The sound of music: Klara's story

Chapter 2

I slowly open my eyes and wake up to the sound of talking. Rubbing my eyelids, I don't even bother taking a look at the clock on the far wall, since I knew I couldn't read it anyways. That was the thing about not having very much money. You never had the same privileges as the wealthier children, such as not being able to learn how to read or write, or even go to school. Not that I would have had much time for school, anyways. I was always helping my father out with his small blacksmith shop, even from a very young age.

Straining to get up, I walk over to the door and open it up the tiniest bit possible, peeking through the space in between the door and the framework. I realized there was a woman and  a man conversing near the reception desk, the woman being Valentina. The man was quite tall, and looked about in his late forties, judging from his graying black hair. He wore glasses and had a warm smile which made the skin around his kind bright blue eyes crinkle ever so slightly. I leaned closer to try and hear what they were saying.

"...I'm so sorry, I just don't know what to do with her," said Valentina exhaustively. "She needs someone who can take care of her all the time, and I'm just not that person."

"I understand,"  The man replies. "I could take her back to Vienna with me, if you'd like. Then, at least she could live with some blood relatives."

Valentina nods. "Thank you, if that's best for her."

my mouth hangs open in shock. Were they talking about me? Impossible. I don't even know this man, so how could he take me to my 'blood relatives', let alone know i even have any? One thing was for sure though; I was not letting this man take me away from my home.

I walk back into the office and grab a pencil from off of Valentina's desk. I then make my way to the door, where i gather all my strength, and fling the pencil across the room into the examination room on the other side. 

My plan succeeded; the noise caused by the pencil was enough to distract the adults, to make them rush over to the exam room. Quickly, while their backs are turned, i sprint for the exit, while trying to be as quit as physically possible. I'm about to reach the door, when I hear Valentina's voice behind me.

"Klara, wait!" She yells. Yet i don't look back. I could't believe she was going to hand me over to some random guy I had never met before, as if I was an object to trade. Yet, i wasn't going to cry. I hadn't cried since I was nine years old. I had scraped my knee playing tag with the other children, and when the little boys saw my crying over a small cut, they laughed. Crying made me feel weak, and I wasn't going to break now.

I needed to find Elias. Having known him nearly my entire life because our fathers were friends, I knew he would always be there for me. He hadn't grown up with much money as well, and also spent most of his time working in his father's instrument shop. Elias was only a year or two older than me, yet he had gone far more places, and seen far more things than me.

I ran my way through the winding streets, making my way through the marketplace, and maybe accidentally bumping into a few people doing their shopping on the way there. 

Running for a few more minutes, I finally reach the quiet part of town. Wiping the stands of hair off my face, I study the shop. Display instruments of all kinds sit in the front windows. There are saxophones, tambourines, recorders and trumpets. The building was very run down, with some bricks even crumbling on the corners. i walk towards the wooden door, and see a bright red 'closed' sign in the door window. I sigh and turn the handle, making the chimes jingle as I open the door.

On the inside, its quite spacious, yet the entire floor is covered in instruments, all the way up to the back wall. I carefully weave my way through the shop, careful not to accidentally step on any, and break them. The walls are covered in giant posters of famous Austrian bands and singers, yet I don't recognize any of them. A large counter sits at the back of the room, and behind it is is boy of about sixteen, rummaging through one of the drawers.

Elias looks up and smiles. he looks younger than he is, with his messy blond hair, freckles, and a slight baby face, yet his demeanor is the complete opposite. He is incredibly responsible, and often is very over protective of many things, including me. The shine in his hazel eyes fades, however, at the stony look that I must have had on my face. He walks around the desk and puts his arm around m,y shoulder, pulling me into a back room behind the desk, where he sits me down on a stool.

"What's wrong, Ladybug?" He asks calmly. Ladybug had been his nickname for me ever since we were little. Me and him would walk to the small meadow on the outskirts of our village, taking jars with us, and try and catch as many ladybugs a we could before sunset, when we would race back to show our fathers our hard work. When he started calling me Ladybug, it stuck.

"It's Valentina," I said, my voice barely audible. "She wants to send me to Vienna."

~952 words