Friday, December 28, 2007

The Guitar

This Week’s Theme: Your adult character just got a guitar for Christmas--a gift very out of character. What changes, if any, does this cause in her life or personality? (You may adjust the instrument if a guitar would be out of place or time in your story.)
A guitar. What was she thinking? My younger sister had the idea of giving him a guitar for his 35th birthday. She said, "You might find what you want with it." He thought she has lost her mind! Who tries to teach an old dog a new trick?

He had to pick it up even from the music store because she said she didn't have time. So there he was, trudging over to the two-floor music store a few blocks away from his place. He gave the girl his name and his identification card and after a brief searching, there she was. She was a pretty one, although how good the quality of the instrument is, he wouldn't know. He tried the fit on his hand and it was perfect. How the heck he'll play it and learn how to play it is a different matter.

So he went on his way back to his house. But something seems to be different. Women started smiling and looking at him for some reasons. He is not ugly but the attention he's getting just after he slung the guitar behind his back is record-breaking even for him. Almost everyone seems to be looking at him and smiling. One woman even asked him if he plays the guitar. He of course bragged that he did and he could play the music especially for her. She believed it and she gave him her number! This guitar must be my lucky charm.

When my sister Mary called to ask about the gift she gave me, I told her it was the best gift ever! She was so happy that I liked it. Maybe she thought I can make music with it. But for me, it was an instrument to help me meet more women. Now, if only I can learn how to play it and really impress the ladies.

He plucked the strings and a horrible sound came out. Uh oh. How can I impress the girls if I cannot play? The woman he's going to meet is coming over in two days!

Two days later, the woman found him with a serious bandage on his hands. He said it was an accident he met when he was trying to fix his cabinet. He lost his firm grip and ended up hammering his hands instead of the wood. Ouch! The lady bought it, hook line and sinker. Just the look of the guitar in his living room seem to add this incredible charm to his personality.

After a month or so, he knew he can not use the injury trick forever and ended up trying to learn how to play the guitar. And he realized that he can be quite good at it. He loves taking his time and just getting lost with the music. Now, he and his guitar make great music together. He realized something he never knew before: he is an artist and he finally found his craft.

He thank his sister everytime he sees her. The guitar has shown him things he would never have tried before. He never knew he had it in himself to learn new things or even to enjoy music without thinking of how the women will be impressed. It has definitely changed his perspective.

The night was young and the air is cold. But me and my guitar are close together, making music and feeling content. I did find a woman I am starting to love. Yes, my guitar definitely changed my life.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh nicely done! I like the change precipitated in your character by this object.

PJD said...

I like the idea of the guitar as a chick magnet and that being his initial motivation to actually learn to play. I thought the bandage on his hand was going to be from the strings, which can cause some pretty gnarly callouses when you first start playing.

lissa said...

I guess he learned to appreciation something he never thought he would. I'm not sure about the two point of view - is it the same person?

Jodi Cleghorn said...

I like the idea that we're all artists .. and this case a random (but obviously well thought out) gift can facilitate the birth of an artist. I've been one of those chicks magnetised by a guitar and the music that flows and from the person who plays!

I too was a little distracted by the change in point of view and some incongruent tenses - but the philosophy of FF is just about getting it down! Thanks so much for sharing.

Ther said...

thanks for the comments. i did realize that the point of view varied but i didn't change it as we're supposed to just write down our thoughts and not edit the article.

Chris said...

This is a very strong piece and well written. You didn't mucky up the story with too much painted detail that the story gets lost. One criticism: I want to start by saying I realize that this is an exercise and not a polished work. If I didn't think this story had great bones I wouldn't bother so here is my comment – I think you need to flush out the relationship with the first girl. We see the superficiality, but we don't see it go south. As an audience member I need to see the sticky end so the pay off "growing as a person" is greater. I hope this is making sense – don't know how to play, get girl under false pretenses because character is shallow, finally loose girl to lie – juxtaposed to the second half – learn lesson, learn guitar, life enriched with art, and better more substantial relationships. I also think because the piece is so strong you can let the audience see a lot more of the second half of the story. It is truly a cleaver moral story and strongly written.

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