The People of the Sands

Character Unknown

Since i was a child I've never been considered normal, while other kids were laughing and running around. I was sitting quietly in the shade on the edge of the street running my fingers along whatever textured object i had decided i liked that day.

My parents had abandoned me when they realized that I would probably never talk. They tried for years to get me to speak before giving up and leaving just before i turned 7... I was 8 when my life finally changed for the better.

Living on the streets hasn't been too bad. My family had been poor to start so i already knew a few places to shelter from the scorching midday heat and the unforgettable chill that plagued the desert each night.

A few people took pity on me. When they can, they give me scraps to eat and, thanks to my age, I am able to get a small amount of water to keep me going each week.

i didn't have much, but i was alive... i wasn't really happy though, not until i first heard IT.

the sound was so beautiful, any description i told you wouldn't do IT any justice. i followed the sound until i arrived at the home of a Waterbride. I hesitated for a bit before peeking over the wall-I'd heard stories of jealous husbands shooting crossbow bolts at anyone who tried to lay eyes on their wives... it took me a moment to find her. My eyes were drawn first to the brightly colored fruit laid out on a little table near me, my stomach growling with hunger, but soon I pulled my eyes away and finally saw what was making the sound I had been chasing.

Resting on the shoulder of the Waterbride, it was surprisingly small for making such loud sounds, a beautiful contraption of dark wood and gleaming metal. The woman was holding one end of the… The THING and in her other hand she held a wooden stick with... hair attached to both ends? Whatever it was, it glided across the metal strings with such fluidity and elegance, I couldn't take my eyes off it. I was so enchanted with the music and the strange THING that I didn't even notice that the woman wasn't alone in the garden until she finally stopped playing and held the THING out to a boy that couldn't have been much older than I was.

I watched with rapt attention as the boy settled the instrument on his shoulder and raised the stick with hair to slide carefully across the metal strings. The boy barely had a chance to make more than a few squeaky sounds when a man exited the house and started shouting at both the Waterbride and the boy.

I ducked out of sight behind the wall and covered my ears with my hands as voices rose in desperation and anger. My heart was beating fast. I wanted to run away and hide, but before I had a chance to, something sailed over the wall and landed on the ground near me. It was... IT!!

There was a lot more yelling, but it all faded to the back of my mind as I approached the possibly damaged... THING, I held it so carefully, checking it over for any cracks or broken bits. IT seemed to be intact... my eyes combed over the sand and I scrambled the moment i spotted the other part of the THING lying just a stone's throw away.

Once I had both parts, I left the area as fast as I could. I clutched the THING tight to my chest. If I was caught, it would have been taken from me, and I probably would have been beaten to within an inch of death for stealing something that was quite obviously not dug out of the trash.

I ran to the edge of the city. Once away from people, I settled down in the shade of a rocky overhang and stared thoughtfully at the THING for a few long minutes before finally picking it up again. I settled it awkwardly on my shoulder. My hand was too small to touch all the strings, but that was alright.

I held the hairy stick tightly in my other hand and touched it to the metal strings.

It took me awhile to make more than an ear-piercing screech, it took even longer before I figured out what to do with the metal strings, it took me ages more to figure out how to tune the strings so the sounds I made would sound RIGHT.

Days passed and I got better. I worked tirelessly to try to replicate the unexplainably beautiful sounds I had first heard. It took me months, nearly a full year before I finally felt confident enough to play in front of one of my friends. I wanted so badly for them to enjoy the music i had worked so hard to replicate.

When I was playing, the world made so much more sense, I felt incredible. I couldn't believe that such a chance encounter would have changed my life so drastically...

As I raised the violin to my shoulder and set the bow upon the strings, I closed my eyes and started to play.

I might not have had a home, or parents, or even that many friends... but I had my violin, and the music I was able to create with it... and I finally knew what it felt like, to be TRUELY HAPPY.