The Forests of Silence

Memories of Ducks - Strauss The Blue Danube Waltz

"Do you recall that night in June upon the Danube River; We listened to the landler-tune, We watched the moonbeams quiver." -Charles Hamilton Aide

Brett looked around his room, quite impressed. King bed and oak desk with elegant curvings... and his own restroom and balcony? This got to be the best suite in the Meldovern dormitory.

Brett began to unpack. As he peered inside the suitcase, Brett groaned -

"Mom!"

There were probably twenty or so bottles filled with Chinese herbal medicine, each labeled - from 'for fever', 'for sore throat' to 'for sleeping.' There was a letter at the bottom of the suitcase.

'Dear Brett,

I hope you arrived safely at Meldovern.

Practice hard, do not let us down. Return as a soloist.

Always be healthy.'

The sign at the end of the letter was his mother's. His mother has always been one good example of a tiger mom and she was probably the only reason why Brett was a little glad to be pushed into this dormitory music school out of his comfort zone - he could finally be free from his mother's grip. However, Brett also knew this was her way of expressing her love and concern for him. The fragrance of all the medicine bottles made him feel homesick so Brett closed the bag and laid down in bed, anxious for tomorrow's class.

Then the music -

Brett's ear perked up. The sound was coming outside from the balcony. He closed his eyes. Soft violin notes danced among the curtains, almost like a feather. Then the rhythmic waltz was brought by a more playful stroke of bows.

'The Blue Danube Waltz, by Strauss.' Brett recalled. It was one of his favorite pieces since he was little.

The air was enchanted, submerged in peaceful waves of the Danube river. As if caught in a spell, Brett was paralyzed in bed, craving all the strokes of the bow. He could almost hear the ducks quacking in the distance, answering the rhythmic poetry.

Who is playing the piece? Maybe he will be able to find the person tomorrow?

The humming of waltz eased Brett's anxiety. He closed his eyes and let himself completely drowned in the music, leading him to deep sleep.

.

.

.

The next day, Brett made his way to his first violin class.

"Is this seat taken?" Brett asked.

"No, have a seat. I'm Ray." Another violin player, Ray, smiled at Brett and offered him a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Brett Yang."

"Brett Yang? Are you saying you're from the Yang family?"

"Yes." Brett blushed slightly.

"Wow, I've heard Yang family has the youngest son who plays the violin but I didn't know it was true. I thought it was just a rumor."

"Yes, hard to imagine with all the brutal family images, right?" Brett chuckled. Ray laughed along.

"This year's Meldovern matriculants are quite a population. With you and... him." Ray signaled slightly to a boy sitting at the corner of the room.

"Heard a commoner is sponsored by the Anderson family this year. Can you imagine that?" Ray whispered.

Brett looked at the boy. He was a tall, slender guy with short brown hair that covered his right eye. So this was a boy that just got his violin yesterday by Olaf, Brett recalled.

"His name is Eddy Chen. Heard he's straight from the street. I wonder Anderson family just sponsored him to receive better publicity for their funds to build the opera hall... who knows?" Ray shrugged.

Brett stared at the boy with curiosity. The boy looked up from his music sheet and tilted his head to meet Brett's gaze. Meeting the boy's stare, Brett quickly looked away, blushing.

"So, did you prepare a piece to play today?" Ray asked Brett.

"Yes.. a Mozart Divertimento No.1 in D major..?" Brett replied.

Today was the first day where all the twenty violin students will play a piece in front of the class. The professors will assess their skill level and assign each of them to different mentors tomorrow.

Just the thought of playing to everyone in the room made Brett anxious. He put more rosin on his bow nervously, praying that he will be called last. First, Ray was called. He played an excellent Brahms piece, earning an applaud from the faculty. The next student was called. The students played in turn, all showing off their skills.

"Next, Brett Yang. Mozart Divertimento No.1 in D major."

'Ok, you can do this Brett.'

Brett took a deep breath as he walked on stage. He nervously adjusted his bow and closed his eyes to not look at the audience. He began to play. He focused on making a crisp honest sound of Mozart, a pure divine melody that reached sky-high. When he was done, a small clapping came out from the audience. Brett was happy he didn't make any significant mistake. He thought he did alright, some shaky bow from nervousness at first, but it was better than he's practiced for a few days.

"Thank you for listening," Brett murmured and took a seat. Next to him, Ray gave him a quiet thumb up.

"Last, Eddy Chen. Paganini La Campanella."

The boy at the corner stood and walked up the stage. The audience stirred, curious about this commoner boy and all the rumors he has been generating at Meldovern.

Eddy stood on stage and slowly put a bow on his violin.

And without warning, with a small tap with his shoes, Eddy began to play. It was feverish and clean as if the notes were cut up by the devil himself. Oh the sound, it resonated in the air and pummeled to the ground like arrows. The music struck like lightning, its maddening and playful bow streaks juggling the complex notes like toys.

"The Blue Danube Waltz..." Brett whispered under his breath.

Brett knew the kind of music only belonged to him. The boy was a prodigy, one in a million years, there was no doubt about it, and the room was completely silent even after Eddy reached the last note.

Eddy slowly lowered his violin and took a deep bow to the audience.

"Eddy Chen, sponsored by the Anderson family. A pleasure to study with y'all.... noble families."