The Piano on the Cliff

Delicate notes from a misplaced piano echoed down the quiet forest pathway. It’s haunting tone drew one footstep after another from the lone hiker on this late evening trail. The grass crunched beneath each of his heavy boot falls. It was the only other sound that danced between the trees, the harsh impact of his boots, and the slow reverb of those piano keys.

His heart rate rose, thumping violently within his heaving chest. The corners of his eyes grew dried as they stared at something he couldn’t quite see. A tightness formed within his throat, and though he did not speak, he was sure that uttering a word would be impossible. Still, he walked along, drawn forward by the most beautiful music to grace his ears.

As the piano’s cords were abruptly stolen from his ears, the birds began to chirp once more. They sang as if none of the last few minutes had even happened. The sang as if the strange musical notes had not silenced everything surrounding them. They sang as if these woods were safe.

As his boot snapped a fallen branch, the hiker, twenty-five-year-old Danial, seemed to finally snap out of the trance he’d been lulled in. The fog clouding his mind melted away, and he blinked at the heavily pulsing sun that lulled in the sky above him. The tightness within his throat loosened, allowing breathes to pass through.

Nothing seemed amiss. The woods were the same as they’d always been – the same trail he’d hiked for the last twenty-something-odd years of his life. Ahead of him, the army of trees grew tall into the sky, their foliage filled leaves bouncing as squirrels dashed from one to the other. A chorus of bird songs took to the air, lighting the still bright evening with their chatter. Creatures scampered about the first floor, mindful of the stranger that lurked within their abode.

The air smelled fresh – of trees and flowers and a scent that warned of isolation. No acknowledgment of the strange piano were made as he righted the bag on his back, and continued the incline of the path. The water in his canteen was cold, refreshing to his lips as he took it with large gulps. It passed through his parched throat, seeming to fill something within him that felt …. off?

His hike continued, the peaceful forest surrounding him offering a sense of calm that he’d so desperately desired. With the sun overhead beginning its descent to the horizon, he continued his steady climb to meet it. He’d walked this trail enough times, that he was sure the ruts in the grass where from his own footfalls – from his, from his father, and where his son’s feet would made their mark in the years to come.

Danial screwed the lid back onto the canteen, feeling the water sloshing around as he placed it back within his pack. From the corner of his gaze, he spotted a tuft of brown moving among the trees. He took his steps more careful, doing well to not alert the deer grazing just a few yards away from him. Watching as they made themselves merry on a bush of berries, Danial took the second to appreciate the sight.

Chime Chime Chime

An explosive chiming sent the deer dashing beyond his sight. He scrambled to take his phone out of his pocket, eyeing the text that had come through.

<When r u coming home? its been 2 days call me>

The words on the screen blurred as he stared blankly at them. An unread message had been sent a few minutes prior, and he didn’t bother to read it, knowing it would be just the same as that message, and the one that came through next.

<Our son has been asking for you>

That familiar, yet unnerving cord of a piano started once more. Danial lifted his gaze forward, searching further up the path for a source to the strange noise. The birds held their songs within their lungs and the squirrels burrowed themselves within the trees. Silence overtook the forest as those piano cords passed through the air.

His step was heavy as he continued walking forward. He felt no different, but had anyone else been within these woods, they would have noticed the change within Danial. Each step he took was hefty, as if his body was on the verge of going limp, and moving was the only thing keeping him upright. Each step left his arms swaying as they hung loose at his sides. His gaze remained opened, fixed in a blank stare, directly ahead to where the path would crest at the top of the path. A frown tightened his face as his lips grew dry and his throat parched. A puddle of red began to form in his ear.

The piano was playing a beautiful tone, its perfect melody overtaking the prior sounds of the peaceful forest. Everything grew silent, even his heavy footfalls, as the cords of the piano hit louder in the air. The chorus continued, its haunting notes seeming to requester something buried deep within Danial’s memory's.

He could not place the name of the song.

The forest was silent to all but the piano.

He continued to walk.

Chime Chime Chime

He’d forgotten the phone still grasped within his hands. Once more shaken from the grip of the piano, and once more forgetting that he’d ever heard that song, Danial fell out of that fog. He glanced down at the screen, seeing the name he’d been doing his best to avoid as the text messages came through. They continued, one after another, the infuriating chiming of the phone setting his teeth on edge. It set the whole forest on edge.

<You can ignore me and hate me all you want I deserve it but don’t ignore our son

he needs you please call me when you can please come home

I’m sorry>

INCOMING CALL: SARAH

Her smiling face lip up his screen. She was holding their son in the photo – it had been two months ago he’d snapped that photo of them at the county fair. Danial had been thrilled to see the fair coming into town; still too small to ride the larger rides, he’d blown all of his tickets riding on the back of a gorilla on the circus themed merry-go-round. They’d been happy that day.

She of course had ruined their perfect family earlier this week, admitting to him that she’d gambled away their lives savings and collections would be calling in due time. The house was set to go into foreclosure.

The phone call ended. Before the screen could grow black, the call began anew. He sent the phone flying through the air without a further thought to the matter. The chiming grew distant as it crested over the cliff side and tumbled down. He could no longer hear the irritating tones from wherever the phone had broken below.

A bird chirped once from overhead, careful and testing, as if unsure its voice should return to the forest. The wind blew silently around him, sending a chill over his skin. The treetops danced in lazy circles, but the rustling of their leaves made not a sound.

The birds stopped singing. Silence nestled around him. His ears strained against the smothering quiet.

It was then - with the fog lifted from his mind - and feeling once more like he resided within his body did Danial realize that he now stood at the end of the trail. The beaten down pathway had led him here – to the top of the mountain, and with only the view of the horizon before him.

What a stunning view it was.

In the clearing, just a dozen yards of open grass and stone, he stood staring at the setting horizon. The sun still burned bright, the sky surrounding it giving way to colors of pink and gold as twilight threatened to take hold. Tree tops stretched the length of his vision, a sea of billowing green that swayed with each heavy breeze. Birds flew in lazy formation across the sky, wings flapping with a freedom very few ever achieved.

The wind danced around him, bringing those comforting scents back to him. He felt peaceful - calm even, like all of his worries were a world away from him. Danial took in the view before him, wondering if the phone was buzzing down below - if Sarah would continue to send message after message, begging for him to return and forget all that was crumbling around them. To forget and to forgive her.

He wondered how long he could stay here, pretending like everything was alright. Pretending like they were happy. Pretending like he loved her and not like he wished for her to have been the one to walk out that door. He wondered what would even be left waiting for him when he turned back down this forest path.

Danial, he thought, Danial would be waiting.

From the corner of his eye, his gaze spotted something strange. The wood was dark brown, made with an irregular staining that it almost looked like it’d been made from the trees surrounding it. It stood tall, with a flat back that hugged the skyline, and a red velvet covered seat that seemed to beckon him towards it. The upright piano’s keys were vibrant, not quite white due to a layer of dust that covered them.

He stood, eyeing the strange instrument. It sat near the edge of the cliff, looking as if it might topple over should the wind change course.

The birds tried to sing once more but abandoned their song's as quickly as they had started. The rustling of deer ended abruptly as the creatures dashed back down this mountain path. The wind passed through his ears, sounding within his skull like a hollowed-out shell. His heart gave a thump and another, continuing to beat like a metronome. The puddle within his ear dribbled down, and as he moved to wipe it away, he stared unsure at the blood that now coated his fingers.

At that cliff edge, the wind stopped all together. Silence formed a vacuum around him. Danial’s gaze was dragged once more to the piano that felt so out of place in this clearing. He watched, breath caught in his lungs, as one of the keys seemed to press down on itself.

The first note of a now all too familiar song graced the air. As it began to play, Danial recalled each time he’d heard it, and each time he’d forgotten it, as he’d been tracking through this forest. The notes were struck with precision, casting a soothing lullaby over the field.

The strange piano continued to play itself as it sat just at the edge of the cliff. The song was beautiful. It filled Danial with a sense of comfort, of warmth, of safety that he hadn’t felt in months.

He took a step forward.

The cords were heavy, each beat pulsing the blood through his veins. His bones rattled with each step, legs nearly buckling beneath him. That grip within his throat returned, as if hands were within him, clawing away at his ability to speak. Eyes remained transfixed on the horizon.

He continued to walk forward.

The piano continued to play with no one at its helm.

All around him, the forest was silent.

The toe of his hiking boot hung over the cliff edge. Stretched before him, was a sea of trees that were beyond what words could describe. His father used to take him along this path, always ending at this cliff-side to admire the stunning views before they made their way back down. This is true peace, his father would always tell him. Danial had taken awhile to understand, but that peace had come to him eventually. He’d always intended to provide his son the same view.

He lifted his heavy boot, teeing forward. The piano continued to play its haunting song as the world gave way to silence around them. Wind blew heavy, sending the tops of the trees moving in its wake. Danial watched the horizon and the sea of dancing trees with unblinking eyes.

What a perfect view, he thought.

He toppled over the ledge as the haunting piano cords drew to a hallowing end.