Loki and the Angel
By: Michael Cottle
Loki thought of angels all too often. They were so high in the sky that he could not reach them, though he tried. He tried to talk to them, but he could think of nothing to say. He smiled when they seldom passed, but soon gave up his efforts as hopeless.
Loki talked to his piano quite often. It never talked back, but he played Debussy and Satie as well as he could. They spent many afternoons repeating the same old novel again and again. Yet the hammers and the keys felt nothing. They cared not for Loki in their mechanical ways. Loki longed to talk with angels but did not know how, for he was only Loki- a simple piano man far below the sky.
Then one day, in the garden, an Osiria rose began to grow without a sow and, as Loki poured his feelings into his music, the piano came to life. The notes became more brilliant, and the tones were more vibrant. Even the noise of the hammers fell in harmony with the oscillation of the strings. It struck Loki as fairly odd, for he wasn’t that great of a player. And right in the middle of “Clair de Lune” Loki stopped playing, but the hammers stayed in song until the end.
Loki sat on the bench with his jaw dropped an octave or two. When the song was over, the pedal was released and there was muffled silence once again. Loki feared his mind was spiraling towards insanity, but the piano spoke in his thoughts without sound. Instantly, Loki became at peace.
“I know what it is you seek” the harmonic chord sounded clear within his mind. “You seek to talk with one of the angels, but you do not know how.”
Loki dropped his head and could not deny this wish.
“In the garden, grows a rose. You shall use this rose to gain an audience with one of the angels, if you be worthy of it. Take the rose and your honesty and present it to one of the angels. Fear not what becomes of you for it. Focus on the melody, for life is a risk with every beat of the measure. Listen for the melody in her voice, and accompany it with harmony.”
And Loki found a beat. The air did not become still around him again, until he had found an angel. And he stuttered and spoke a word for the first time. It was flat, and she had no idea what he said. But the second word, she made out. She accepted the rose with a smile. The red and white petals would capture anyone’s breath.
As time passed, the rose wilted. The piano spoke to Loki no more, but Loki had learned to speak with an angel. And their symphony was pure musical genius in every concert.
Loki and the angel have since departed to the sky. The piano sits in storage out of tune and out of time. The photographs in the album tell quite the tale as the music lives on forever in the songs of Loki and the angel.
By: Michael Cottle
Loki thought of angels all too often. They were so high in the sky that he could not reach them, though he tried. He tried to talk to them, but he could think of nothing to say. He smiled when they seldom passed, but soon gave up his efforts as hopeless.
Loki talked to his piano quite often. It never talked back, but he played Debussy and Satie as well as he could. They spent many afternoons repeating the same old novel again and again. Yet the hammers and the keys felt nothing. They cared not for Loki in their mechanical ways. Loki longed to talk with angels but did not know how, for he was only Loki- a simple piano man far below the sky.
Then one day, in the garden, an Osiria rose began to grow without a sow and, as Loki poured his feelings into his music, the piano came to life. The notes became more brilliant, and the tones were more vibrant. Even the noise of the hammers fell in harmony with the oscillation of the strings. It struck Loki as fairly odd, for he wasn’t that great of a player. And right in the middle of “Clair de Lune” Loki stopped playing, but the hammers stayed in song until the end.
Loki sat on the bench with his jaw dropped an octave or two. When the song was over, the pedal was released and there was muffled silence once again. Loki feared his mind was spiraling towards insanity, but the piano spoke in his thoughts without sound. Instantly, Loki became at peace.
“I know what it is you seek” the harmonic chord sounded clear within his mind. “You seek to talk with one of the angels, but you do not know how.”
Loki dropped his head and could not deny this wish.
“In the garden, grows a rose. You shall use this rose to gain an audience with one of the angels, if you be worthy of it. Take the rose and your honesty and present it to one of the angels. Fear not what becomes of you for it. Focus on the melody, for life is a risk with every beat of the measure. Listen for the melody in her voice, and accompany it with harmony.”
And Loki found a beat. The air did not become still around him again, until he had found an angel. And he stuttered and spoke a word for the first time. It was flat, and she had no idea what he said. But the second word, she made out. She accepted the rose with a smile. The red and white petals would capture anyone’s breath.
As time passed, the rose wilted. The piano spoke to Loki no more, but Loki had learned to speak with an angel. And their symphony was pure musical genius in every concert.
Loki and the angel have since departed to the sky. The piano sits in storage out of tune and out of time. The photographs in the album tell quite the tale as the music lives on forever in the songs of Loki and the angel.