Violoncello (A Gay Cinderella Story)

A Chanced Encounter

It was easy for Cello to have the house spotless before his stepfather left his bedroom because he always got an early start to his morning. It meant he had a little more free time to play with Lucky.

While he was out on a walk one day, a couple of years ago, he heard soft whining in a nearby bush. Going over to investigate he found an abandoned puppy, cold and malnourished. He scooped the puppy in his arms and rushed home to take care of it. Knowing how his stepfather would react to the weak animal, he hid him in secret in the barn. He carefully fed him their cow's milk in hopes that it would be enough to keep him alive. As the days dragged on with Cello sleeping in the barn with the puppy, it seemed like the dog wouldn't make it.

As Cello awoke one morning, he saw that the dog was missing from where he had been sleeping. Cello rose quickly, desperately searching for the missing animal. He found him outside the barn chasing the chickens and his own tail. As soon as the puppy laid eyes on Cello he rushed his way, tiny legs taking him as fast as they could go. He stood on his hind legs, pawing at Cello's own legs in order to get petted. Cello scooped the dog up who eagerly licked his face. It seemed the puppy was very grateful to Cello, and he laughed at the hyperactive dog in his arms.

"You are lucky I found you, aren't you, boy?" Cello laughed again as the dog's tongue tickled his face. "You need a name now, don't you?" The dog yapped twice while he panted looking up at Cello. During the time of taking the utmost care of the dog, Cello worked rigorously to keep his stepfather and stepbrothers out of his hair. He never felt more needed in his life. Something depended on him. Something would not have survived without him. The simple validation of being truly needed by someone or something gave him the strength to wake every morning.

"I suppose I was just as lucky to have found you too, boy," Cello told the dog. He held him in his left arm while scratching the pup's ears with his right hand. "Then that's what we'll name you."

Lucky ran ahead of Cello while they were on their morning walk in the wooded area outside their home. Lucky would stop for a minute and sniff a flower or chase a butterfly into the nearby bushes. He enjoyed their walks as much as Cello did. Cello always leapt at the opportunity to get away from his home. As much as he loved it there as a child, when it was just he and his mother, he only felt dread while there as an adult. He was now thirty years old and most men his age were already married with families of their own.

Seeing how he had no blood relatives alive or even friends, he wasn't hopeful that he'd be able to get out of his current situation. Whether he liked it or not, his stepfather and stepbrothers were his only family now. He needed them, otherwise he'd be left out in the cold alone.

Cello looked over to his right towards a clearing in the woods. The grassy area was home to a few different woodland creatures. He noticed a family of deer as soon as he spotted them. A buck, a doe, and their fawn were eating grass together. The sun peeked in through the leaves of the trees casting a ray of light on the family. It was a very majestic scene. Cello crouched down low as he got closer to get a better look at the deer. Lucky crept beside him low to the ground ready to pounce. Cello leaned towards him ready to grab him when he charged. Before he was able to stop him, Lucky sprinted towards the deer bouncing and barking happily while ultimately scaring away the deer. Cello ended up falling all the way forward on the ground in his attempt to hold back his dog.

"You are just the absolute worst, Lucky," Cello said, voice muffled by the ground. Cello laid on the ground with his face in the dirt defeated while Lucky hopped on his back.

"He'd make a wonderful hunting dog one day," a gentle voice said above him. Cello quickly rose from the ground attempting to make himself look like less of an idiot to whomever the voice belonged. Cello was met by a towering figure whose beautiful blue eyes looked right into his soul. His olive skin almost sparkled in the sun that still peeked through the tree leaves. A gentle breeze began to blow around them as the man ran a hand over his dark, buzzed hair. It felt as if time stopped for Cello. He forgot to breathe.