In the end it was Siena who climbed over the fence, Siena who smoothed down her hair and pulled her skimpy skirt down as far as she could to try and cover her skinny knees. Barefooted she walked sedately up the path, stood a moment near the front stoep quietly listening, then she shot off to the left and disappeared around the house. Within minutes she was back, running like a hare, her eyes wide open.
“Come!” She beckoned excitedly. “Come! But shhh … !”
One by one the children scrambled over the fence and followed Siena around the side of the house. Through an open window they could already hear the music. An old wheelbarrow stood nearby.
Siena and Anna dragged it nearer to the window and lifted the smaller children into it. Now they could all see the beautiful room. It was full of all sorts of interesting things. Furniture, pictures, pots of flowers. In the middle of the room stood a large table with many chairs around it. And there, to one side, in arm’s reach of the children, Mrs Tilbury sat in front of a large black piano, playing with all 10 fingers of her two hands, all at the same time!
The children stared and stared at Mrs Tilbury. She looked so different. Some of the hair had come loose from her bolla (bun) and was hanging right down to her shoulders in grey toutjies (little strings). She was swaying from side to side, from side to side. Sometimes she closed her eyes and lifted her face up to the roof. Then she opened her eyes again and bent far down with her nose nearly touching her hands.
And her fingers! Sometimes they moved very, very fast, like flies over a miskoek (dung heap). Sometimes they ran up and down the white and black notes like raindrops on a tin roof. Sometimes she hit the notes so hard with both her hands that the children thought she was getting terribly cross and was giving the piano ‘n donnerse pak slae (a hell of a hiding). Other times she touched the notes so softly that the children had to lean far forward to hear the faint tinkly-tinkly-tinkly sounds. But it was also her face that looked different. It was the first time the children had seen her with a dreamy, smiley face.
It was after one such funny, jumpy bit, like a tiny bird hopping from note to note, that little Johnnie forgot to shhh … and clapped his hands in delight.
Only then did Mrs Tilbury become aware of the small audience at the window. For a moment she gazed at the row of faces in surprise. Then her face got all cross again and she snapped, “Yes? And what are you lot doing out there, may I ask?”
The children scrambled off and away from the wheelbarrow and stood waiting sheepishly for Mrs Tilbury to come outside. What was she going to do? What would she say?
Winning short-story writers
Renee Muller took the top prize of R25 000. Other winners in the BTA/Anglo Platinum Short Story Competition 2006 were: Lorraine Nevin, The Gecko’s Tale (R15 000); Brady Ridgway, Cardinal Sin (R12 000); Professor Pieter Scholtz, Jacob’s Smile (R8 000); Themba Mkhoma, The Lollipop (R5 000); and Nazia Peer, One Love, One Heart (Djadji platinum jewellery).