Part No. 5

    A Gift from God

    It was a bright morning on a distant planet far from the center of the galaxy. Within the grounds of the Salazar family mansion, a hovercar landed gracefully. At the same moment, the couple of the Salazar family hurried out. Their faces were full of joy and excitement, but at the same moment, they were obviously nervous because of a worry.

    The reason for that was the fact that their beloved son’s official 10th birthday would arrive in just a few days. Augustin had been making great efforts to find and purchase a piano as a birthday gift for his son. However, what had been left for him was a single unpopular musical instrument. Of course, he tried bidding for it without any rivals, since no one wanted it in the first place. Thus, he was deeply worried about whether his son would like it. 

    The couple hadn’t been home for about a week, and as soon as they stepped inside, they were stopped in their tracks by the sound of beautiful music drifting from the living room in the center of the house. 

    Augustin glanced at his wife in surprise. Could their children have got a new toy?

    But Rebecca shook her head, she also didn’t know. During the seven days she’d been communicating with their son and daughter, neither of them had mentioned anything about a new toy. All she knew was that after their visit to the Fidango family house, the two hadn’t gone anywhere else. 

    In the end, the couple were attracted by the beautiful sound of music, making them quickly follow it. Then, the sight before them nearly made the two stop breathing.

    It was the very instrument he had seen at the Fidango house—a large, meticulously crafted black grand piano, now sitting in their living room. And there, the boy moved his fingers to play a song. Not so far from him was the little girl, who had been sitting and listening to it, enchanted.  

    The sound of the instrument was beautiful, and the melody that had been played was so captivatingly beautiful, so much so that they could hardly believe it was being played by a mere ten-year-old boy. 

    “Oh! It’s Father and Mother.”

    It seemed their arrival was quickly noticed by the little princess. The moment Gloria’s voice rang out, Gabriel immediately stopped playing and turned to look. 

    “Father! Mother! You’re back so soon!!”

    There were the exclamations of joy from the two young children who ran over to their parents in joy and excitement. 

    “What are you up to? Why is there such beautiful music?” The father asked the boy in his embrace. 

    “I was playing the piano for Gloria.” Upon hearing it, Augustin furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

    “A piano? Where did you get a piano?” 

    “Mr. Fidango gave it to me as a birthday gift.”

    Gabriel answered truthfully. But this response seemed to make his father… annoyed? 

    “Tch! Beaten to the punch with a gift,” Augustin muttered. 

    Rebecca laughed as she saw her husband’s grumpy expression. 

    “Your father’s just upset that someone beat him to giving you a gift.”

    “A gift? Father, you got me a gift too?”

    Upon hearing it, the boy quickly turned to ask in excitement. Although he wasn’t really a child inside, he couldn’t deny that everyone loves presents.

    “Ahem… I managed to contact a musical instrument broker. However, it isn’t a piano like Mr. Fidango’s. It’s smaller, and the broker mentioned that its sound is piercing and that it’s harder to start playing than a piano. That’s why it’s not very popular among the people in Sagittarius. But I bought it, just in case you might like it.”

    He did not just say it, but Augustin also slowly pushed the box containing the instrument forward. Seeing the familiar shape of the box, Gabriel’s eyes were sparkling. 

    “This is…” Could it be the instrument he was thinking of? The little child’s heart pounded with excitement. 

    “Is it inside the box?”

    Gloria, who had just finished greeting their parents, quickly came over to sit beside her older brother, who kept staring at the box of instrument with sparkling eyes. 

    The boy decided to quickly open the box out of excitement. As soon as the lid was lifted, it revealed a small, stringed instrument made of sturdy wood. It was crafted with intricate, delicate details, and its surface was coated with a glossy reddish-brown varnish. Beside it lay a bow, a tool for playing it.

    “A violin…”

    Gabriel’s spoke in a trembling voice. He could barely contain the gratitude and joy in his heart. This was the instrument he had longed for the most… 

    “Big Brother, you know what this is?”

    Gloria was surprised. She had never seen such an instrument in either of her lives. As for pianos, she had at least heard of it. Even though she hadn’t seen one up close, she had heard people played them when she attended banquets. But she had never once come across this instrument during her time in Sagittarius. She didn’t expect her older brother to recognize it.

    It seemed like her big brother truly was a little genius… 

    “Son… Do you like it? We’re so sorry we couldn’t find a piano for you.”

    The mother quickly approached to ask once she saw that her son was stunned. She feared her son was dissatisfied. But to her surprise, the boy before her quickly threw himself into her arms. 

    “Thank you so much… Thank you, really. I love it so much.”

    Gabriel thanked her, his voice muffled. The rush of emotions made it impossible for him to hold back his tears. He felt like he was dreaming. As mentioned earlier, in his previous life, he had been called the king of classical musicians because of his outstanding and unique skill with the violin. 

    Although he had started playing the piano at the age of four, once he tried playing the violin at seven, he couldn’t let it go. While the general public saw him as a prodigy equally talented in both piano and violin, those with deeper knowledge could immediately tell that his skill in violin obviously surpassed that of the piano. 

    He had already given up hope that he would ever play the violin again in this second life. He never imagined that his parents would be able to find one … 

    “I’m just glad you like it.”

    Augustin felt relieved, seeing his son’s grateful expression. At least, his son also liked the present he had made an effort to obtain it.

    “But… how do you play it?”

    Gloria was so curious that she was unable to hold back. The instrument had strings, did the strings have to be plucked? It looked so small that she couldn’t even imagine what kind of sound it would make. 

    “Let me show you.”

    Seeing that his younger sister was interested, Gabriel quickly picked up the bow that lay beside the violin. He adjusted the bow’s hair, which had been loosened to maintain its quality, by turning its base to tighten it. He then noticed that the horsehair hadn’t even been rubbed with rosin yet, even though the rosin was provided in the box. This must be one of the reasons why no one could easily play it; most people didn’t know that they needed to rub the rosin on the horsehair.

    “What are you doing, Big Brother?...” Gloria scrunched her face as she watched her older brother picked up a strange thing to rub the white thread back and forth.

    “I’m making the instrument playable. Because it needs to be set up first.”

    Gabriel explained to his younger sister without taking his eyes off the equipment in his hands. After applying the rosin, he had to check if the violin strings were tuned, which he was sure they weren’t. 

    “Oh, it’s for plucking, right?”

    The girl exclaimed as she watched Gabriel hold the mysterious instrument up to his ear and pluck the strings, all while turning something near the end of the instrument’s strings. She didn’t understand what her older brother was doing, but she could sense that each time he turned his hand, the sound of the plucked string changed. It was very thrilling for her to see how these four tiny strings could each produce such different sounds. 

    “Done.”

    Gabriel finished preparing the violin within five minutes, under the curious eyes of his parents and younger sister. 

    “Why are there so many steps? It’s not like the piano.”

    Upon hearing such a question from his younger sister, Gabriel laughed softly.

    “The piano is even more complex, but the violin is easier to carry around.”

    “Is this thing called a violin?” 

    “Yes, that’s right. And when you play it, you use this thing, a bow, to brush across it like this…”

    During the explanation, Gabriel raised the bow and placed it on the strings. He then drew out a long, soft high note. 

    “This part here is called the fingerboard. When you press or vibrate your fingers, it changes the sound that comes out.”

    The boy explained as he pressed and vibrated his fingers while gently drawing the bow to produce a cute melody, which was familiar to Gloria. 

    “It’s Ode to Joy!”

     Gloria shouted. She recognized the melody. Even though it was the sound of a different instrument, the tune indicated it certainly was this song. 

    “Good job!” Gabriel was delighted that his sister answered correctly. He bent down and kissed her cheek as a reward, causing the little princess to grin happily. 

    “You two must have played together a lot while we were away.”

    Upon seeing the closeness between the two siblings, Rebecca couldn’t help but feel a tinge of envy. Due to their jobs, the couple was rarely at home, so it wasn’t surprising that Gloria loved and respected her big brother, who had been taking care of her since she was young, more than her parents, who barely had time for her.

    "Big Brother taught me how to play the piano!"

    Upon hearing that, Gloria quickly turned to boast. 

    “She’s so talented. She only practiced for three or four days and can already play songs… Shall we play something together for Father and Mother?” Gabriel stoked his younger sister’s hair with affection.

    “Can we play together?” The younger sister was curious. 

    “Of course. You play the piano, and I’ll play the violin.” 

    The couple, who had been listening to their two children’s conversation, started to feel interested. They had heard music occasionally but rarely had the chance to hear two instruments played together in harmony. 

    Gloria quickly moved her little body and climbed up onto the piano bench. Then, Gabriel walked over and stood beside his younger sister. He leaned in to whisper something to his sister, which their parents couldn’t hear, but judging by their daughter’s expression, they thought it was something good, since that was a smiley face which joy and excitement were evident.  

    Before starting, Gabriel tried playing the violin, moving the bow back and forth to get a feel for the instrument. The sounds that came out weren’t a melody, consisting of alternating high and low tones as he moved his fingers and bow.

    Gabriel was merely trying to press his fingers as he played it. Occasionally, he tried vibrating them to check the quality of the violin. Shortly after, the boy was surprised by the sound this violin produced—it was beautiful and resonant. No matter what technique he used, the sounds that came out of it were flawless. If this violin had existed during the period when he was still the king of classical musicians, it would have been worth no less than tens of millions. 

    “Are you ready, big brother?”

    Gloria asked after she had been sitting and watching her older brother test the instrument for a while. She was dying to play music with her big brother!  

    “Yes,” Gabriel nodded in agreement, seeing his younger sister’s urging demeanor. 

    Now that Gabriel and Gloria were ready to play a music, the boy tapped his foot in a rhythm. One… two… three… Then, the piano started, playing the notes that were lower than usual, as if it was a melody that softly mingled with each other in a backdrop. After a few seconds, the boy lifted the violin to his shoulder in a movement so elegant it made the onlookers nearly forget to breathe. Gabriel’s right hand set the bow onto the strings, while his left hand pressed the fingerboard and vibrated, creating a beautiful melody. 

    The low notes of the piano and the high notes of the violin made the lively tune appear to be even more beautiful. Augustin and Rebecca stared blankly at the scene before them, finding it hard to believe that such beautiful music could come from just two young children—especially their own! 

    Ode to Joy was a piece taken from the final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, composed during the twilight of his life. Hence, the piece represents the human spirit’s struggle and ultimate triumph.

    Therefore, whoever hears it will get goosebump because of its powerfulness. It’s no surprise that even after a thousand years, this song still remains a part of people’s lives. 

    Although the duet between the piano and violin at the moment wasn’t perfect, as Gloria’s skills were not high and Gabriel’s body wasn’t yet fully accustomed to the violin, it was beautiful enough to leave the couple speechless even after the performance had ended for a while. 

    “That was so beautiful!!”

    It turned out that the one who broke the silence was the little girl, who turned to her older brother with excitement. 

    “Big Brother, I want to play more songs with you.” 

    “Gloria, you like it, right? Actually, the piano and violin make a great pair, don’t they?”

    Gabriel lowered the violin, laughing at his younger sister’s funny expression. 

    “It was so beautiful. I can’t believe my two children are this talented.”

    Rebecca was the first to find her voice, looking at her son and daughter with a look that showed she couldn’t believe her eyes. 

    “It was an extraordinary piece. If that’s the result, then it was worth all the effort to find that gift.”

    Once he finished, Augustin walked over and hugged his two children in a loving way. The music they had just played was so beautiful, and it left a lasting feeling in his heart. It nearly made him cry. No one in the galaxy could be as fortunate as he was to hear such a wonderful song. 

    Augustin wasn’t a believer in God. He didn’t adhere to any religion, and he thought he would never fall for such nonsense things. Yet, in the fleeting moment when he was immersed in the beautiful melody, he became aware that he must have got a valuable and majestic gift from God. And not just one gift, but two!