Memories of Music

First story ever written. Sorry for my poor attempt. It was for an ISU in English class.




"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Luke Cosgair said to try and reassure her.

"Well, okay. But we better not have potatoes every single day!" Maria said. "You know how much I love Chinese take-outs!"

Luke smiled and turned towards the window of the plane. As calm as he looked, he was actually really nervous. Six years ago, he ran away from home and hasn’t come back since then. Well, not technically. he asked his seanathair's [grandfather] permission, but not his seanmgathair's because he knew that she would object.
He looked back at his now sleeping wife and wondered whether they were going to accept her or not. Of course they will...he thought. I chose her. But as sleepiness ran through his veins, his last thoughts were a vague compilation of all his soon-to-be problems.




Five hours later, they arrived in the airport at County Waterfold, Ireland. Alive and kicking - yes, kicking. They were both stretching their legs due to the numbness caused by the long time of sitting in the plain, when like saw his grandfather.

"Conas ata tu? [How are you]" Luke called. "Well.. Here we are!"

"Hi," Maria said nervously

Athair smiled at her and ushered them into the taxi. Like’s grandparents don’t own a car because it cost too much and they both preferred to walk around – stretch their bones. As they walked out of the airport, Athair looked Luke straight in the eyes. Oh, here comes that scary look, Luke thought as he saw it coming. Indeed. Athair gave him a piercing glance. He gave it right back and nodded. His grandfather nodded back. He knew that they now understood each other – no words were needed. He understood Luke’s decision and fear, and he respected it.

They drove for about an hour without much traffic. It was a pretty long drive because the airport was located at the main city in the county, while the family house was by Bunmahon.

Bunmahon was a small village named after the River Mahon. It was originally a mining village and was converted to Catholicism in 1842. It has several churches that can each hold about three hundred people. Due to the role it served in the 1800s, there were a lot of inns located around the village and houses were quite small. The House of Cosgair, on the hand, contained five: the master bedroom, Like’s, a reading room, and guests rooms.

The other guest room originally served as the lodging for Luke’s parents, but was left along after their divorce and the abandonment of Luke. Maria, also parentless at this time, was born in Italy. She and her family moved to the US in search of a better life, but that hope was cut short. After a few years, her parents died from a drive-by and she was sent to an orphanage. Through her teen years, she worked hard in order to save enough money for art school – where she and Luke met.
The newly-weed couple decided to stay at the Cosgair House for a few days. But their stay was elongated due to the pleas from the people that lived within it. Mhathair seemed to have taken a liking to Maria. Luke had to admit taht he was very nervous about Maria and his grandparents’ meeting, but was not at ease after seeing them get along very well.

Maria was enjoying her stay at the House. Mhathair was a very silent, kind and perceptive woman. Very unlike the old cat lady that lived next door in Maria’s old apartment. In her opinion, that woman acted worse than the cat lady in The Simpsons show (her favourite). During her stay, she also learned that Athair shared – or rather Luke shared a few qualities with Athair. They were both quiet at times and very observant. They can also hide their feelings and what they were thinking very well, which amazed her because they seemed to be two completely different persons at first.



After a few days, Luke and Maria decided to look for a place of their own. Luckily, they found it on the first day and decided to move in about four days later. They had saved enough money to buy a small rundown cottage about 2 miles away from the house. It was old and simple, but held its dignity through the years. Yes, a lot of cleaning was needed, but they were both happy to find it.

“Why don’t you guys stay a bit longer?” said Athair, with his heavy Irish accent. But they refused all offers because both had seen the strains of Luke’s grandparents from cleaning and worrying. And to stay any longer than they had would have driven the old couple into sickness.

“I promise to visit often!” Maria called back to them.

“Please do,” Mhathair said as she waved them goodbye.

“Dont forget the wedding!” Luke called out.

They didn’t manage to answer back, for the roar of the rented care drowned their calls.

“Bye and see you soon!”



As soon as they stepped into the old, small cottage, they felt contentment and satisfaction. Although a lot of work was needed to make the place seem like new, it was all worth it. Because Maria and Like now had something they never did – home. And during the next few days, they worked relentlessly to improve the house’s condition.

Finally, after a week of pure work, they found the time to look for a church. They looked for over two days and found a little church located on top of a hill, by the river. The church’s design was perfect and the background was even better. The crisp blue sky gave off a feeling of calmness, while the fluffy white clouds gave people a break from the endless river of blue. And when afternoon came, the sun that set down on the horizon gave off a reddish and orangey color to the river below that made it look absolutely breath-taking.

They slowly approached the church and went in. Luke looked for the pastor and talked to him, while Maria sat on one of the church’s benches and waited. After a few more minutes, Like finalized a deal and went over to her to tell her the news.

“It’s all set. We just need to clean it up a bit and we’re good to go!”

“So, we can have the wedding, if possible, about two weeks from now?”

“Did you not hear what I said?! Now get up and let’s get going.”



After finding a wedding organizer and a few cheap workers (mostly teenagers took on the job), the only thing needed was for the ceremony to happen. Everything was set: all the invitations had been sent, the flowers were good to go, the gowns finished, and the bride-to-be was finally over her madness and was now overcome by nervousness.

On the day before the wedding, Maria and Luke decided to give the church and the decorations one last check-up. After the work, they walked around the perimeter of the church and stopped by the river side. Maria, tired from all the day’s worry, leaned over to the rock wall that acted as a protection from the depths below.

“Man, you’re finally over that phase.” Luke said.

“What phase?”

“The one where you get all crazy and hyped up for the wedding. I mean, come on. Did you not say that you were never going to be one of those girls?”

“Hey!” Maria complained and pushed him lightly. “Well, I know I did, but, it’s kind of hard not to.”

“Right, right. Crazy lady!” Luke barked and then laughed uncontrollably.

He finally stopped and then leaned on the wall too, by Maria’s right side.

“But seriously... It’s kind of hard to pic –” she stopped in the middle of the sentence and saw Luke’s face of shock and fear. Then, there was a sudden sound of crumbling then breaking and not one of them could have done anything before the next thing happened. The rock wall that Luke was leaning on gave in and fell, along with Luke.. Down, down and into the depths of the River Mahon.



Everyone was in shock due to the fact that Luke died right before the wedding. Everyone was devastated, especially Maria. She knew that she couldn’t blame herself or anyone else for it, but she still felt hopeless. And so, she kept to herself for days and days. Like’s grandparents became worried and walked to their cottage a couple of times to check up on her. She slept on and on until she could no more. And since the body of Luke was never found, they couldn’t hold a proper funeral, which made it even harder to accept the fact that he was dead.

Another week passed before she had enough courage to look at his belongings. She folded and refolded his clothes that left so many memories behind. She tried to play the violin that he had. She tried so hard that her fingers ached so much, it felt like they were about to come off. This music – the joy that she received when she played his violin was... infectious. It reminded her of him. Of how he laughed, ate made a joke, danced and even sang. This violin, this music was all a part of him. It was as if she was living with him again.

And she felt such joy when she discovered that she wasn’t alone anymore. Luke had not fully left her. He lived always, by her side: in his violin and in her heart. She realized that she no longer wanted to mourn. Instead, she wanted to live the dreams they shared. And from that time onwards, she decided to take on his profession, while bringing into it her own creativity. She also painted and wrote many different stories, which established her name through the entire course of her life.



And now, we knew her as one of the century’s greatest artists. She had lived a long life, yet died young. Was reborn and made into a new person after she saw the light in death. The happiness in pain that forced her to change was truly inspirational to all of us. Indeed, we recognized her not only as what she appeared to be, but how she stood up after all the failures and miseries from past experiences....