The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden: (Revised Edition 2020)

by Londyn Skye

  Lily quickly perked up when she heard a light knock on her dressing room door. “Come in!” she said, whipping her head around to see if it was James. “Oh, hey, Austin,” she sighed, disappointment obvious in her tone. She then turned back toward the mirror.

  “Hi, Lily,” Austin said, closing the door behind him. “Could I have a word with you?”

  “Sure,” Lily replied, more out of obligation than a desire to hear what he had to say.

  Austin did not venture far from the door, feeling more at ease with talking so long as he was not facing Lily. “Look, I-I know I ain’t so good with words, ’specially the nice ones … as you’ve probably already noticed,” he said, attempting to make a joke. He then nervously put his hands in his pockets when Lily did not laugh. “Ya’ know, a few weeks ago, William gave us all the option of endin’ our agreement to perform with you any longa’. He said he could try to find a professional orchestra that could take our place if none of us wanted to travel.”

  Again, Lily did not respond to the surprise of that news.

  “A few months ago, I’ll admit that hearin’ that would’ve been music to my ears, but now…” Austin paused and took a deep breath when he felt his nerves getting the best of him. “The moment William said it, I rememba’ feelin’ this … this pain in my chest,” he admitted. “See, it’s just that my whole life I ain’t eva’ know what direction to go in the world. I always felt so lost until these last few months. For the first time in my entire twenty-three years, I feel like I finally have a future for myself, like I got some purpose, ya’ know?”

  Lily finally looked at Austin in the mirror as a way of communicating her understanding of his sentiments.

  Austin held her gaze for a moment, finally feeling a sense of comfort by the sight of her innocent eyes. “So, when William told us we could escape all this, all I knew was that I didn’t wanna feel lost again. And besides…” Austin paused and walked closer to Lily. She finally turned around in her chair to find him towering over her. “Playin’ with you has been one ‘a the greatest joys ‘a my life, and I just couldn’t bring myself to walk away … None of us could, Lily. We’re all proud to play behind ya’, and we’re all here for you, no matta’ what happens tonight and beyond, we’ll always be here for ya’. I-I just wanted you to know that.”

  Lily was stunned to say the least. She would have assumed it was some sort of hoax had Austin not looked and sounded so incredibly sincere. Not only was she stunned by his words, but also by his transformation. Austin had cut his stringy, long brown hair, and shaved the shadowy whiskers off his face, unveiling his youthful skin. He was even wearing a brand-new tailored suit. Such small changes made Lily feel as though she was looking at a completely different young man. After the shock of his metamorphosis subsided, Lily gazed into Austin’s eyes. It was the first time she ever noted their color. They were a deep dark brown, which gazed back at her in the most compassionate of ways. “Thank you, Austin. There ain’t enough words for me to express how much that means to me,” Lily replied, sounding equally as sincere as he had.

  Austin nodded and walked to the door but stopped just as he put his hand on the doorknob. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, still facing the door.

  “What?”

  Austin exhaled, found some courage, and turned around to face Lily again. “You ain’t been nothin’ but kind to me afta’ all the cruel things I said to ya’. I honestly ain’t neva’ felt more guilty for the way I treated somebody than you. And I’m awful sorry, Lily. I really am.”

  “It’s okay, Austin, I…”

  “Naw, it ain’t okay,” he interrupted, not wanting her to let him off the hook so easily. He walked halfway across the room again and put his hands back into the pockets of his fancy tailored pants. “Ya’ know, you’s the first person to hug me when you found out my mama passed away?” He suddenly tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling, hoping to keep his tears from rolling. “Not my fatha’, not my brotha’s, not even my sista’s … You,” he said, lowering his head to look at Lily again. “You were the only person who eva’ botha’d to hug me.”

  Lily remembered that moment very clearly but was unaware that not a single person had yet to comfort him until that day …

  During rehearsals that particular evening back on William’s estate, Austin was failing to keep up with the rest of the orchestra, far worse than usual. William kept stopping everyone because of how much of a disruption it was to the fluidity of the number they were learning. After the fifth scolding, Austin threw his mallets across the room and stormed out of the rehearsal session. Everyone else sat in uncomfortable silence after he slammed the library door on his way out.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Lily leaned over and asked one of the violinists. “This ain’t like him at all.”

  “I heard his mama just passed away,” the young man whispered back. “I guess he just needs a little time.”

  “Take a break everyone,” Lily stood and announced. She then headed out the back door to look for Austin. Ironically, she found him in her comfort zone near the oak tree by the lake. He was picking up rocks and hurling them into the water. Lily walked up slowly behind him, watching him angrily throw rocks, one after the other, as if he were firing his ammunition at whatever he blamed for taking his mother’s life. Austin’s mother was the only person who had ever shown him the slightest bit of love. Now she was gone, and he had no idea how to cope.

  Lily saw Austin glance over at her as he searched for more rocks to throw, but he did not say a word or break stride in collecting his ammunition. Cautiously, Lily continued to close in on him. He had thrown a few more rocks before she reached him. By the time he went to throw the last one, though, Lily gently took hold of his wrist and slowly removed the rock from his hand. Austin could feel her empathetically gazing at the profile of his face. It took the last little bit of his bravery to slowly raise his heavy head and return her gaze. Reading the compassion in her eyes, Austin’s tears were instant, but so, too, was Lily’s embrace. She dropped the rock and held him tightly as he wept. Austin did not attempt to pull away. Surprisingly, he put his arms around her too. He allowed himself to be vulnerable and let go of his pain in the arms of somebody who finally dared to show that they cared about his plight. Lily felt him getting weaker as she held him, as if the strength in his body was slowly draining with his tears. In fact, he wept until his legs became too weak to hold him. It was only then that he pulled away from Lily’s embrace and sat down by the tree. Lily followed suit, sitting just inches away from him.

  “This my favorite spot here on William’s land,” Lily said, her voice adding to the calming sound of the wind rustling through the leaves above them. She was not expecting Austin to reply, but she hoped that maybe he was willing to listen for the time being while his wounded heart and mind were wide open. “I come out here almost every day to think. Sometimes about music, sometimes to daydream, or sometimes just to reflect … especially when I’m hurtin’.”

  Still, Austin sat there silently absorbing Lily’s words, wiping his face while he waited for his strength to return.

  “I’s nine-years-old the last time I saw my mama. My fatha’ took me and sold me away from her,” Lily explained.

  It took those words to finally garner a reaction from Austin. He turned and glanced at Lily with disbelief in his swollen bloodshot eyes. His relationship with his own father was abysmal, but after hearing what Lily’s father had done, he considered that maybe he did not have much to complain about.

  “Far as I know my motha’s still alive, but the pain ‘a not bein’ able to see ’er felt no different than if she’d died,” Lily continued. “I used to hurt somethin’ awful. Used to lie in my bed at night and cry for hours, sometimes ’til I made myself sick to my stomach. Didn’t even wanna eat some days, no different than if I’s truly in a state ‘a mournin’.

  “But then one night, afta’ cryin’ myself to sleep, I had a dream about my mama. Dreamt ‘a this silly little
song she taught me, ya’ know, to one ‘a those childhood hand clappin’ games,” Lily explained, smiling at the memory. “I woke up from that dream for the first time in weeks with a smile on my face. That dream brought back the memory of how hard me and my motha’ used to laugh wheneva’ we messed up the rhythm while clappin’ our hands togetha’ and had to start all ova’ again singin’ that silly little song,” Lily recalled, a hint of laughter in her voice. “It was such a small thing at the time. But now, to this very day, wheneva’ I’m hurtin’ ova’ missin’ my mama, that’s what I do … I rememba’ her. I rememba’ her and me togetha’, laughin’, and singin’ and how happy we were at that moment. Or sometimes I think about this old telescope she’d somehow gotten her hands on and had hidden away in her room. It was her most prized possession. She loved that old thang! One day, when I’s about five-years-old, she pulled it out and showed it to me and made me swear not to tell a soul on the plantation about it. My eyes were as wide as quarta’s when I first saw it. It was the most amazin’ contraption I’d eva’ seen! From then on, wheneva’ the sky was clear late at night, we’d sneak out into the woods, lay on our backs, and look out into the heavens togetha’ and give names to the biggest and brightest stars we could find. And to this very day, I still rememba’ the names of every one of ’em,” Lily smiled. “Those were some ‘a the fondest memories ‘a me and my motha’ togetha’. And now, wheneva’ I reminisce about those moments, it neva’ fails to numb the pain, to take all the hurt away, and put a smile on my face.” Lily paused briefly and let silence take over while the memories invaded her mind. “Even been times right here unda’ this very tree, I’ve sat here and remembered those moments,” she confessed, after the vivid images faded away.

  Lily turned and looked at Austin’s profile as he stared out at the lake. He would not return the gaze, but she could tell he was still listening. “Close your eyes,” Lily told him.

  Austin did not move. He kept his eyes transfixed on the water, unwilling to do as she told him at first.

  “Go on,” she prompted him again. “It’s alright.”

  Austin looked down at the ground before slowly honoring her request.

  “Rememba’ her,” Lily then said softly. “Rememba’ you and your mama togetha’. Rememba’ somethin’ that only you and her found special, or somethin’ that she always did to let you know how special you were to her … somethin’ that brought both of ya’ the utmost joy.”

  At first, Austin’s eyes were squinted hard while he reached deep inside of his catalog of memories to find one that meant more to him than all the others. As the minutes passed, though, Lily watched as his facial features started to relax and the twitching in his eyelids began to cease. When tears escaped from the corners of his eyes, she knew that he had finally found it. There was no smile on Austin’s face, but Lily could feel the joy that he emanated. It moved her to put her arm around him while he continued to escape into his mind and remember a precious moment with his beloved mother.

  … Austin had been profoundly touched by the whole experience with Lily that day. Now, as he stood with her in her dressing room, he wanted desperately to help her in return. After his apology, he dug deep for the right thing to say. “Lily, I know you ain’t been feelin’ so good about James not bein’ here tonight. I’m sure there ain’t a single thing that any of us could say that’ll make you feel betta’ about his absence. But I’s thinkin’ that you could, you know…” He shrugged his shoulders. “M-maybe rememba’ somethin’ about ’em that makes ya’ happy.”

  “Thanks, Austin, but this is a little bit of a different situation, don’t ya’ think?”

  “Well, yeah, I know he ain’t passed away or nothin’, but you said yourself that your mama might still be alive and that you always recall happy memories about about ’er wheneva’ you’re missin’ ’er. So, I just figured maybe it couldn’t hurt if you did the same with James. Maybe it’ll stop you from worryin’ and put you in a betta’ mood.” Austin paused, recalling the many times he had resorted to the new ritual. “Sho’ does work for me,” he confessed, his voice trailing off.

  Lily fought hard to think of an excuse to get out of it. She was intentionally defiant, hoping Austin would give up and let her go back to being alone before the show. “But I…”

  “Go on, just give it a try, can’t hurt,” Austin interrupted. He refused to be deterred, fighting just as hard to help her as she had him. His persistence paid off; Lily exhaled and let her eyes drift to the floor. She was hesitant to close them at first, just like Austin had been that day by William’s lake.

  Austin approached her again. “Go on. Close your eyes,” he said softly. Warmed by the tenderness in his tone, Lily finally relaxed and suddenly found herself engulfed in darkness. “Rememba’ somethin’ great about ’em,” she heard Austin say just before the darkness was suddenly flooded with vivid images.

  Lily could have chosen from a thousand memories from the past. But in this instance, her mind selected the most recent of her happy memories with her childhood best friend …

  As promised, James had spent every evening with Lily after rehearsals down by her favorite spot on William’s lake underneath the oak tree, continuing with her reading lessons. When he learned that William planned to teach Lily to read and write music, James secretly requested for him not to teach her any more letters or words than was necessary to accomplish his goal. William happily obliged after hearing about the beautiful promise that James wanted to fulfill on Lily’s birthday.

  During Lily’s lessons, James was as meticulous as any schoolhouse teacher. He was prepared with a small erasable writing board, pens, papers, flash cards, and instruction materials. He even gave Lily homework to help improve her writing, spelling, and punctuation, as well as a list of daily vocabulary words to look up in a dictionary. But Lily went far beyond the short list of words and began reading multiple pages from a dictionary every night. With her insatiable appetite for learning and her potent memory, Lily was soaking up words and definitions at an astonishing rate. She absorbed all the knowledge James gave her as effortlessly as she had learned to read, write, and play music. Within just two weeks, Lily was able to slowly read every word of the book that she had treasured for years. Remembering James had started there. The fond memory of sitting side by side with him near the lake was fresh in Lily’s mind all over again. She could see the mist of tears in James’s eyes after she finally read the very last words of her beloved story to him aloud.

  Remembering him continued in that dark world behind Lily’s eyes as she drifted through the hours that followed the completion of her favorite book. She had sat for nearly two hours writing and rewriting a letter to James. She was determined to perfect her penmanship and the words she wanted to say to him. When Lily was finished, she then folded the letter neatly and placed it on his pillow for him to find:

  Dear James,

  Reading has been the most incredible escape for me, nearly as much as music. I find myself now picking through all the books on William’s shelf here in my room and reading the summaries on the back of each and every one. I had hoped to find at least one book to read before I fall asleep at night, but instead of finding one, I’ve found twelve! I guess I better get busy! I found one called Oliver Twist by a man named Charles Dickens. It’s about an orphan boy. I think I’ll start with that one. They all seem like they will be so wonderful, but I’m certain there will never be one that I’ll cherish more than the one you gave to me so many years ago, and that you have now so graciously taught me to read. I’m overjoyed that I can write now too, but I don’t think there are enough words I can use in this letter to express how grateful I am to you for giving me the ability to abandon the tribulations of life for a while by escaping into the beautiful world of fantasy. Now that my lessons are over, I’ll miss our evening reading sessions by the lake, but I’ll always cherish the memories of the precious gift that you have bestowed upon me.

  Thank you kindly,

  Sincer
ely,

  Lily

  That very next morning Lily found a letter from James folded neatly, lying next to her when she awoke. She opened it with the excitement of a child unwrapping a Christmas gift. Lily smiled the entire time she read it, excited at how the words were no longer foreign to her, but more so at their sentiment:

  Dear Lily,

  No need to search your soul for any words to say thank you. Just to know that the words of the letter that I found here on my pillow were crafted by your hand means more to me than you'll ever know, and so too was hearing you speak the final words of your favorite story tonight. It honestly moved me just as much as the grand finale of your symphony. I, too, admit that I will greatly miss our lessons by the lake. So, to remedy that, how about you, me, and that Oliver Twist fella meet down at the lake tomorrow evening after rehearsals? There's nothing I'd love more than to hear you share each and every one of the stories you've chosen to escape with.

  Hope to see you then,

  Sincerely,

  James

  Those two short letters began yet another tradition to add to James and Lily’s list from over the years. From that evening on, they exchanged letters with one another on a nightly basis. The anticipation of a letter underneath their doors had them both eager to get out of bed every morning. The funny messages they often shared kept the pair laughing at each other’s inside jokes throughout their long daunting workdays. Their silly behavior and odd outbursts of laughter lightened the mood of everyone around them. They, too, were feeling the effects of a simple letter-writing ritual that was quickly beginning to pull the once distant pair back together.