Above Majestic

Peace, peace Peter considered. He found himself pondering this at such a young age. Looking back, he had been born into a family of a musicians and when he was a boy of just five years old, his gifting was discovered. While gathering around the living room one evening, and the family was singing, he surprised everyone by climbing onto the piano stool. You could hear a pin drop as everyone turned their heads to hear the wonder. It was as if all of heaven stood still. Even the candle burning in the room, burned out as if a soft wind swept through the room. Beautiful sounds coming from the grand piano that had sat so grand in the room far too long. Gabriela, Peter’s mother stood by her son’s side. His father, Martin almost dropped his cigar and drink in hand. It was truly a remarkable evening. Who taught him to play, Martin said? His mother replied with tears rolling down her face, no one, my dear no one has. Peter played as if the angels were playing alongside with him. When Peter was done, everyone clapped, and Peter smiled. His mother wrapped her arms around him and cheered. Martin yelled, we have a prodigy on our hands I say! As Peter grew and completed his piano lessons each week, he was growing into a remarkable young man. The son of a lawyer, he knew that the arts and music was where he wanted to learn more of.  

His brother, John had followed into his father’s footsteps and was entering college. But Peter longed for more of the arts. He played everywhere that he could. Folks would gather from miles away to hear him play. Churches invited him to perform and the town’s hall were filled when he came to perform. The piano and Peter were almost as one. They were bonded together when he played. People would shout, there goes Peter the pianist whenever he would walk by the shops whenever he was in town. One evening when the family was entertaining guests for dinner, the phone rang, and Martin politely left the dinning room to answer the phone. You could hear his father say, NO! It can’t be true.  

Their faces grew white as they wondered. Gabriela sat up and waited her husband’s arrival. She assured her guests that everything was fine. Martin entered back into the room and stood still. What is the matter dear, Gabriela quietly asked? The guests were impatiently waiting as well. Martin began to speak as his voice quivered. I have just received a phone call that we have gone to war. The room stood still. The prospect of war terrified young Peter because he was still of drafting age. The guests gathered into the living room to listen to the details. Many looking like they had seen a ghost and others simply sipping their coffee. Each personality in its own. I do not know much Martin replied. But I do know that it if official and it is being announced. We must remain calm and stay together. Martin knew many people in the military and had stood for many in the gap with legal proceedings. He was s good man and a fine lawyer. Peter stood and walked to the piano and began to play Amazing Grace. He had a way of silencing fears as he played. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound!  

The guests gathered their things and hugged each other as they left waving goodbye as they walked down the steps and out to their cars. The air was clear, and it was a dark night. Peter stood outside and looked to the sky with no stars that night and said a prayer. God, if I can somehow use my gift to help those who are afraid, then let it be. Soon, his mother called for him to return in. His love for his mother was a strong bond that glued them together even more. The morning breakfast was quite different from the rest. It was filled with many questions that father could not answer. Gabriela held her husbands’ hands as they began to explain to Peter that it was probably best if they left for a while to their cabin in the hills just to be safe. Peter’s heart sank at the thought of leaving his piano behind, but he understood. As they gathered their things, father pulled the car around to the front of the home and spoke, quickly, quickly, let us be going. Peter sensed the urgency and walked a little quicker. Sitting in the back seat and watching the landscape change, he thought about his brother at college and said a prayer that he would be alright. Father had phoned young John and asked him to come to the cabin as soon as he could. The road to the cabin was long and windy. There it sat at the top of the hill. The trees around it were still just as tall. The snow had begun to melt leaving some upon the roof and on the ground. The porch was dusty, and the front door had rusted from the winters that befell it. Father made a fire in the fireplace and mother made the beds. The sound of a car frightened them all a bit. But it was John! He had found a way to get there! The family embraced each other.  

The days were quiet. Martin read books that he had left there from years ago and Gabriella prepared bread and food for the rest of their season there. A radio was all that they had to connect them to the world below. War had begun. In order to keep their spirits up, they would listen to the music on the radio and sing and Peter would pretend that he still had his piano to play. The food began to be scare and a family decision was made that Peter would make the walk to the town below. He felt that he would be safe. His father insisted that he take his gun just in case unintended intruders bothered him on his way. Martin won the argument leaving Peter with no other decision but to take it, conceal it in his boot and go. John wouldn’t let Peter go without him, so he tagged along. The two were a sight. Quietly talking as they walked through the woods. John walked ahead several times being a look out and then he would walk back making sure that his younger brother was still on the trail. The sky began to fill with storm clouds, and it was growing dark even for the afternoon. Planes flew in the skies and when they did, the two hid in the trees. The coast is clear, John said to Peter. Just then, a cabin appeared in the meadow ahead. Do you think it is safe, Peter said to his brother? Well, there is only one way to know and we can sneak around the back and investigate the window. Making their way to the back of the old home, Peter climbed upon John’s back and peaked into the window. Sitting in an old chair was an old man. Climbing down, Peter gave his account of what he saw. They argued for a while and decided to knock on the door. With the gun in Peter’s boot loaded, the two knocked on the front door. The old man made his way to the door and opened it slowly. We come in peace, John replied. We are traveling and seeking food supplies. The old man opened the door for them and said, quickly, the planes are flying often today. Grateful and tired they sat down to rest by the fire. The old man was alone. The war had startled his family and they left him alone. What a cruel thing to do they both said. It’s alright he replied. I have my faith and I have plenty of food and wood to get me though.  You can stay for the night and in the morning, I will send you on your way with supplies for you family. My name is Charles and I was a violinist back in my day. I am a pianist! Peter exclaimed. And a good one, John said. Charles led them to a spare room and uncovered a large piano. Oh, how I missed playing Peter yelled! Not so loud, Charles replied. You just never know who is out there. I do not care for I will go out playing if that is my lot! Pulling the stool out from beneath the dusty piano, he began to play. They were as one again. The blacks and the whites putting out an old tune. It is well with my soul. Charles rejoiced as he played. Quickly, he left the room to return with his fiddle. The two played as if they had known each other all their lives. John sat in amazement. The beauty of the fiddle and the piano was beyond anything natural. Almost majestic John yelled! This is wonderful! The evening was filled with music and laughter. It was as if they two were meant to find Charles in the middle of the war. The morning air was crisp, and the clouds were nowhere to be found. The snow that had fallen last night was glistening as the sun’s rays fell upon it. Coffee was brewing and Charles had prepared things for their travel back home. Hugs were replaced with tears as they left the old home. Please take care of yourself Charles and if you need anything, here is a map of where we are. Let us pray that this war ends soon, and you can return to your lives. John, Charles said, become a great lawyer and Peter become one of the greatest pianists of all time!  

They waved and made their way back up the hill. Mother ran to the door when she caught a glimpse of her two sons returning. Hurry in she said. You must be tired, Martin get their coats off them and help them unpack. With the fire burning, the two brothers told their parents all about Charles. It was as if he was supposed to be there. Days went by and the radio blasted out one day, the war is over! You could hear their yelling all through the forest! How happy they were. Packing their things, they loaded up the car. It was spring now and the roads were clear. The two wanted to see if they could stop to check on Charles but they couldn’t find the old home. They made a pack that one day soon they would come back and find it and return the favor that he had graciously done for them.  Home was just as they had found it. Peter’s piano was still there. John stayed for a few days. College still waiting for him, he said his goodbyes and left. Many tears were shed that day, but he was onto become a great lawyer and a defense for the defenseless. The two brothers stayed in touch for years to come. John finished college and Peter got a scholarship to a great school of the arts where he studied hard. Professors were so amazed by his talent. Surely, he will become one of the greats! John graduated from college first and opened his own office where he took any cause and fought hard for those that needed him. One day, he received a letter in the mail with no return address. As he opened the letter and began to read it, his eyes filled with tears.  

Dear John and Peter,

I am so proud of what you both have become! Above majestic! I have followed you for many years and this is the cause that I have written you. Since I have no family left and the ones that I called mine, left me so many years ago. I am leaving you my estate with it’s belongings. Please give Peter my piano and my fiddle. Here is the address as follows.

Lovingly,

Charles

The letter fell into John’s lap. How did he find us? Picking up the phone on his desk, he telephoned Peter to tell him of the news. Peter’s reaction was the same. Sheer shock. The two brothers decided to make a trip to the old home the following weekend. The car pulled up the old home and the two brothers were filled with memories. The key opened the door and it was as if time stopped. Everything was the same. The piano still there and the fiddle laying beside it. Peter uncovered the cloth that sat on top of the piano. He lifted it and sat to play. A card fell out of it and landed on the black and whites. He opened it up and the words read, above majestic but the date had been written from many years ago. long before they had arrived there on their travels to find food and supplies. Arriving home, Peter decided to do some research on Charles. At the turn of the century, Charles was once a famed violinist and his girlfriend whom he never married was a pianist. Charles had loved her so and her music. He called her above majestic. Peter sat stunned in his chair. I know now that when I perform, I will call my show Above Majestic. It was from then on, that Peter who kept his passion for music, started his tour. He was well known for all his life. You can still hear those piano keys with the fiddle playing in the old home during the war. I am sure in heaven Charles is playing a fiddle and dancing when Peter plays the black and whites. John went onto became a famed lawyer. He turned many cases into the favor of the misused. Mother and father lived a long life. Wherever Peter was performing, they were up front and whenever John was in court, they were in the front row.

 Always let your passions guide you and sing a hymn and play a tune wherever you are low. Even in war, good is found that can lead you to where you belong.