Flying Solo

There were five minutes left before the start of her first audition. She had been practicing tirelessly, burning through rosin like it was nothing. She ran with her case in hand bumping into the strangers in her path. Celeste made it to the stage sweating and panting. A bit of “Spring” from The Four Seasons. She hated Vivaldi, but she could do this. The audition ended. They thanked her for her time and informed her she would not have a seat in the orchestra. Celeste left the auditorium dejected and in tears. She swore off ever touching the violin again.

A pattern emerged in Celeste’s life. She would denounce the love of her life after each failed audition, only to come running back to the wooden curves and tense strings after a few weeks. She realized that sooner or later, she might need to give up the dream of being a professional violinist for good. She was giving lessons to rich kids between shifts as a barista and this was barely enough for rent and travel to her auditions.

Celeste found herself at a Motel 6 about twenty minutes out from downtown Yuma. Nobody outside of Yuma knew this orchestra existed. As she was falling asleep, she noticed a faint teal light entering the window. Not thinking much of it, she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she screamed in shock. She was in a metallic room surrounded by creatures she had never seen nor imagined. One of these creatures put a device to what must have been its mouth and said in perfect English, “Hello Celeste, do not be afraid. We would like to hear you play.”

Celeste, still terrified, asked, “Where am I?”

“Don’t worry, you are still very near to your home planet,” said the creature.

“So I am in space,” she said.

“That is correct,” said the creature.

“And you want me to play?” Celeste asked.

“Oh yes! We do very much,” said the creature.

“But why me?”

“We Klonfers love human music, and through our ever present surveillance we have identified you as the greatest violinist alive,” said the creature.

“You are joking.”

“Trust me, we do not joke. It would be a great honor and delight if you could play one or two pieces for us,” said the creature.

Celeste was convinced at this point that this was the most elaborate and vivid dream she had ever had. So she went with it. The creature handed her a violin.

“We hope this matches your preferences. It is a Stradivarius that we believe is a perfect fit for your style of play,” explained the creature.

“How did you…nevermind, this is a dream,” she said aloud.

She took the violin and played a few notes. It did have a pleasant sound and it felt like it was crafted just for her as it rested against her chin.

She played a piece from Bach. At the end, creatures were ecstatic. They stood in rapt amazement as Celeste drew out the last note and then made strange noises and jumped up and down. They were clearly pleased. This was the largest audience Celeste had ever played for. She played another piece and another. The creatures had what looked like tears streaming down their faces. After a half dozen pieces, the creature with the translator spoke,

“Miss Celeste, you have brought the greatest joy and honor to our species that mankind can bestow. For this reason, we have decided to spare your planet from complete destruction. As a token of our gratitude, you may keep the violin. We are forever grateful to you for this performance.”

As soon as the creature finished, Celeste felt a needle stab her thigh and then everything went black.

Celeste woke up in the Motel 6 bed, thinking about the wild dream she had had. Then she noticed there was a second violin case next to hers on the floor. Impossible, she thought. She opened the case. She immediately recognized the violin from her dream, which she realized now was…She became violently ill and did not make it to the bathroom.

Celeste cleaned herself up. She still had an audition to make. Nobody would ever believe this. And if she tried to use the violin as proof, people may think she stole it. As she left the hotel room, half in a state of existential dread, half nervous for the audition and half just plain bewildered, she remembered something. The creature had said she was the greatest violinist in the world. The greatest in the world. Again, nobody in their right mind would ever believe this, but Celeste now knew. She turned around. Her next stop would be Boston. In her mind, there was a first chair there with her name on it.