A little Christmas music

 ILLUSTRATION BY NASTASHA VERAYO

Ever since she could remember, Carine just wanted to make music. Her parents thought it was a waste of time.

When you’re a kid and you already know what you want to do in life, but everybody else has other plans for you—and they think your life’s dream is a joke—it can get a little frustrating.

“I’m not paying for lessons,” her dad said. “You’re better off spending your time studying, so when you grow up you can actually do something useful.”

“I don’t know where you get your ideas,” said her mom, laughing. “No one in our family has any talent and you’re so smart you can do so many other things.”

Carine didn’t throw a tantrum or even pout.

“When you know what you want to do, then you just do what you have to do,” she said to her best friend, Sam.

Which was how she ended up taking the violin lessons Sam’s parents, who were enlightened, had enrolled their daughter in, and how Sam ended up going to Carine’s math tutorial!

No one even noticed that the wrong girl was going to the wrong class, not for a whole year, and in the meantime, Carine saved and saved and saved. She had to have her own violin—and those, as you know, are expensive.

And, after months and months of no snacks, no nothing, she got it! Sure, it was secondhand and a little beat up and she couldn’t bring it home, but it made music—and it was hers! Her plan was working. —But you know what they say about best-laid plans.

First, Sam’s violin lessons got canceled.

“My parents asked me to play for their friends, and all I could play was ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.’ And it was sooo bad,” she told Carine.

New plan

So that was that. Carine had to content herself with practicing during lunch, at recess, in between classes when the teacher was running late, while she thought about a new plan.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Her class went on a field trip and she brought her violin just in case. But by the time the bus had taken them back to school, she’d forgotten about it! The most important thing in the world and she just forgot!

When she finally remembered, there was nothing left but the smell of exhaust in the air.

Carine thought she could actually hear her heart break. Snap, snap, snap—just like that. It was going to be Christmas soon and her world had ended.

The days after that went by like a dull gray blur. Then, Christmas came and the whole family was in high spirits—except Carine. Even after Noche Buena, surrounded by piles of presents, her heart felt like it was in pieces.

“Go on, open your present first,” said her kuya, with a huge grin. “We all chipped in to get it,” said all of her lolos and lolas.

So she opened the big box, carefully peeling away the wrapper—and there it was! The most important thing in the world: A violin! Carine was so surprised she didn’t know what to do!

Her heart felt so full, there was really only one thing she could do: She picked it up, tuned it and played.

In the hush that followed after the last note had faded away, tears were running down her mom’s face and her dad was wearing the stunned look of someone realizing that something truly beautiful doesn’t have to be useful, it just has to be!

Years and years later, even after having played on the best violins in the great concert halls of the world, Carine still thought that that Christmas morning was—the best performance of her life!