The bell had rung. The line had shut down. The place was empty. Artur did his rounds as he usually did. Securing doors, turning on alarms, unplugging the toaster. Then he’d sit and practice. Two hours every night without fail.
He was going to be a famous pianist one day. Go to school they said. “Vy you wanna verk een ah faktohree?” his mother would yell when he got home. They’ll see, he thought to himself as he strode over to the storage cages. But his piano was locked up, and there were packages inside, with his name on them.
100 Words
Artur Rubenstein, also known as Arthur Rubenstein, was a famous pianist, born in Poland in 1887 while Poland was still a part of the Russian empire. He played the works of all the famous composers, and was regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. He had a passion for the piano and played his beloved instrument for eight decades. His father owned a textile factory.
Of course my flash fiction is just that, fiction. There were no toasters in his time. And his mother never yelled at him about working in a factory, as far as I know.
Go to Rochelle Wisoff’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story for Friday Fictioneers.
Brilliant stuff, Girl.
I wish I could sling fictional verse with such precision.
Thank you Hook! You sling real life with such precision. Just read your Random Thoughts post. Beautiful Hook!
It just came to me, which is unusual, as poetry isn’t my thing at all.
Those packages have triggered a great many questions. Thanks for introducing us to Artur! The toaster-unplugging made me laugh – I do that too. 🙂
Thanks for reading Fatima. I appreciate your comments and enjoy your writing. And doesn’t everybody unplug their toaster? 🙂
Oh my. I wonder what happened? Did Mama finally kick him out and send his stuff to storage?
Enjoyable, partly because we just didn’t know how it would end–and still don’t 🙂
Who knows. I guess the ending would be determined by each individual. Anything is possible. Thanks so much for reading and appreciating!
What a lovely take on the photo. I can’t believe I never saw the piano in the picture… Mind you, I didn’t blow it up (she says in defense 😉 )
Haha that’s a great defence. I didn’t see it at first either. When I did, I decided to build the story around the background. Thanks for reading Dale!
A delightful piece of fiction with a nod to fact! Shame about the piano being locked away though – and just what, I wonder. do the packages contain?
I guess he has two good reasons to break that lock, the packages, and his beloved piano. Thanks for reading and appreciating Keith!
Interesting out how one exposure to something, in this case a piano, becomes a person’s fate.
Isn’t that a fact. According to history his father played the violin, but he preferred the piano. Thanks for reading Tannille!
Excellent fiction about a real person.
So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for reading and appreciating!
You’re very welcome!
What a lovely piece of historical fiction, very atmospheric. I imagined his disappointment to find the piano locked up. I think he might need to learn a new skill, lock picking. Very nice story!
Haha exactly! Thanks very much for reading and appreciating Brenda.
A great story! I bet he went nuts when he saw the lock… do I foresee some lockpicking going on??? 🙂 <3
Haha, is say he broke the lock and got to his piano. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I’m glad he unplugged the toaster, I would have liked him to play his piano instead of being locked out.
Would have been nice, but sadly someone locked up his piano. Thank you for your comment James.
A story fit for Rochelle’s curatorship
Thank you Neil.
I can just picture him practising away in the factory on his own at night. Evocative scene.
Thanks very much Iain. Like any artist, it’s great to practice your art when you’re alone. I’m sure as an author you can relate to that.
Dear Shelley,
You might’ve guessed by now that one of my favorite genres is historical fiction/biography. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle. I very much appreciate that. I enjoy historical fiction too. And yes, I did notice that.
Artur might have had a toaster. It was invented by a fellow-Scotsman, in 1893. 🙂
Really? I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing that.