08/23/07
The Piano
23. The Safe
The piano is closed, just another pretty piece of furniture in the spacious apartment. On top there are busts of Schubert and Mozart, mementos from a long-forgotten trip to Austria. There's also a Beethoven effigy, because he's the pianist's favorite, a gift from one of the old conservatory friends.
The pianist passes by his piano every day, as he's scurrying to go to work, or maybe pick up his daughter from the school. Or maybe on his way to the supermarket. He never touches it these days, except to open the top cover and take out some of the spending money the family keeps there. Or to hide something else inside.
It's a safe place: if the apartment were ever broken into, the last place a burglar would look for jewels and money would be among the chords of the great piano.