My Life

Short story

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow is going to be the most amazing day of my life, I could never have imagined it happening, but it is going to. Before I tell you about that, I need to tell you a bit about myself as this is my first diary entry ever.

I have always loved music, my mum plays piano and it is the most treasured item my family owns. You see, we are fairly poor, we always have been. Both my mum and dad are factory workers, they weren’t able to have a good education because their parents were also poor. Their family needed them to get out of school and get a job as soon as they turned 16. Getting back to the piano, I began to play when I was 4 and have been learning ever since. Some kids really hate practising the piano but I really love it. Not only that, I love composing as well. That’s why my mum and dad encouraged me to sit the scholarship exam at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. And guess what? I got in!

I really love this school, my old school was very limiting in terms of developing my music skills and all. I have made two new best friends, who are Georgia and Victoria. We met when we received our first group composition, and realised how similar the three of us were. We all play piano and come from a poor family, the only reason we are in this school is because we won different scholarship awards. Georgia excels at playing percussion instruments and Victoria is a really good singer, my scholarship was for my composition. The three of us planned to compose a band piece which would reflect all of our skills. With limited time to work on the assignment in class, we decided to do some composition work at home and save the class time for rehearsal.

“Hey Chloe, what’s your phone number?” asked Georgia. 

“0471 562 973” I replied, “and don’t forget…text!”

The group composition went really well, so well in fact that my teacher encouraged me to enter the State Composition Competition. The competition required year 7 students to compose instrumental solo music for the instrument of their choice. I chose piano, of course. It took me nearly a whole month, and I worked on it every spare moment I could. Finally, I thought the composition was ready, so I played it at home for my parents, relatives and friends. They thought the piece was very energetic and full of expression, I felt really pleased but I was a bit sceptical as what else would they say? I am a realist though, so when I submitted my composition I didn’t really expect to hear any news at all. You can imagine my surprise when my music teacher asked to see me during class a month ago, to inform me that my composition had been shortlisted. I couldn’t believe this, how is this even possible? Encouraged by this, I started practising my composition furiously and asked my piano teacher for guidance.

Eventually, it was the night of the final. The hall was packed to the brim and I could see my family and friends waiting excitedly for me to play my piece. There were three other finalists playing cello, flute and violin. I was so nervous that I kept on visiting the bathroom and wished I wasn’t last on the program. Finally the stage hand came to get me and it was my turn to perform. I felt very calm and relaxed when I walked on stage and played the best I had ever played. Watching the audience applaud was overwhelming.

Nervous anticipation filled the auditorium and my heart was beating loudly within my chest. As I watched the M.C. announce the winner I saw my name being formed on his lips. I could not believe it. I went forward to accept my award and walked to the microphone to say a few words. My interpreter relayed my message to the audience and I collected the prize money of a thousand dollars. A photographer from the local newspaper took a photo and I was on front page the next day. It was all too much, I could not believe it.

When I got home from school two weeks ago I was surprised to find a stranger sitting in the lounge room talking to my parents. My mum got up excitedly and introduced me to Mr. Smith and explained that he had seen my photo on the front page and that he wanted to help our family. I thought to myself, what help do we need? He was a respected business man in our community and had decided to sponsor me after being moved by my story. Seeing how talented I was and being deaf and all, he wanted to pay for my cochlear implant surgery, which our poor family could never afford. Could this be real or was this all a dream?

Getting back to where I was at the start, I am off to surgery tomorrow and will eventually be able to hear my composition for the first time. In fact, I will be able to hear lots of things. My piano, my family and friends’ voices, my alarm clock… and even my own voice. A whole new world is about to open up for me… I can’t wait!