Gemotions

The news arrived via a brief phone call. No party. The meticulous preparations, the secret collaborations, the mounting excitement. All canceled, just like that.

He went to the old piano in the corner of the living room, the instrument he hadn't touched in years. He sat down and hesitantly placed his fingers on the keys. A single, tentative note rang out, followed by another, and another. He began to play a slow, mournful melody, the music filling the empty room.

As the notes drifted through the air, he recalled the many times he had played that piano with his late wife, and all the happy occasions when his family gathered around it. His fingers began to stumble over the keys, tears welling in his eyes as he played a tune from their childhood.