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| There's more lurking under the water than we know. |
Saul looked around his empty apartment. It was summer break, and his roommates had all managed to take the same long weekend away from campus. Beatrice had warned him that he might see ghosts while his roommates were gone. Saul had laughed good-naturedly and wondered, as he often did with these comments, if she was serious. Either way, it was a beautiful day outside and Saul didn't want to waste it. He had promised his mom that he'd play his viola over break, but he'd never said that he'd practice inside.
With a smile, Saul grabbed his viola case and headed outside. Not too far from his apartment was a little pond. It looked man-made and Saul assumed that there had once been a marsh there, but when the university had built dorms nearby, they put in the pond instead to hold any extra water. Whether that was the case or not, this pond was one of Saul's favorite places. Now that it was summer and there was no one staying in the dorms, no one would hear him playing and complain about it. Or try to correct him.
Saul set his case down at the top of the hill and got his viola out. He tuned quickly, getting it mostly right, and started playing one of his favorite solos. The violin got all of the best solos, but there were still some good ones for viola. Occasionally, Saul would transpose a violin solo to alto clef so he could play it too. This solo was a jig and Saul thought it was sprightly and perfect for this summer day. When that one was done, he moved into a slow Romantic piece. He wished he'd tuned better but he was able to compensate for that. Saul was debating about what to play next when the pond started bubbling.
It took Saul a moment to notice it. After all, there was a giant spray of water in the middle of the water to stop it from growing things. Still, the water was moving more than it should and not near the jet of water. Saul stopped playing and lowered his viola. It almost looked like someone was coming out of the water. He had never seen anyone swim in this pond, but he supposed some idiot had to try it at some point. Saul was getting ready to put everything down and try to help this girl when he saw her rise out of the water. She went straight up, like there was a lift under her. She also looked...unreal. She didn't look quite human. Saul didn't wait for anything else to happen, he grabbed his case and ran out of there.
Once he was out of sight of that pond, he set his case on the ground and carefully put his viola away. He kept looking behind him to see if she was following him, but the coast was clear. He picked up his case and jogged back to his apartment.
*
By the next day, Saul had convinced himself that he hadn't seen anything unusual. It was probably someone swimming in the pond who wanted to play a trick on him. She had just seemed unreal because he hadn't been expecting her. That was all. There was really nothing to it. And, once again, it was a beautiful day and that pond was still Saul's favorite place. Saul sighed and grabbed his viola case. He was going to prove that he had made it all up and that he wasn't afraid by going back. It was an open campus, after all, and he hadn't done anything wrong.
Saul set himself up in the same spot again and tuned his viola. Then he started playing the same Romantic piece from yesterday. There were a couple of spots he wanted to work on and the tune was so beautiful. Once he worked out the trouble spots, he played it from beginning to end with no real problems. Smiling, Saul changed styles completely to a modern piece. This one had a lot of weird harmonics, but Saul enjoyed how strange it sounded. It was more difficult, so he was paying more attention to his bow and his fingers on the strings. When he happened to glance at the pond, she was already standing on top of the water. Looking as unreal as he had told himself that she didn't.
"Please, keep going," she said.
Gulping, Saul finished out the piece, but his hands were shaking worse than an audition, so he didn't play it very well.
"You play beautifully," she said. "Well, when I'm not intimidating you."
"You're not intimidating," Saul lied. Was she a spirit or demon or something? Would she try to eat him?
She laughed at that. "My name is Yeva. What's yours?"
Saul wasn't sure he should tell this strange creature his name, but he found himself saying, "Saul."
"Now that we've been introduced, will you take requests?"
Maybe if he played for her, she wouldn't kill him. "Of course," he stuttered.
She laughed again. "Really, Saul, I'm not going to hurt you. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm trapped in this pond."
"Really?"
"Oh yes." She looked sad and a touch angry. "When they penned in my water, they penned me in too. Now even if I want to leave, I can't."
"I'm sorry," Saul replied automatically.
"You didn't do anything," Yeva assured him. "Besides, that happened so long ago, there's no one left to take vengeance on."
Saul didn't want to know how and why she knew this with such certainty.
"So, do you know any pieces by Mozart?"
"Mozart?"
"Yes. I do have some musical taste, and it's been so long since I've heard a live, classical performance."
"Oh. I do know one piece by Mozart, but I haven't played it in awhile."
"That's all right. I heard you practicing earlier. Just work it through and play it all the way through when you're done."
Saul smiled a little. "Okay," he said nervously. He tried to remember that he was in no danger here. That Yeva couldn't hurt him. He put his viola under his chin and tried to remember the piece he wanted. He had to run through several tricky spots, but Yeva didn't seem to get bored. Eventually, Saul felt like it wasn't going to get any better, so he played the whole piece through. He was concentrating on the music so much that he almost forgot that she was there.
Yeva clapped when he was done. "Oh, much better. You play with so much more heart when you aren't worried I'm going to rip it out."
Saul stepped back a pace.
Yeva laughed. "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist teasing you. I haven't spoken to a human in so long."
"Why not?" Saul asked, interested despite himself.
Yeva shrugged. "So few of them come and sit here like you do. And if they are out here, they're often not alone."
Saul made a mental note never to bring a date here. "So, ah, what do you do?" he asked.
Yeva shrugged. "I keep the pond clean. Their water jet helps and sometimes I ride it into the air. The farthest I can see from up there is the extent of my world these days."
"Can I help?" Saul asked impulsively. He'd always had a soft spot for people who liked his playing. As most musicians did.
Yeva smiled at him. It was somewhat unsettling. "My dear boy, no. That would take quite a bit of doing and come at some cost to me. Your music is plenty of help."
"Oh." Briefly, Saul wondered why he had wanted to free this...woman from this pond, but beneath her otherness, she seemed lonely. "Do you want to hear another piece?"
"Of course," she replied, perking up. "What's your favorite?"
"My favorite?" Saul thought for a moment. "Well, this one is always fun to play." He launched into a quick piece with lots of tricky fingering. He had just learned it that past school year in his private lessons. Despite how difficult it was, he loved playing it. Although he was tired when he was done playing it, it always made him smile.
"Bravo!" Yeva said, clapping. It was strange. When she clapped, it sounded like water smacking against water and droplets flew into the air.
Saul bowed. "That's probably all I can play for now, but do you mind if I stay and talk?" he asked.
"Of course not," Yeva replied. "That would be lovely."
Smiling, and somewhat wondering if he was crazy, Saul packed his viola away and ventured down the hill to sit a bit closer to Yeva. They talked about music. Yeva had heard all sorts of songs, living so close to the artsy dorm on campus. She was a singer, but she assured Saul that her songs sounded absolutely dreadful above the water.
"That's about how it sounds when I sing," Saul joked.
Yeva laughed. "Perhaps you should try singing underwater."
Saul laughed and they moved on to other topics. Eventually, Saul realized he needed to get back to his apartment to eat. "I need to go," he said to Yeva, checking his watch. "Can I come back tomorrow?"
"Of course," Yeva replied with a smile. "It's been nice having someone to talk to. The other water spirits can't carry on much of a conversation."
"Other water spirits?" Saul wondered how many creatures were living in this pond.
Yeva shrugged. "Just the usual sort of spirits you find in the water. Not terribly bright, but they can leave, so they tell me a bit about the outside world." She sighed.
"I see," Saul replied, although he didn't really understand what Yeva meant. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow," Yeva replied.
Saul picked up his viola case and headed back to his apartment.
That night, he looked over some of his old solos so he would have new music to play for Yeva. He had been writing a piece that he debated about playing for her. It wasn't quite done yet, but he wanted to share something new with her. It had to be boring being stuck in the same place all the time.
*
The next day, Saul looked over his music one more time and tuned his viola before he headed back out to the pond. No sooner had he gotten his viola out than Yeva rose up from the pond, smiling.
"You came back."
"Of course," Saul replied, confused. "I said I would."
"I wasn't sure you would. I know I can be a bit...unsettling to mortals."
Saul laughed. "Only a little," he assured her.
"So, what are you starting with today?" Yeva asked.
For an answer, Saul lifted his bow and started playing. When he was done, Yeva clapped. She knew the title and composer of that piece. Saul played another and she knew the title and composer of that piece as well.
"How about this?" Saul asked, playing a few bars of one of his parts for orchestra.
Yeva's forehead creased in thought. "You're trying to make it tricky, not playing a solo," she accused him.
Saul laughed. "I'll play a little more for you."
However, after a few more bars, Yeva got that piece as well. Then it became a game in earnest, which Yeva was very good at.
"I have an affinity for music," she confessed to Saul when he was running out of pieces to play.
"Really? How about this one?" Saul began playing his piece. He started at the beginning and got all the way through without Yeva saying anything.
"I don't know if I know that one," Yeva said slowly.
"That's because I wrote it," Saul replied with a smile.
"Really?" Yeva asked. "It's lovely."
"Thank you." Saul hadn't realized how much he wanted to hear good feedback about his piece.
"You've given me something. Now I should give you something in return."
"Oh no. You don't have to do that."
"But I should. Now listen, I was thinking about this. Do you want a new viola?"
Saul was caught off guard. "I guess that would be nice. This one is fine, but there are definitely better ones out there."
"Well, you can sell that viola to someone for an outrageous price and then use the money to buy a new, better instrument. What do you think?"
"How am I going to do that?" Saul asked, putting his viola away. "It's not something anyone would pay an outrageous price for."
"Ah, not without me," Yeva countered with a smile. "You figure out who would buy it and bring them here. You tell them it can conjure spirits and when you start playing, I'll get some of the water spirits to appear. We'll do this three times and if they aren't begging you for the instrument by then, I'll appear myself and get them to buy it."
Saul's mind was working. "I know just the person," he said slowly. "Beatrice is always talking about ghost stories."
"Perfect. Tell her your viola is summoning ghosts and she'll definitely want to buy it."
"I think she does play viola," Saul mused. "Although mainly she plays flute. She's really good, too."
"Perfect," Yeva replied with one of her slightly-unsettling smiles. "Bring her here tomorrow and we'll get you that new viola."
Saul smiled. "That would be nice."
However, later that evening, he began to have doubts. Beatrice probably had the money for this scheme and technically he wasn't cheating her, but it felt like he was. Still, what he couldn't do with thousands of dollars...
*
The next day, Saul arranged to meet Beatrice by the pond. All he had told her was that he had something to show her.
"Well?" she asked. "What is it?"
Saul's mind made a snap decision. "When I sing, spirits come out of the pond."
"Really?" Beatrice asked. "If you're making fun of me for believing in ghosts..."
"Listen," Saul said and started to sing. He hadn't lied to Yeva, he really was bad. He wasn't surprised that no spirits appeared out of the pond. They were probably hiding. "It worked last night," Saul said, sounding confused.
Beatrice raised an eyebrow at him. "You've never believed my stories before now and you're trying to pull something like this on me? I don't have time for this. See you later, Saul."
"I'm sorry," Saul said as Beatrice left.
Beatrice nodded and kept walking away.
Almost as soon as Beatrice was out of sight, Yeva launched up from the pond. "What was that about?" she asked. "We can't sell your voice. Especially with how it sounds."
"I don't want to trick my friend," Saul replied, "and I don't really want to sell my viola. If we had showed that to Beatrice, she'd be down here all the time playing to get the spirits to come out so she could show people. She wouldn't leave you all alone."
"You think we couldn't have handled that?" Yeva asked.
"It would have been annoying and, well, you don't owe me anything. I'd feel bad tricking her and I'd feel bad inflicting her on your pond like that. Maybe some time I'll get her down here with her flute and we can play a duet for you. But you might not want to show yourself to her."
Yeva considered and her expression eased. "I have decided to forgive you. Your motives for not taking my gift were noble. And it would be nice to hear a duet."
"I can probably get a group together to play out here once school starts back up," Saul said, thinking about it. "I think I know enough people who would do it. We could call it a band and play covers of songs and classical stuff."
"Like Apocalyptica?" Yeva asked.
"You really do know a lot of music," Saul marveled.
Yeva shrugged. "It's one of my many talents. Now, until any of that materializes, do you have any other pieces you can play today?"
Saul smiled. "I think I have a few."
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