took a bit of dedication. “Well, I
would like to, I wouldn’t mind doing it, but I’ll have to practice some. No
guarantees.”
He nodded, and smiled
widely. “We can practice.”
“Turn right here,” Nara gestured
to a road that lead of the main highway. They pulled into a parking lot that
was half full. A short walk away was a lighthouse. It was a beautiful day, with
the sun beaming on the water, and the lighthouse overlooking the ocean was
stunning. They climbed out of the car and walked over to the base of the
lighthouse. It was quiet, there were a few groups of people scattered around
eating lunch on park benches or taking pictures.
“Want to climb up?” Nara
asked with a smile. Quon He nodded and they started around the steps that
wrapped around the tower. By the time they reached the top they were a bit out
of breath. The wind was stronger up here, whipping around Nara’s hair and
causing their eyes to water a bit. The view from the top was spectacular. Quon
He pulled out his camera and began to take pictures.
------
A few mornings later, when
Nara wasn’t busy, Quon He swung by her apartment and picked her and her cello
up. “Where should we practice?” He asked her.
“Drive about a mile north
of here. There’s a park where people sometimes play music. I think if we stay
in the shade of a tree our instruments will be fine, and it’s not too windy
today so hopefully the music won’t blow away.” Quon He nodded and accelerated
the car. “I practiced yesterday, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep up a little
bit,” Nara smiled, looking out the window and observing the pedestrians on the
street. “There it is!” She pointed as they approached the park. She grabbed her
cello from the trunk of the car and began to roll it over to a large tree that
had a bench underneath it. People were walking along a walking path, and
children were playing in a near by park. Quon He followed her over to the tree
and they each took out their instruments. Nara had also brought two collapsible
music stands that they now set up and used to hold the music.
“Alright, should we just
start from the beginning and see how far we get?” asked Quon He. Nara nodded.
Quon He raised his violin to his chin and gave a nod, and they started. The
notes came out at first a bit stiff sounding, and at first the sounds of the
cello and violin did not fit together quite right. Then they picked up on each
other’s cues and the subtleties of each other’s musicality, and the music began
to flow better. They made it all the way through the piece without having to
stop. When they reached the end, They both looked up and grinned a bit. “Okay,
I think that was pretty good!” Quon He said enthusiastically.
Nara nodded, “Yeah,
although I guess there were a few places we should try and clean up a bit.”
They began to work
backwards through the music together, marking places that needed different
inflections and expression.
The next time they played
the piece through, the people walking past began to slow, and some even
stopped. A few children from the park dragged their parents over to listen. The
notes came out stronger this time, as Nara leaned over her cello and Quon He
pulled the pitches from his violin. By the time they had finished a small crowd
had formed. When the last note was drawn, there was applause and children
bounced about excitedly.
Quon He drove Nara home,
and said he would text her with the best time to come to the hospital. “You’re very
good at the cello.”
“You’re not so bad at the
violin,” she laughed a bit. “Do you ever play it for acting roles?”
He shook his head, “No one
has ever asked me to. I don’t know why, maybe they don’t know I play? But
honestly, sometimes it’s hard to watch other actors fake playing an instrument.”
Nara laughed and agreed,
waving goodbye as his car pulled away from the curb.
-------
One week from their
rehearsal day, they agreed to perform at the hospital. When they arrived some
patients were already gathered in seats around a common area, where two music
stands and chairs awaited. Quon He went and spoke briefly with a Chinese lady
sitting in a wheel chair who must have been his mother, she smiled a bit, and
then Quon He joined Nara in taking out their instruments. Quon He and Nara had
agreed on a few solo pieces they could play as well. First Quon He started. A
hospital patient who knew how to play the piano would be accompanying them.
First Quon He played a Tango that was very virtuosic and upbeat. Then Nara sat
down and played a movement of a cello sonata.
Once both had played a
solo piece, they each sat and tuned to the piano. Quon He looked up, ready to
play, and seeing that Nara was also ready, raised his violin and gave the
gesture to start.
The notes came forth, some
slower, some faster, dancing around each other. This time they were even better
than when they played in the park, and a hospital employee was filming them
from the back of the audience. When they finished playing, the patients
clapped, and they looked happier than they did at the beginning of the performance.
Nara hoped she and Quon He had made the patients' day better.
-------
Nearly a week later, Nara
came into work and one of her coworkers gave her a note, saying someone had
left it for her. On the front it said her English name, but the actual note
itself started by addressing her by her Chinese name.
“Chun Feng, thank you for
helping me show my mother, even just through pictures, some of this area and helping
me bring music to the hospital patients. We are heading back to China, but I do
not like saying good bye. Instead I want to thank you for being a good friend,
and I invite you to contact this number whenever you have time to come to
China, I can help arrange it and show you around Fujian.” Attached was a business
card with the number she assumed he had referred to. The note made Nara smile a
bit, although she was a bit sad he hadn’t come by to say good bye in person.
Spending time with Quon He had been interesting. Maybe she would have to take
him up on his offer to visit China.
No comments:
Post a Comment