Violin

Violin

Jack Jr, eldest of Sally and Jack%u2019s twin sons, sat pensively on his window seat that rainy morning, watching the rivulets of water stream down the panes of glass. The pattering sound, punctuated by flashes of white-purple lightning and rolls of thunder, put JR in a rather pensive mood; this marked the end of the summer, meaning his beloved, Timothy, had been gone for nine months altogether. Nine months in which the bone-demon had distracted himself; he had learned to play three instruments, and had begun taking in injured animals, as he had when he was younger. After a few more moments of thinking, he unfolded from the cushioned bench and slipped downstairs to distract himself with the violin.

The violin was a Stradivarius%u2014one of a precious few; JR fingered the strings gently, before removing it from the case and beginning to tune it. Though the origins of this particular violin were dubious at best (Lock had gifted him with it, refusing to say where he%u2019d gotten such a rare piece)*, JR nonetheless felt well in the fact that it was now a well-cared for violin, and well-loved as well. Setting the tuned violin back in its case, he began to rosin the bow with his usual slow precision.

After the bow had been tended to, he plucked the violin from the velvet-lined case and rested it on his shoulder. Drawing the bow across the A string, the tone echoed through the room, providing him vehicle to sink into the music entirely, forgetting sentience and conscious thought. The bow danced across the strings, obeying his soul rather than his mind, a slow melody of longing and resigned sadness, hope and love. When the last note had faded away, he opened his eyes and allowed thought to take precedence once more, tapping his finger on the neck as he thought. Setting the bow down, he re-tuned the E to E-flat and began the tune his father had taught him.**

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*The Stradivarius in the story is none other than the 'Herkules', stolen in 1908 and still missing.

**Camille Saint-Saens' 'La Danse Macabre'. The song does require the e-string to be tuned to e-flat, to lend an eerie feel to the song. For those who have never heard this song: It was featured in parts of the Buffy Episode 'Hush', and is the music to the Disney cartoon 'Graveyard Dance'. Camille is the composer of 'Carnival of the Animals'. Actually, JR playing this song is a sort of in-joke: Camille wrote the song as inspired by a French poem about the legend of Death coming every Halloween to raise the dead and have them dance to his violin. Ahem: '...And I'm known throughout England and France', anybody? Not that Jack is Death or anything.