Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong


My piano recital



     My heart raced, as if threatening to burst within my chest. I had
never been this nervous before in my entire life. My hands were perspiring,
so sweaty that the lint in my pockets were probably sticking to them. This
was also the very first time I had ever been in a church. I was only 14 at
the time.
  I looked around, noticing the stained-glass windows in the back of the
room. In the front, there was a stage, a dias raised about a foot off the
hardwood floor. The stage was clad with this smooth-looking red carpet that
reminded me of silk. And on that carpetted stage, there was a piano, a
light brown, upright Baldwin.
  There was a young girl playing on that piano, the music echoing in the
room we were in. She looked a few years younger than me, her light-brown
hair accenuated by the morning light that entered through one of the open
windows. There were several hundred people in that room, all of them
attentively listening to the beautiful music she was playing. At least most
of the people were. Me, I was too nervous to be listening. She was the
second to last person to be playing at that recital, me being the last. Ever
hear of the phrase 'save the best for last'....I guess that would've been
me the phrase was referring to, for I was considered the most talented
student at the recital, and thus, I went last.
  The audience started clapping, the girl having finished her song. It was
a beautiful song. Too bad I missed it because I was worrying about myself
rather than enjoying the music. To this day, I can't recall what she played,
but I can recall that her name was 'Erin', but that was it.
  The music teacher, an overweight woman named Annette, stepped up to the
stage, telling the crowd the name of the piece. I was too nervous to listen
at that time also. I knew I was going to be next.
  After the audience stopped applauding, Annette looked at me, indicating
that it was my turn to play. I gently nodded, aknowledging her. She then
told the audience that the next person was me, and that I'd be playing 'Fur
Elise' by Beethoven and 'Everything I, I do it for you' by Bryan Adams.
  The audience started clapping as I stepped toward the stage, my music
pieces in my sweaty hands. Everything quieted down as I prepared to play,
placing 'Fur Elise' in front of me. I sat down on the bench, realizing that
my legs were trembling when I place a foot on the sustain pedal. I took a
deep breath. There was no turning back now.
  As I struck the first note, an 'E', my nervousness started to dissolve, as
if I know exactly what I was doing. I struck the second key, a black key,
an 'E flat'. By now, just two notes into the song, I was confident that I
could play the song, my nervousness replaced with confidence.
  Before I knew it, I finished playing the song, and without a single
mistake. I stood to receive my standing ovation, bowing a few times like I
saw the pianists do on televison. It lasted for several pleasure-filled
moments.
  Once the applause died down, I got back onto my beanch, already placing my
next piece in front of me. I smiled to myself, knowing that I was now in the
clear, my hardest piece behind me. This piece was easy. I started playing,
my fingers gliding over the keys like it was a second nature to me. I didn't
even concentrate, the music flowing from someplace within and out toward
my fingertips. Then I realized something was wrong.....one of the keys was
stuck, and it wouldn't come up. Panic overwelmed me, the thought of messing
up scaring me to death. I subtly struck the key, and to my relief, it popped
back up. Yes!
  I prayed to myself that the key wouldn't get stuck again, and it didn't.
Unfortunately, that little thought distracted me just enough that I struck
the wrong key, bringing the entire song out of note. I wanted to shrivel up
and crawl under a rock from embarressment. But before I could do that, I
improvised, striking several more keys, making it sound like they flowed
together. To my relief, I managed to hide the mistake due to quick thinking.
But if one knew the song well enough, they would have heard my mistake. The
rest of the song went perfectly, no more mistakes coming about.
  I stood for my second standing ovation, grateful that the song was
finished, and that I was now finished with playing my pieces. As the
audience continued on clapping, I felt a sense of saddness......I was sad
that the songs were over.