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Belèn's Recital
sweet girl who called herself Belèn. She loved to play her little fiddle, (which you might call a violin). She practiced almost every minute, Each place she went had music in it. She played while strolling down a path; she wished she could play in the bath. Yet anyone could stop her playing, as sure as nighttime stops the day, because, you see, she wouldn't play in front of other people, saying, "Just seeing people makes me fear they will not like the notes they hear." Of course, she'd play songs for her teacher and she would play for Mom and Dad and any furry, four-legg'd creature who'd never think her playing bad. But for some reason she'd decided that no one else would be delighted to hear the sounds that she might make; What if she made a big mistake? What if a finger slipped and landed upon a spot upon on a string it hadn't in her practicing? What if the people then demanded for her to put away her bow and told her it was time to go. The problem was, the big recital at which Belèn was supposed to play (you might have seen that in the title) was coming in just one more day. She'd learned the notes, she'd learned the bowing, but there was no way she was going to go up on that frightful stage; she'd rather hide inside a cage. "Belèn," her mother told her gently, "I know that you're a little shy, and that you don't like any eye to watch you while you play intently. But maybe you can just pretend you're playing for one single friend." "But even my best friends are scary when I'm on stage," Belèn declared. "Except," she said, "for little Mary; my ragdoll never makes me scared." "Let's bring her then," suggested mother, "and then imagine there's no other distracting person in the room." Now Mary was the doll with whom Belèn would sleep to help her sleeping. And Mary often listened when Belèn would play her violin. She thought, "if I can just keep keeping myself from thinking of the rest of them, I'll play my very best." The time at last had come and many excited people waited for Belèn, who told herself not any but Mary had come through the door. Each seat was filled by someone seated and yet Belèn said and repeated to Mary that they were alone. It wasn't true, of course, she'd known. But using her imagination was something that she did quite well. why, she could smell a not-there smell. She even once went on vacation to London, Amsterdam and Rome while never, ever leaving home. She looked at Mary who was sitting in front of her in the front row. She had a little thought of quitting, but then she lifted up her bow. Belèn could hear her Mary cheering. She started playing with no fearing. A finger slipped and missed a note, it sounded kind of like a goat. She looked and saw the peoples' faces; she knew they'd been there all along. And yet, they still enjoyed her song. They sat and listened in their places and now Belèn was glad that she had come to play and they to see. |
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