The House of Lennon

V

...

The sound of the piano was unmistakable, and unlike the phantom whispers, was much louder. It was real too, and Richard followed the melody as if it were the Pied Piper himself. It led him to a grand pair of doors, one of which was left ajar, giving him the perfect vantage point to spy on Mister Lennon, who was sitting at a grand piano. Pristine windows larger than a cathedral's stained glass mosaics poured moonlight into the room, bathing musician and instrument in so much white, they almost appeared ethereal.

A final note was played, then faded. John stared at the keys as the space lapsed into silence, then raised his head.

"Is there anybody going to listen to my story,

All about the girl who came to stay?"

Richard's eyes widened. The power of John's voice affirmed every positive rumor of his prowess. It cut into the night like a vorpal blade, with just enough rasp to maintain the grieving grit of his verses.

"She's the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry,

Still, you don't regret a single day."

The piano floated in then, and with it, two disembodied voices in tight harmony. "Ah girl.." The trio took a sharp intake of breath, wincing as if wounded, then continued. "Girl, girl.."

"When I think of all the times I tried so hard to leave her,

She will turn to me and start to cry.

And she promises the earth to me and I believe her..."

John shook his head in self pity. "After all this time I don't know why."

The refrain, wince and all, haunted Richard once more, as did the sudden appearance of mist. When it cleared, Paul and George surrounded the piano, sighing like chorus girls to John's next verse.

"She's the kind of girl who puts you down

When friends are there, you feel a fool.

When you say she's looking good,

She acts as if it's understood. She's cool, ooh, ooh, ooh."

The refrain was no less plaintive a third time. The piano then dropped a key and slowed to a dirge-like crawl.

"Was told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure?

Did she understand it when they said

That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure?

Will she still believe it when he's dead?"

That final line threw a shiver up Richard's back. He felt impressed upon by a partner he never had, indelible pain from a past he never lived. As the final "Girl..." faded into the night, he wished he could disappear with it, away from this spell of suffering!

The desire only grew when chilling laughter echoed not in the music room, but throughout the darkened hall behind him. He spun around, lifting his once concealed candle against the gloom. There was nothing to see, but oh so much to hear!

"'Curiouser and curiouser,' little Richard muses, wandering deeper into Wonderland," John's voice teased. "He's an intrepid soul indeed, sampling its delights and terrors." Richard turned right, only for John to suddenly appear at his left. He was so shocked he could only shrink in horrified silence. John savored his fear, then smiled.

Not with his teeth, though. Never with his teeth.

"But wandering is thirsty work. He should join the Red King for some port by the fireside."

...