The Broken Violin (Short Story - I)

There used to be a boy and his mother who lived alone a bit far away from the city. They were poor who had less means to eat every day yet they tried and were happy together.  The mother used to work part time with a tailor who used to give her something to do and paid her in a dime or few. The boy was 8 years old and worked as a newspaper delivery boy in the city. He used to pass by this shop where he used to buy a loaf of bread. He would find a man standing there with a violin in his hand, playing the music of pure heartfelt noise. The boy used to sometimes forget why he was there and just be mesmerized when the street violinist played his music, standing there for hours.  He thought to himself that one day he would buy himself a violin and become rich with his music,  people will stand before him and tell him that they are cured with such soulful sound that he could play.  The boy used to work in the mornings and went home at night. His mother asked him almost everyday

“Where do you go all day?”

 And the boy told her,

“I want to play the violin and make you rich and not let you do a thing.”

All day he dreams of the music he'll play when he grows up. His mother with tears in her eyes said,

“You will be a miracle child that will make your mother proud one day.”

But then seasons came and passed, their situation was getting a bit better, the tailor had more work which he would share with the boy’s mother and she had been saving some money for her loving son, for some time now she had fallen ill and the boy had grown almost 4 years older now, doing the same thing as he had been doing.  Dreaming of the day he would play his violin. This year his birthday came when he was about to turn 12. His mother had saved some money and the tailor had given her some loan to buy her son a gift he's been waiting for. The boy came home early that day and his mother told him to stay home because she is going in the city and she will be right back. The boy’s mother went in the city and bought him the best violin she can and while coming home that day of surprises brought a storm and the storm had lifted its plan to be heavy. She tried to rush home in her weak health and she almost had reached when she slipped and fell down the riverbank and into the river yet holding tightly to the violin case. The tailor was passing down that road when he heard a gasping scream and ran towards with a lantern in his hand and saw her there and rushed towards her to save her. He wrapped her in his coat and ran towards her home. A loud bam on the door made the boy jump and he ran and opened it and saw his mother trembling with fever and cold and held firmly by the tailor yet she did not let go of the violin. The boy saw her in so much pain asked the tailor while crying in shock,

“What had happened?”

 The tailor ordered the boy,

“Get the water warmed up and put on some tea, your mother was bringing you a present when she fell into the river. She was already sick from before.”

But her being all wet in this storm took the turn for the worst. His mother lying in her bed as the clock struck 12. She pulled her son near and said,

 "Happy Birthday, this is for you my dear.”

And she gave the violin in his hands while holding him near to her cheek.  She said,

"I love you my son... here, play a tune so I can hear".

Tears in her son's eyes told a story how he did not want what he had been dreaming of like this. She thought he would be surprised but that became the darkest day of his life. He played the last note that his mother heard as she died on a day that brought surprise of pain to the boy’s heart. He screamed for his mother to return.  He sat on her bedside till the morning came and wished he hadn't wished for something he would never gain. Now he sits with his violin on the table and thinks this is a curse and not a tune enabled. He opened the case to put the violin back in. It had a letter, saying “To My Son”.  He opened the letter and as he read tears poured down his cheeks. It was a letter that his mother wrote to him before buying him his surprise. She wrote that

“My time has come to go far away from you where your father is and we will be listening to your music. The dream you had shall never fade away. You will make us proud standing in front of a huge crowd as they will never want you to stop playing your violin. I wish I had lived for more years to see you grow and find a pretty girl and have children, ha’ my grandchildren. Never be sad as I am with your father now, in a better place and we are always with you and looking over you. You will grow up to be a fine young man.

Goodbye my dear child,

Your loving mom.”