Cameron opened the door to reveal a room of glittering brass and polished wood.
Instruments.
They filled the floor and hung on the walls.
Tilly gasped, “Where did you get all of these instruments?”
“Instruments?” Cameron asked, “You know what these are?”
“Of course!” Tilly replied as she gazed around the room, “We have tons of these on my planet… How did you get them here?”
“We have explorers that go to other planets in other galaxies to learn about what their inhabitants do and how we can use their technologies to make our planet better,” He explained. “Because our people look so similar to yours, no one notices when we stop by to observe. Often times the explorers bring back things so that we can do tests and experiments… That’s what brings us to this room…”
Tilly nodded her head as she stepped over guitars and around cellos to get to the Grand piano in the center of the room. She brushed her fingers across the wooden edges. She had never seen anything more perfectly made.
“Um, do you know what these do? Because we have done hundreds of tests and still have yet to find the purpose of these… things.” Cameron said.
Tilly looked at him right in the eyes. He still stood at the door, but the effect of her stare from the center of the room was just as penetrating.
“These are not things.” She said. She turned back to the piano. She sat down, closed her eyes, and slid her fingers across the cool smooth keys. She hadn’t felt a piano in a long time since her journey to this unfamiliar planet.
And she began to play.
Note after note filled the room with echoing magic. The music glided through the air and turned off the walls into spirals of never-ending wonder. Like a little girl skipping across the sidewalk with a long red ribbon grasped in her hand. As she glided across the concrete the ribbon would twist and twirl and flow in the wind. That is what music was like in Tilly’s mind. As she played now, the ribbons flew through the room and brushed by her face. She felt at peace.
Cameron was awe-struck. He slowly walked across the room, careful not to bump into anything that would make a loud noise. He didn’t want to break the beauty of the sounds coming from the piano. He stood next to Tilly and watched as her hands danced across the keys. Fast, and then slow and then fast again. She didn’t hesitate.
Cameron too closed his eyes. He felt the notes flow into his feet and up his legs. They continued to crawl up his spine and through his arms. He felt the warmth of Tilly through the sounds she created. He felt the notes melt into his heart.
Suddenly, it stopped. Cameron’s eyes popped open to see Tilly staring at him once again. A smile tickled her lips as she realized his new fondness of the sounds.
“What… What was that?” He asked, not yet ready to come back from such a beautiful dream; back into reality.
Tilly smiled, “That was music.”