1 Music is a Story
Piano.
A beautiful instrument that had once moved countless people to tears.
It was all he had in his life. The only that kept Ivan's string of life intact.
The only thing he could cling to.
But by the gods, they chose to take it away.
Outskirts of Moscow, Khimki Forest.
"Man... this forest looks scary at night." The man in the passenger seat spoke.
(AN: This is being spoken in Russian.)
"Yeah, I heard there's been possessed human wonders here." The guy driving joked. It was pretty clear that he just made it up.
"What kind of bullshit joke is that?" He responded with a smirk.
"You know what, if it was true? And some possed monster pops out of nowhere?"
"You don't know when to st-AHHH!" He stopped his sentence mid-way to scream as the car sharply swerved towards the left. "What the fuck, man?! Are you trying to kill us?!" He cursed as everything finally began to calm down. But that was when he saw it.
When he tried to exit the car, he caught sight of a blazing car smashed into a thick pine tree. The fire filled the vehicle's insides with grey smoke, and the driver-side window cracked. No one was inside.
"O-oi, call 112! The ambulance!" He shouted while staring at the burning vehicle with a fretful look.
He suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure bloodied man limping towards him.
"AH! T-this can't be... my arm... my hand... my fingers...! I can't feel them!" The bloodied man shouted in anguish as he felt both of his knees and finally passing out.
Moscow's Central Hospital.
A group of paramedics pulled along a stretcher carrying a man through the emergency room's doors. The crowded room was hell for doctors and nurses, but a doctor and a nurse managed to greet the paramedics.
"How's the patient?" The doctor asked.
"He's in stable condition, and we suspect he suffered nerve damage." A paramedic answered. "It was from a car crash. No sighs of alcohol either."
"Nerve damage? This is going to be complicated." The doctor mumbled as he grabbed ahold of the stretcher. "I'll take it from here."
Just then, Ivan shot his eyes open as he regained consciousness and immediately began to frail his body, but he quickly realized that he was bound to a stretcher and had a neck brace on.
"He's conscious!" The nurse announced.
"D-doctor! My hands! Are my hands fine?!" Ivan shouted, but his question was quickly answered by himself. "Ah... I can't feel them... no, this can't be true!"
"Sir, you need to calm down." The paramedic said.
"Calm down?! Do you think I can calm down right now?!" Ivan screamed.
"Umm-"
"Shut the fuck up and untie me!"
The paramedic took a peek at the doctor, in which he nodded.
With a sigh, the paramedic reached to release Ivan from his restraints.
Upon release, Ivan sat upright, but he didn't move. Instead, tears began forming around his eyes, and one big enough stream of tears dripped from his cheek.
There was absolutely no sensation in his arms. It was as if his arms had detached from his body.
"You… you can fix this, right?" Ivan muttered while looking up at the doctor.
"I do not know as of right now." The doctor spoke and pushed him back down to his back.
It was a quiet ride to the ICU rooms. Even though the chaotic emergency room was blaring, not a single sound wave entered Ivan's ears.
Ivan stared blankly at the stippled ceiling of the hospital in incredulity while the nurses escorted him to his room.
He didn't know if his arms were just shattered or if there was nerve damage, but it was evident he couldn't live his life as he wanted.
"We'll quickly do a deeper diagnostic for the surgery." The nurse spoke as she left the room.
'It doesn't matter if I get surgery… it won't be like how it used to be.' Ivan thought, his dead eyes now vacant of any emotion.
He then slowly got up and limped out of his room without being noticed, but every other person noticed a dark, gloomy cloud surfacing around Ivan.
He entered the stairwell and began to climb.
Ivan didn't have much, so he always looked toward music. During his life, the only thing that got him excited was the revelations he would make while playing the piano.
Ever since he was little, he had dreamed of confidently playing in front of thousands of people. He couldn't imagine a life without playing piano.
When he was little, Ivan's family wasn't so well off. Nevertheless, he still bashed the piano's keys as if life was on the line.
A gust of cold wind lashed out at Ivan as he stepped onto the rooftop.
'If I can't play the piano, then I have no reason to live.' Ivan bit his lip in self-disdain.
He wished to travel across the world and play his music, but he couldn't. He was talented but compared to the prodigies, Ivan was nothing. Though that was the case, Ivan never stopped playing till now.
Ivan took a step onto the edge of the roof.
It was all he had in his life. The only that kept Ivan's string of life intact.
The only thing he could cling to.
But by the gods, they chose to take it away.
