Every night Serene would cry when she looked at her parents’ picture. The picture was taken in Egypt before her parents’ death. Serene was standing in the center with both her parents kneeling down and hugging her. She wished that she would have the same happiness she had when her parents were alive.
Serene’s long, honey brown hair was tied into two ponytails. She was 5’7’’ with twinkling warm, brown eyes. She had a classy style. She was an only child and lived with her grandparents in Egypt because her parents died in a car accident when she was five years old. The authorities never located their bodies. Her parents and she were originally from California. Both her parents were geology instructors who were transferred to the University of Egypt to be part of a special research team for the Egyptian government. One night during a dust storm, her parents crashed into the rail of a bridge and their car flew into the river. Their bodies were never found.
Serene played the violin. She was very talented, however, she didn’t like to practice since her parents’ death. She didn’t want to play the violin because it made her think of her mom and dad. Her thoughts gave her painful memories. One night when Serene was in bed, she was overcome with deep sorrow, because she thought of her parents and how her mom would sing her a lullaby before she fell asleep. She sobbed quietly and felt as if her tears would never end. The next moment she sensed warmth in her heart and saw a soft glowing light coming from her closet. She wiped her eyes and wondered what was going on.
“Am I awake or sleeping? Okay, I’ll pinch myself. Ouch! I’m awake.”
She walked toward her closet door and cautiously opened the door not knowing what to expect. She saw her violin case floating in the air, she grabbed it and gave it a gentle hug. As she hugged the violin, many memories came to her mind, but this time the memories didn’t hurt, instead they made her feel loved and close to her parents.
Was the violin magical? How can a violin float? Was she dreaming?
Serene was thinking, “If my violin is magical, what would happen if I played it?” Serene got the violin out of the case and started playing. It was as if the violin singing to her. It told her to remember the song her mother used to sing to her before she went to bed. It would keep her mom close. She never knew the notes for it, but the violin was helping her write the song she hadn’t heard her mom sing in a long time and had always wanted to play on her violin. She wrote the song in her green notebook, of all her favorite lyrics and personal thoughts were in her green notebook. She never spoke to anyone about what had happened that night.

Two months later, on a Friday afternoon after school, Serene was walking home with her violin. She noticed a moving truck in front of a gray two-story house near her home and heard beautiful yet sad music coming from it. She wondered who was playing the sad music, so she walked towards the sound. When she got closer, she heard the music coming from a violin. There was a boy her age sitting on the front porch playing the violin. She went up to him and replied, “Hi! My name is Serene. What’s your name?”

He mumbled, “Princeton.”
Princeton was a tall, handsome young man with tan skin and shiny, black hair. His ears were covered by his hair. He dressed in the skater/hip-hop style.

Serene asked, “Why does your music sound so sad?”

Princeton answered, “Because I moved here from Oregon with my dad. My parents are divorced.” I write music by the way I feel. I’m angry because we are not connected as a family.

A tear rolled down Serene’s cheek. She thoughtfully took her violin from the black case. She began playing a peaceful melody. The violin sang to Princeton and it told him that everything would be alright and not to live in the past. After Princeton heard the song, he grinned. “How did you do that?” wondered Princeton. “It was as if the violin was talking to me!” he exclaimed.

Serene had to get home so she said good-bye to Princeton. She brought goodness to someone’s life and that made her feel happy. She arrived home and went into the kitchen. She saw her grandmother at the kitchen table crying with her hands covering her face. Serene asked, “What’s wrong, grandma?”

“I miss your mom so much,” whispered grandma. I remember when your mom was eight years old. She watched a symphony performing on T.V. She had a gift for music and was very talented. She told me that she wanted to play the violin and I said, “Child, you can do anything if you put your mind to it.” Grandma began to remember the past and how her daughter took lessons at King’s Musical Notes. She took lessons there for two years. She wanted to play the violin at her school, but they didn’t have a string instrument section. She was disappointed that she couldn’t play in the school band, but that didn’t stop her. She would still play in her room. When she played a classical song, magical dust and star would float around. She felt like she was in London. London had happy memories for their family. Serene listened as her grandmother spoke. Without any words, she got a rag and dusted the black violin case. She took her violin out and played a sweet melody. Her grandma looked up and stared at her granddaughter with awe because the violin sang a song to her. The words said, “The best was yet to come and to enjoy the love she had. The grand mother started to smile and Serene a long hug and said, “I’m glad you’re in my life.”

Serene was like a cup overflowing with happiness. She had gift for making people happy by playing her violin. She decided to go to the park for an hour. She wondered if Princeton would want to come with her. She had quietly opened the front door to try not to make a sound because her grandma was sitting in her rocking chair taking a nap. She went to Princeton’s house and asked if he wanted to come. Princeton cried, “Yeah! Wait one minute! I have to get my violin.”

Serene replied, “That sounds great!”

They walked to the park. When they got to the trees, they saw two boys fighting and an old man sitting by himself. Serene said, “We need to play a song that will make people happy and peaceful.” Serene played her music and people started to gather around them and the boys stopped fighting. The old man who was sitting on the bench by himself came up to Serene and said that her violin played magical notes. It sang very comforting words to him. It said he I would remember important things he forgot and he remembered a lullaby that his wife and he sang to their daughter when she was young.

The old man looked aged by his wrinkles. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back from an attempt to look neat. He confided to Serene, “I lost my family and I don’t know where they are. Your song sounds so familiar. . .”

Serene looked into the man’s eyes and wondered if this old man could really be her dad.
He continued to explain, “I had suffered amnesia for several years. I was in a car accident. My wife died, I was injured and I think we lost a daughter. . . your music made me feel like I know you.
Serene began to cry. Serene quietly spoke to him, “I am your daughter. She pulled out her parent’s photo to show the man. The man grabbed the photo and stared at it. His memories came back and they began to cry with joy. Serene’s happiness had returned. It was the same happiness she had when her parents were alive.