The Piano

Helen was having one of those days, her tram was late and when it arrived no doubt it would be overcrowded with barely a lungful of fresh air to breathe, her feet were killing her and to make matters worse she’d put the wrong clothes on for the weather, it was over 25 degrees but the forecast had said cool breezes and showers.  She puffed out her cheeks in frustration. To top it off, her mobile phone buzzed with news that her friend had cancelled a long awaited night out at the last minutes. She felt her face crumple as she read the text; Christ, she could really do with that glass of wine. She stamped her foot like an angry rabbit, her was face full of thunder and beads of perspiration glistened on her brow. Then she saw it, and you could almost read the thoughts that had entered her mind.
It had been ages since she'd last played the piano but here was one sitting invitingly in the middle of the square. She used to love playing although she was never very good; she had her own style, hammering out tunes; more rock and roll than classical. Could she still do it? Could she do it in public? Would she make a fool of herself? She looked around, ‘what the hell’ flashed across her eyes. She cracked her fingers, marched over to the instrument, sat at the keyboard, her thin back straight and true, her long hair in a perfect plait down her back. She struck a key, then another, then a third; picking out a scale to warm up and then a tune.

She'd no idea why she decided to play Summer Nights from Grease, it was never one of her favourites or one of the easiest to play but the notes at the start had come into her head dum dedum dedum de da da da dum dedum dedum de da da. Her  fingers produced the tune. She played the keyboard with gay abandon, oblivious to the singing that had started around her. The knots in her shoulders began to untie themselves as she played, storm clouds lifted replaced by rainbow smiles. She finished the song with a flourish and a slide of her fingers along the keys and then blushed profusely as the crowd of people who had built up burst into applause.