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Then she was soe, because she’d never learned Yet here she was, playing not just well but expertly, fingers prancing across the keys There was no sheetca, full of tenderness and the sweet sorrows of life Why did it see froan to discern patterns in the notes Their relationship was not arbitrary; they ht variation of the song’s emotional core, a melodic line that never wholly departed but supported the rest like laundry on a string How astonishing! She felt as if she were speaking an entirely new language, far more subtle and expressive than ordinary speech, capable of co the deepest truths It ers dexterouslyturned a corner; she could sense its end approaching The final notes descended They hung like dust one

"That onderful"

Peter was standing behind her Aainst his chest

"I didn’t hear you come in," she said

"I didn’t want to disturb you I kno much you like to play Will you play me another?" he asked

"Would you like that?"

"Oh, yes," he said "Veryat his watch "Not yet"

"Godda at his watch with infuriating patience At last he looked up

"Now," he said

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She played for a long while, song after song The first was light, with a hu of friends, everyone talking and laughing, darkness thickening outside the s as the party went on and on into the san with a deep, sonorous chord at the bass end of the keyboard, with a slightly sour tone A song of regret, of acts that could not be recalled, mistakes that could never be undone

There were others One was like looking at a fire Another like falling snow A third was horses galloping through tall grass beneath a blue autu in the world Sohad a soul The petals of flowers The mice of the field The clouds and rain and the bare lis and s she played Peter was still behind her Theof love She felt at peace

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They swung the net over the side and lowered it to the deck Greer drew a knife and began to slash at the filaments