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26 Responses to “ The Abandoned Piano ”

1. # 1 0to1 Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 02:20

   New Singer A was trying to make a music video like Yael Naim’s “New Soul” and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles”. She rented a jeep with her cameraman – went in the middle of the Philippine jungle – setup her old piano – and advised the jeepney driver to pick them up at noon. Rain poured unexpectedly. The crew hastily packed up to shelter their rented camera and forgot her old piano altogether. They tried to return the next day but found that the policeman made a big news out of it already – with her piano in their custody. In their effort to protect the image of Singer A, the crew remained silent.

2. # 2 hellobilly Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 10:24

   Long, long time ago there was once a rare tree in the Philippine jungles that was only about nine feet tall. Its trunk was ivory-smooth, its leaves black and white and green. It bore no fruit only flowers that produced little piano sounds when monkeys and birds and beasts and winds would touch them. There was no other tree to be found in the world.

   One day three Filipino tribesmen saw the tree and were intrigued by its unusual appearance. They were even amazed by the piano sounds the tree produced when touched.

   Ecstatic over their discovery, they could not think of a good scientific name for the tree, so instead they considered to unanimously call it after their first names. Thus the tree was christened the “Pipi Yaya Nono Tree.”

   They made music by tickling the blossoms. They played with the tree trunk, the branches and the leaves. Many sounds were produced and this made the three Filipinos happy. But at some point they got tired of playing with the tree. So they slept under the Pipi Yaya Nono Tree.

   The tree however did not grow tired of having a fine musical time with the three natives. So the tree dropped some of its flowers to awaken the sleeping men. But the men did not stir. So the frustrated tree broke one of its branches. The heavy limb landed on the tired trio, killing all of them instantly.

   The tree was left alone with the dead bodies. But the spirit of the three men appeared before the tree and told the tree to turn itself into a musical instrument. Bewildered, the tree did not know what to turn itself into. So the three spirits shouted “Pipi Yaya Nono Tree! Turn yourself into a piano!” And it did.

   End of story.

3. # 3 hellobilly Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 11:05

   I like to edit the last sentence in the first paragraph. It should have been “There was no other tree like that tree to be found in the whole wide world.”

4. # 4 Roger M Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 12:50

   The news of a piano found in the jungles north of the Philippines reached the ENGs of the giant networks, who readily dispatched their news vans to the area. Even the smaller TV stations, not wanting to be left behind, sent their fleets to Zambales, to get their piece of what they thought would be a sensational report.

   Even before the reporters arrived at the forest, they have started interviewing locals who will say anything to get their five minutes of fame on TV. The piano, as generally believed, symbolized the anitos’ covenant with the Aetas, that never again will they go down the mountain and beg for charity in the concrete jungles below. The townsfolk say that when played, the music emanating from the instrument will awake the Diwata ng Kalikasan from her slumber, and cause all kinds of vegetables and fruit-bearing trees to grow in overwhelming abundance, giving the negritos no reason to rummage the garbage bags of Jollibee chains for their sustenance.

   But the anitos, if they could only be granted television airtime, will disavow having anything to do with the piano. And for a good reason. Why would they haul a 1-tonner piano in the middle of the forest, when the bansik would do just the trick. Dangling a four-hole flute made of mountain cane is undeniably one joy of a task.

   In late 1990s, the Energy Development Corporation, started exploration works on Mt. Pinatubo. Parts of the river systems which have their sources at the dormant volcano are hot enough to boil eggs. The rocks at the banks are yellowish indicative of sulfur. Rich geothermal energy was just waiting to be tapped under Pinatubo’s skin.

   By 1990, construction of the EDC basecamp was completed and was already teeming with employees big enough in number to form a barangay. By January 1991, the Corporation was about ready to break grounds for the erection of its first rig. A celebration was planned for April, in time for the visit to the project site of Mr. Vasquez, the Company President. As early as March natives were startled to see party tables and chairs, cases of beer, and a complete set of musical band instruments being convoyed to the “castle in the sky”—a departure from the usual heavy equipment and truckloads of construction materials they see on a day-to-day basis.

   The party never took place. In April, steam explosions announced volcanic unrest from Pinatubo. The entire Barangay EDC was ordered to evacuate the area. In June 1991, the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century went off, remobilizing thousands of houses and buildings.

   Not everything though was lost to the eroded pyroclastic deposits emplaced during the explosion. Despite reported deaths of 200 to 300, and infrastructure buried without trace, natives still find a few objects that have mysteriously surfaced from the ground like breakouts on Pinatubo’s grayish back—an uncapped San Miguel Beer bottle, a rice cooker, a bird cage, a humungous musical instrument.

5. # 5 Evan Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 12:53

   Violin was driving with Piano as passenger. Piano says to Violin, “I need to take a leak.” He gets off somewhere along the highway beside the Philippine Jungle. Piano looks for perfect spot to pee. Philippine Jungle is full of malignant spirits. Piano gets lost in the middle of the Philippine Jungle.

   Violin drives off and smokes a cigarette then realizes he’s made of wood. Violin accidentally sets himself on fire: front page news the next day. Nobody knows that Piano is missing in the middle of the Philippine Jungle.

   The End.

6. # 6 girominus Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 14:17

   Question: How do you put a Hippo inside piano in 3 moves?
   Answer: 1st Move – Open the Piano, 2nd Move- Put the Hippo in the piano, 3rd Move- Close the Piano

   Question: How do you put a dinosaur inside a piano in 4 moves?
   Answer: 1st Move- Open the Piano, 2nd Move- Take the Hippo out of the Piano, 3rd Move- Put the dinosaur inside the Piano, 4th Move- Close the Piano

   Story: The Hippo and the Crocodile decided to go to their long overdue honeymoon (due to the croc being busy and all – he’s a senator).
   They took their chocolate candy single engine airplane which was a gift from their godmother – the queen of narnia. Because the Hippo is such a packrat, or packHippo for that matter, she brought along everything they have in their house and shove them all in the plane. Their honeymoon destination – Madagascar. Halfway along the trip, the airplane malfunctioned. It was overloaded! The pilot suggested that they must let go some of the stuff that they have brought in the plane to prevent them from crashing. The Crocodile told the Hippo to throw away everything and promised to buy her new ones (he still had some extra money from a fertilizer scam). But the Hippo being sentimental and all said no and decided that she can only spare ONE thing to be thrown out the plane.

   QUESTION: What would be that ONE thing that the Hippo must throw out the plane to make it lighter?

   ANSWER: The Piano – imagine the weight of it with the dinosaur inside.

   QUESTION: Why is there a Piano in the middle of the Philippine Jungle?
   ANSWER: When the Hippo and Crocodile threw out the Piano from the plane, they have it strapped to a chocolate candy parachute (which came with the plane of course). Thus, the piano landed safely in the middle of the Philippine Jungle.

   According to Lt. Caine of the Miami CSI, there were no trace of the chocolate candy parachute. But they found some bloated ants a few feet away from the crime scene. Case closed.

7. # 7 orangeinapod Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 14:31

   Nagmula sa mayamang angkan si Belinda. Taglay nya ang kabaitan at kagandahang kinahuhumalingan ng karamihan. Mahilig sya sa musika at ang minanang piano mula sa kanyang lola ang lagi nyang kaulayaw.

   Ngunit tulad ng maraming mayayaman nung panahong iyon, marami ring kaaway ang kanyang angkan, lalo na ang kanyang ama. Bukod sa pangangamkam ng lupa, tuso ito sa kanyang mga kaibigan.

   Isang gabi, pagkatapos ng hapunan, tumungo si Belinda sa kanyang mahal na piano at buong giliw na tinugtugan ang kanyang buong pamilya at mga panauhing kaibigan ng kanyang ama. Sa gitna ng kasiyahan, ang isa sa mga panauhin ay humugot ng baril at pinaputukan ang ama ni Belinda. Kasunod nito ang walang tigil na pagbaril sa iba pa nyang kasambahay. Napatulala ang dalaga sa nasaksihan nang bigla syang hilahin ng napakalakas pahiga sa ibabaw ng piano nyang pinakamamahal. Ilang ulit ginahasa si Belinda ng apat na kalalakihang tumraydor sa kanyang ama.

   Iniwan nilang nakahandusay si Belinda sa paanan ng kanyang piano, halos mawalan ng ulirat sa mga pangyayari. Huli na ng mamalayan ng dalaga na nasusunog na ang kanilang bahay. Nagsisisigaw si Belinda, ngunit nagapi na sya ng makapal na usok at apoy.

   Bagama’t kinamumuhian ang kanilang pamilya, marami ang nagluksa sa pangyayari. Lalung-lalo na para kay Belinda. Ngunit isang bagay ang kanilang napansin, walang bahid ng kung anuman ang kanyang minanang piano, maliban sa abong animo’y nakayakap sa paanan nito.

   Ilang taon ang lumipas walang nagtangkang kumuha ng lupang kinatirikan ng kanilang tahanan. Naiwan ang piano sa gitna ng animo’y madawag nang gubat.

   May mga kwentong nagpapakita pa din si Belinda at tinutugtog ang piano at biglang hahagulgol at maglalaho. Dahil dito, hindi kailanman pinakialaman ng mga taga-duon ang piano ni Belinda. Alam nilang dito lamang bumabalik balik ang dalaga, isang gunita sa malagim nitong nakaraan.

8. # 8 behindhiddendoors Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 15:26

   I told her to stop visiting, but she insisted. I would lock the doors, close the windows, cover up the hole on the roof, but still she found her way into the cabin. And in the middle of the night, while I was asleep, when even the nocturnal creatures of the woods went silent, she played.

   Up and down went her melody, flowing freely into the cold air, waking me gently with a tune and keeping me until daybreak. And then, as the sun crept in through the misty windows of the piano room, she left.

   Night after night she came, slipping in through locked doors, playing the sounds of that dreary November. It was never a tune I knew, or even understood, but after the eighteenth night I had grown fond of her music, and of her. I asked her to stay but she politely declined, smiling as her fingers danced on the keys. And when morning greeted us, she said her goodbye, and I never saw her again.

   The cabin has long since crumbled, and I, too, have withered with time, but the piano she played on those November nights remained untouched. And there it remains, to this day, in the forest where we met, as I lay here waiting for the night when she should play again.

9. # 9 ruth Says:
   November 25th, 2008 at 16:36

   “Fyodor, a high government official who is married to one of the most influential families in the city, gives his lover Dmitri a piano for a gift. It was not just any ordinary piano; it was the one used by the most famous musician in 19th century Europe to compose the most famous sonata of all time. Dmitri was ecstatic with the gift, being a staunch admirer of the famous musician, but dismayed with it as well. The problem is the piano took up too much space in his small cramped, apartment. His neighbors have likewise gone on to speculating and gossiping about the big old piano being hauled up the apartment’s rickety stairs. Sitting on the piano bench, he smelled its keys, tinkled the farthest of them, producing a high, but somewhat sad note. Dmitri started to cry. He thought, how in the world am I going to hide this from the others, yet keep seeing it at the same time? How stupid can Fyodor be in giving me a gift that is sure to catch everybody’s attention?! Dmitri then became angry at his lover. He knocked books off his shelf, he kicked the solitary stool in his room, and started looking for his axe. Finding it, he started destroying the piano. Bit by bit, he chopped it off like firewood. His landlady started knocking at his door, asking him to stop as he was making such loud, bothersome noises. But Dmitri didn’t listen to them; he did not stop until the piano was in bits and pieces. Seeing what he had done, Dmitri was racked by guilt. Without even thinking, he looked for sacks and started stuffing what was left of the piano into them. Opening his door, his landlady started shouting at him, his neighbors clearing out of his way, whispering. Dmitri didn’t know where to go, but somehow he ended in a place filled with looming trees. He then started looking for the biggest piece that was left of the piano and dug, dug, dug, until he had a shallow pit. He then poured the contents of the sacks inside it and covered it with mounds of earth. There, he thought, and went home.

   Nobody knows what happened to Dmitri after that. Nobody knows what became of his love affair. But the story has it that every time a lover needs to hide a love that he or she shares with a significant other, the piano of the most famous musician of the 19th century in Europe who composed the most famous sonata of all time, suddenly appears in a forest.”

   Yun na yun? Teddy asked Michael, who read him the story. That still doesn’t explain why there’s a friggin’ piano in the middle of a Subic rainforest.

   Michael sighed and looked at his friend. He then stood up and started to leave.

10. # 10 Dennis Says:
    November 25th, 2008 at 17:13

    “What?!! A piano found in the middle of Philippine jungle?” a common reaction of the “masang-Pinoy”.

    Political analysts and churchmen chorally suspect it was simply a politically-plotted mysterious scene to divert the attention of the masses from the controversies, issues and scandals faces by the government. Almost all government leaders – from the president down to baranggay tanod, top officials and a battalion of PNP and AFP are present in the jungle to witness this divine-intervention-in-the middle-of-political/economic-crisis. The president (who no-one-knows-because-it’s-a-secret-noh?, knows how to play a piano) in wonder, excitedly call for a one night only “Unity Concert” in the jungle. All famous local celebrities/singers including a famous Filipino boxer who temporarily cancels his practice in the US to render a song number entitled “Para sa’yo ang piano na’to” before his dream-match; were obliged to be in the event. Local and foreign media are also present to cover the event. All ears and eyes are very eager to listen and witness the president (for the first time in general public) orchestrates this mysterious piano in the middle of the jungle. When the president was about to play the keys of the piano…

    The next day news headlines were about The Trojan Piano in the jungle that bloodily ends the political and economic crisis in the Philippines and the Change of Filipinos.

11. # 11 steffi-san Says:
    November 25th, 2008 at 19:06

    Once upon a time, there was a small but prosperous city called Rompeii. The locals worked for only five hours in the morning, spent the early afternoon sleeping and partied the whole night until the wee hours of the morning before stumbling into their glass-and-metal offices with massive hangovers.

    One day, a witch got distracted by Pinoy Idol while casting a spell and a large house crash-landed in the middle of Rompeii containing a goody-goody girl named Jennilyn and her dog, Gabby Concepcion. Jennilyn tried to socialize with the locals but they found her too uncool, even her sparkling ruby flats were frowned upon by the socialite fashionistas. Her dog, however, was a hit especially with the ladies.

    Friendless and in despair, Jennilyn walked to the riverbank and cried piteously. The witch who accidentally stranded her there saw her through a crystal ball, felt sorry for her and made her house fly and land on her hard to end her pathetic life. The locals threw a huge party in celebration but a massive tsunami flattened the whole city and dragged all the houses and people to the sea–except for a piano bolted to the floor by an OCD nightspot owner.

    Gabby Concepcion survived but as he ran to safety, he looked back and was turned into a barrel man souvenir item.

    These days, nothing is left of Rompeii except the piano. The barrel man eventually starred in a movie.

12. # 12 Edrie Says:
    November 25th, 2008 at 20:07

    The society girl wanted a birthday celebration that their guests would never forget which included several songs performed by the Manila music scene’s newest and hottest crooner in the jungle.

    Wanting everything to be perfect two days before the affair, she made arrangements to go to the jungle where it was set together with the handsome young musician and a few trusted assistants.

    A last-minute sex scandal, however, made her stay to control the damage but she gave the green light to her staff to accompany the singer who wanted to practice.

    Little did they all know that the jungles had roving bands of communist rebels. And the sound of the ivories attracted their attention.

    In the furor over the sex video, society girl forgot the details and decided to just have her birthday at Embassy. The disappearance of the singer was attributed to the revolving-door and assembly-line culture of pop music.

    Only two things hinted that something was amiss. In the midst of several military attacks, soldiers noted that the underground movement had livelier and catchier tunes waiting to be bastardized by Noel Cabangon and a grand piano in the woods of Sierra Madre.

13. # 13 doorcleaver Says:
    November 25th, 2008 at 20:45

    In the beginning there was Brilliance, and from her came forth music; and from this music two themes were heard, and creatures broke from slumber. The splendor of the musical themes, ones that now we can only hear whispers of, settled in a plot of earth; and from the earth, The Jungle unfolded.

    The First Themes were free of malice and coated in pure joy and innocence, that which can never be recreated in our time for reasons that soon-after transpired in places like the Middle East deserts and… public office. From these original themes came creations free of darkness, free even of smidgens of shadows. They were everything that Hope and Promise essentially represented, which have turned into modern versions of The Holy Grail.

    But the Second Themes took the form of violent storms and curdled like frozen oil into Wrath and Malice. And the creations that erupted from their music were sculpted in healthy patches of nightmare and midnight. Unlike their predecessors, these creations were ambitious, hungry and insatiable. They did not waste time laying their roots and foliage across the expanse of The Jungle.

    Conflicting though they were, the two groups struck an unusual balance, where one cannot exist without the other’s resonations. Thus a harmony prevailed.

    But a short time afterwards, the malice and greed of the second creations spread like tar in its hot stages, and soon the balance threatened to sway towards the creations of gloom. Brightness became Foreboding. Promise became Cynicism. Hope became Black Comedy.

    The First Themes decided to defend their keep through their pacifist yet questionable means. They played again – this time ever-louder, ever-joyous and ever-divine – to bestow a gift to their creations. They created The Piano. They placed it in the midst of The Jungle, where The Champion of their creations can sit on the glorious cushion of the bench and strike the keys to summon an era of lasting balance.

    However, the Second Themes, shrewd and ruthless by nature, were not to be mocked. They too played again. This time with voices that were ubervolatile and thunderous, terror coiling upon terror, the kind from which even evil souls flee. Their music created impenetrable black mists to hide The Piano from the eyes of the first creations.

    To this day the war continues. The Piano still sits there, in the middle of The Jungle we all have come to know. Throughout the centuries, The First Themes have produced champions, but half of them had perished from the jungle without ever laying eyes on The Piano, while the other half had been swayed by the black mists and succumbed to the seduction of the Second Themes.

    Will one of the champions finally find The Piano before everything lies in ruins… and maybe fossils? And more importantly, will The Champion know the right notes to play?

14. # 14 doorcleaver Says:
    November 25th, 2008 at 21:40

    Aboard a Maori canoe, a woman urges a man to throw a piano into the ocean. The man hesitates but finally agrees. The woman, probably a little out of whack from having one of her fingers cut off by her husband (the man in the boat is not her husband but her lover, who has taken her away with her daughter), puts her foot in a rope floating on the water. The rope is connected to the sinking piano and the woman is pulled and sinks with it. What appears to be a subtle symbol is really an obvious representation of a womb – the woman is the baby, the rope is the umbilical cord. The woman appears to be satisfied drowning, but later reevaluates, kicks free and is pulled out of the water into a kind of rebirth.

    The piano sinks in the ocean, enters the magical porthole that is succored by the horrible and ancient mysteries of the ocean, and is teleported into a jungle in the Philippines. The reason is unclear as to how, but then again, all reasons are unclear amidst the daily absurdity that surrounds the world (or maybe it is simply that New Zealand and the Philippines share a binary ocean floor, but let us leave that question to writers of science fiction).

    Two young men – one gay (August), one straight (Emmanuel) – are separated from their hiking group about the same time the piano materializes in the jungle they are now trapped in.

    August (huffs, tired, takes vertical refuge from a tree trunk): How did you find out that they made a porn video of Palin? And how’d you know what’s exactly in the video?
    Emmanuel (snorts): The webnews didn’t exactly explain it. When I read it, I searched the net, of course. And viola! the video’s there.
    August: You know what you did? You watched gay porn.
    Emmanuel: Two girls having a go at it don’t qualify as gay porn. I’m straight.
    August (rolls his eyes): Okay. If that’s your explanation to everything. (sees the piano) Holy Hunter! What’s that doing there?
    Emmanuel: Hmmm… strange. Do you play?
    August: Why? Because that’s the first thought that comes to mind when you see a piano in the middle of a jungle?
    Emmanuel: No, silly. Because if our group hears the music, they’d want to know where it comes from and they’d find us.
    August (considers): Hmm… We can just hit the keys. That’s a sound anyway.
    Emmanuel: No. It has to be a song. Something that ears can register.
    August (rolls his eyes, sighs): I’ll play.
    Emmanuel: Are you fast?
    August (smirks, pauses, then giggles): No. But he sure was.
    Emmanuel: Huh?
    August ignores Emmanuel and plays a cheesy love song about unrequited love.
    Emmanuel: Hey, teach me.
    August: The lyrics?
    Emmanuel: How to play that piece on the piano, dimwit. As long as we’re waiting for the others, we might as well find a way to kill time.
    August (shakes his head): Uh-uh. I don’t have the patience to teach anyone anything. I’d rather gargle broken glass.
    Emmanuel: Please.
    August: No.
    Emmanuel: Okay, what about this. For each line you teach me, I’ll do something you like (winks).
    And the rest, as they say, is the great gay fantasy.
    August (minutes later, to himself): “There is a silence where hath been no confession. There is a silence where a closet may hear, bask in the rising of a friend’s inner queer.”

15. # 15 Franzi Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 00:28

    The piano is there because some local rock band, whom you may or may not have heard of, was shooting an MTV. At the last moment, the primadonna John Lennon-wannabe lead singer, whose idea it was, thought that saw a light bulb in his mind.

    Once, when he was twelve, he thought he saw a beam of light flashing through his bedroom window. The vision of flashing light continued for the next seven days. He interpreted it as a sign that God could be speaking to him. He was strumming a beat-up guitar then. He remembered John Lennon’s dream of an old man in a flaming pie, prophesying, “You will be known as Beetles, but change the second “e” to “a” so you’d be cooler”. Or something like that.

    Later, he realized that the flashing light came from the welding machine at a construction site near their apartment house. Well, it was one of those things.
    “Wait, I have a better idea. Why don’t we just make a soft core porn-inspired MTV about our song? We’ll get that sexy girl Ria who posed for FMH and Barako Magazine to be our lead character. You remember Aling Aning, that landlady from college? She’s the aunt of a friend of a classmate of a former girlfriend of mine, who is actually a cousin of Ria . Maybe they can help us and stuff. ” (The song is titled “Out in the Woods”). The other four band mates scratched their heads. Generally their response was “Huh? Okay. Rock and roll!” “Let’s have some leather couch, an albino python and some midgets as extras”, added Mr. lead singer.
    The production crew, however were not exactly amused. They spent twenty agonizing days trying to find that location in the middle of a snake infested jungle in Quezon. Mostly, they have to coordinate with the AFP so as to make sure that they are not intruding within the territory of the NPAs. They were. It’s just that the NPAs thought they were a bunch of lunatics and didn’t bother with them.
    Another twelve days to find an upright Steinway and Sons, which is quite rare as they built mostly baby and concert grands. And Mr. lead singer wanted it in…pearlescent tangerine. A week to hire an elf truck to transport the dang piano.
    And to top it all off, they have yet to receive their checks.
    The director, a known “raketero” is still somewhere in Bukidnon wrapping up a corned beef ad. “I’m flying in tomorrow,” he says. That’s what he said last week. His other works include an ad for a memorial service company, with a line that says “your death is our life”.
    His assistant director has been trying to figure out what to do for the past five days.
    He’s trying.

    A mutiny.
    A decision.
    This is crap, said everyone.
    They left, all of them.

    The five band members were booked in a local hotel, waiting to be fetched for the day’s shoot.

    The dang piano is too heavy to be carried.

16. # 16 Cacs Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 08:33

    A reclusive Russian genius builds himself an MHC (Mini Hadron Collider). He turns it on. He thought he would see the formation of mini blackholes. Instead, a wormhole materialized.

    The Russian genius, along with everything in his house got sucked into the wormhole. His piano and its chair ended up in the middle of a Philippine jungle. The Russian genius found himsef in bed with Sarah Palin in Alaska.

17. # 17 starex Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 08:47

    Tadadadan!

18. # 18 W Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 10:05

    It’s there because someone wants to play the piano in the middle of the jungle.

19. # 19 jeg Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 11:42

    “Holy crap-in-a-box… Where’s my house? The aliens took everything but my piano!”, Fox Mulder cried.

20. # 20 jmq Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 13:32

    Piano heard singing out loud while in the middle of the forest:

    “Ebony and Ivory
    In the jungle under the canopy
    If Joc-joc can play all of us like keyboards
    Oh Lord, why not me?

    We all know
    Politicians are the same wherever you go
    There is dumb and bad
    In everyone, we learn to leave,
    We yearn to give the finger
    So what I did to survive is just run and hide…”

21. # 21 Jerlen Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 16:28

    The Piano

    Just like I promised. One week each month for the past 10 years I have been coming here, building it, piece by piece. Hah, I had to learn to tune it myself. Me! And I was tone-deaf when we met. Had to build a work shed first to make sure it wasn’t exposed. Then I tore it down and hauled the debris out of here last week so it’d be ready for you. Bought this land too. See the chair? It’s just the right height for you. Go on…play for me.

    You have learned how to play, darling, right?

    ————————————————————————–
    (100 words including the title)

22. # 22 spliceanddice Says:
    November 28th, 2008 at 00:35

    An infamous pianist with a reputation for ending his nightly performance in an obscure bar in Makati with a mad pounding on the ivories of his red piano, Johann went home on a Thursday night with frantic eyes. Lance was there that night. A bottle of vodka on one hand and a burning Davidoff on the other, Lance sat on the bar stool close enough so he could watch the majesty of the pianist’s fingers run across the length of the keys until the bar manager called it a night.

    By the time Johann was making his way from the stage to the john, Lance stood in his way and blew a screen of smoke before his eyes. “I’d love to have those hands run across my sweaty back tonight,” Lance insisted with a hoarse tone on his deep voice. “Excuse me?!” Johann almost shouted, fingers fidgeting as if waiting to roll into a tight fist. Lance leaned over to Johann’s ears and licked it up and down; the potency of the poison has enveloped his veins. Then it came swiftly.

    For a while, Lance wailed then moaned faintly as he was picking himself up from the moist and dusty floor. “The man has firm hands,” Lance said to himself as he saw the befouled pianist walking straight through the open doors of the bar.

    “Are you alright, sir?” the manager asked him. “Just a lovely scratch on my jaws and nothing more.” “Well,” the manager continued, forehead sweating and knees slightly jerking, “Johann has had that temper ever since his partner, Delgado, left him for good. Can I do anything for you?”

    “His piano looks like a fine replica of Elton’s.”

    “We call him our own version of Elton John minus the fancy hairdress and the neon trench coats.”

    “Do you accept personal checks, credit card, or cash?” Lance asked the manager as his left hand went into his Louis Vuitton.

    ***

    Somewhere in the middle of a forest, a small two-floor house stood against the trees and their shadows just before the break of dawn. Just outside the lot, the engine of a white Porsche Cayman was lifeless. Between the house and the car, Lance sat in front of a red piano.

    In a futile attempt to recreate the music he heard three hours ago, he opened a bottle of rhum and drank his life away.

23. # 23 Jerlen Says:
    November 28th, 2008 at 11:57

    ————————————————-
    101 words pala with the title. Ahehe.

24. # 24 Sandino Says:
    November 28th, 2008 at 13:58

    Her name is Med. It wasn’t short for anything. She has always been fascinated with how music can convey a feeling that can’t be uttered in words. After graduating from college she couldn’t seem to get a hold of any job that would satisfy her. She was always looking for something else but couldn’t quite figure out what it is. She doesn’t have many friends cause she didn’t need that much anyway. She was fine just being by herself and alone with her thoughts.

    As she was taking a shower one hot day, it hit her. She needed to find her melody. She needed to find the music that would be the definition of her. She always knew how to play the guitar but that wasn’t the instrument for her. A guitar is too rough for her. It was too obvious and self-indulgent. Ever since she could remember she always wanted to learn how to play the piano but never got to because she was too afraid. She was afraid that learning to play the piano might consume her. Now is the time to be brave. Now is the time to confront the piano.

    She needed a place where she could be alone with her piano. The first place she tried was at the rooftop of the building she is living in but the city was too noisy and it was mocking her. The city was waiting for her fail. And then she tried the beach, again it was too noisy for her. The sound of the sea crashing on the rocks was too much for her to bear. The sea doubted her like the small voices in her head.

    She was headed home when she saw the place. It was perfect. Every tree that was standing is like the strings on her piano. The leaves of the trees would consume any noise that would defile her mind. She started playing the piano. At first it didn’t make any sense, but she studied every note and before long she was able to get it. In time she was able to find her melody. And in return to the place where she found her melody she offered her piano. It wasn’t long until people discovered the piano. She never spoke a word that that was her piano. She figured it would be much better if people assume that a fairy or any other paranormal being left the piano than a girl just looking for her melody.

25. # 25 pvcv Says:
    November 29th, 2008 at 14:15

    Light flooded the cabin as Sophie opened the windows. It was a crisp morning of November, the wind blowing softly across the ground flirting with the grass as the trees played with the morning sun. The last time she was here, she was an angst-ridden teen that wanted to be left alone to read. She could still remember her father, an accomplished pianist, playing Claire De Lune to her as she read fervently. They would spend the holidays at this remote cabin, away from the city, away from the pretentious hands clapping, the clapping that tore her away from her father. Here, she was with daddy. He was Hers.

    Today was different. Sure she was with her father, but he couldn’t play Debussy. Not anymore. She hurriedly went to the piano, dusting it off, as if the years went away with the dust. Checking the keys, she was surprised to find them in tune, except for the one black key. It was a sound that made her cringe. Memories flooded her head, tearing her apart. She turned swiftly and headed towards the door grabbing the car keys thinking how ridiculous it was to do what she was about to do. She stopped short of the handle and composed herself, recalling her objective.

    Sophie unloaded the piano haphazardly, wanting to get this over with. It was a few minutes before six, the sun slowly moving to sleep, setting with a yawn. She went to get her father from the passenger seat, her eyes moist and fingers trembling as she opened the door. Gently lifting her father, she slowly walked to the piano hoping to end it tonight. She settled her father at the piano. Then she heard it. She couldn’t believe her ears but the notes were perfect. The sun has completely disappeared and the horizon was without a single star. Only the moon. Only the full, solitary moon. She was a kid again, listening to her father play Claire De Lune, her eyes moist and full of emotion.

    The past few weeks were dreadful, she had to sell a lot of her fathers property but hearing her father play again, even in her head, was more than enough. She drove off into the night, leaving the piano in the middle of the jungle, leaving the memory of her father playing for the world. Now she could move on with the thought that she left her father doing what he’s been doing all his life. She opened her window and could hear the music. She turned to the passenger seat and looked at the urn. It was only the vessel of her father she now has to bury. Her daddy is out there, playing for the world.

26. # 26 roemina_deocareza Says:
    November 29th, 2008 at 15:35

    She slapped herself just to make sure that she was not dreaming.

    It was already two minutes after twelve. She continued hurting herself until she realized that her face is already turning into a tomato and she decided to stop doubting her senses. Finally, she succeed in convincing herself that what was in her front is nothing but a real piano. But in spite of attaining contentment upon proving that it was not part of her illusions, her curiosity even reached its highest level regarding the existence of that piano in the middle of that “no comment” jungle somewhere in Baguio City.

    Confusion almost killed her. Yes, she is a UPan, a certified University Scholar and a Philo freak yet she was not capable of philosophizing on how a piano got there. Then she started to have sleepless nights and whenever they occur, she walked like a zombie in pink (since she is a certified pihkaholic) towards the “no comment” jungle which is just a few steps away from her hell-like dormitory. Unfortunately, after weeks of visiting the creepy place and still seeing the piano, she was not able to find concrete answers.

    On another sleepless night, she decided (again!) to walk like a zombie towards the location of that piano. As she stepped out her room, she heard a melody which almost made her heart melt. And suddenly, her tears no longer resisted the gravity. She ran closer to the mysterious place while the lyrics of her favorite song registered clearer on her mind, and the music became louder.

    “Bad Spirits! Stop fooling me!”

    “Bad spirits? Huh?”

    “What are you doing here, my fellow dorm mates?”

    “BC 130. Remember? Our deadline will be next week. And we have decided to make our own music video of Nina’s Piano in the dark.”