A warm sunny sky greeted the cemetery below, where a group of mourners stood by as a pastor read. Most were adults in business suits, who looked more like were attending not out of a sense of loss, but for business. Their leader was the only one who showed emotion, with his eyes closed, taking in every word of the sermon. On the other side stood a boy with dark hair, who tried his best to hold in the tears. Behind him stood an elderly gentleman and an elderly woman, both with stone-cold faces.

The pastor concluded his message and left, followed by  the mourners in suits. Cemetery workers began to cover the casket in dirt. The leader of the suits took some dirt from the pile and tossed it on the grave. He spoke a quiet word to the boy and left to resume his job.

The boy waited until the man had left to pick up a pile of dirt. The sun beat down on his hand as he slowly let the dirt fall, the late summer breeze scattering more of it to the wind. Once the rest of the dirt was gone from his hand, he stood back to see the world moving on.

An ice-cold hand rested on his shoulder.

“That’s enough!” Mason stopped his playing to turn and see his grandmother staring down at him with a frosty expression. People in the concert hall resumed their work after pausing to listen to tonight’s performer.

“What do you call that?”

Mason shrugged, causing his the one red streak in his hair to cover his left eye. He looked towards the annoying strand and blew it out of face to join the rest of his dark black hair.

“It had no feeling and no coordination whatsoever. You leave people confused not knowing what to think. Are they to feel happy or sad? Your music must dictate their emotions That’s why we are here. That’s why we made it here. Pick a feeling and stick with it thoroughly.”

“Maybe I just don’t know what to feel,” Mason turned to face the piano.

“Figure it out then, we only have three hours until the concert starts.” His grandmother walked away in a huff.

“When I was performing, I would never let my attitude soil my performance. The show must go on no matter what we feel.” She stood at attention in the wings just almost out of the light.

“Again!” She called out. Workers stopped to listen to musical wizard of the century play hopefully another one of his marvelous pieces. Mason straightened his back and rested his hands on the keys.

Mason stood alone in a white room, filled with many doors, all connected to different doors he had known in his life. Each door had a tiny hole to peer through. He peered through one door to see his mother and father, both very happy in their little home as his mother played their small home piano. His smile turns to sadness as a darkness fell over the happy couple, obscuring them from viewing. He painfully stepped away from the door. He looked through another door to see a beautiful grassy field in the country, with an art easel close by. Mason’s hand reached for the door when he heard a small giggle coming from another door. He ran towards the other door to see his sister sitting on her bed reading a book. She laughs as she turns the page. Mason looks towards the door where the field lay beyond then back to the door where his sister was. He reached for the handle, but heard a loud squeak coming from another door. He looked to his right to see a door he did not want to even look through. The handle began to turn as Mason was frozen stiff. The door opened to reveal an ancient cold hand.

“Stop!” Mason startled by the shout misplayed, ending his song with a terrible bang. He looked around the see the workers hurriedly going about their work.

“Mason, again, you were all over the place. You need to stay consistent. A consistent feeling, a consistent story, anything so long as it flows. Music must flow naturally, like river.”

“Rivers aren’t consistent.”

“But they flow, no matter how the river changes over the length. The progression and recession is natural, after the laws of the universe. Your music must follow the laws of nature.”

Mason rolled his eyes.

“Fine, go take break. You can’t perform your best if your head isn’t on straight.” His grandmother left the stage. Once she was out of view, Mason proceeded to walk off the stage and out of the theater.

He blinked in the bright sunlight greeting him, along with the warm fall leaves swirling about the busy streets of the city. He took a couple of steps off the stairs to get a good look at the magnificent building before him. This was his first stop on his North American tour. The building echoed every bit of American 19th century. He walked along then stopped to read the advertisement for tonight’s show.

“Under the patronage of Madame Roberta Mason, Co-Head of Masonry Academy of the Musical Arts with American Culture and Arts Society Presents Mason Prince Williams, Musical Wizard Extraordinaire in a Piano Recital.” Mason continued down the street. The city moved about him as he walked, enjoying the solitude away from his overbearing grandmother.

He looked at his phone, it was 3:43.  He searched his phone for his sister’s number and called.

“Hi, you reached Elysia Williams! I’m not in at the moment, but leave a message and I will call you back! Bye!” The phone clicked.

“Hi Elysia, it’s Mason, I got a concert in a couple of hours and would like to hear from you. Call me back. Bye.” Mason ended his call, his younger sister appearing on the screen with layered black hair and bangs, with a smile that could light up the world. He shoved his phone in his pocket then continued walking.

He made his way to the park that was close by. The area was void of teenagers and children, considering the fall holiday wasn’t until next week. Most people were joggers, dog walkers, an occasional couple, and parents with very small children. He stopped in his tracks before he came up to a children’s park, which had a few toddlers running around. Mason smiled as he thought of his sister, remembering her running around the park close to their apartment while their father chased her around. Mason sat in the grass to watch the parents and their children, feeling a sense of happiness. He laid down in the grass to enjoy the relaxing day, freeing his mind of the troubles that he left at the concert hall.

“My hat!” Mason opened his eyes to see a blur of red jump off the swing and chase after a large sun hat flying in his general direction. He stood up and ran after the hat, catching before it would sail out of reach.

He turned to look for the owner, to see running up to him a girl his age wearing a faint blue sun dress that matched her hat, and a white sweater with matching white sandals. Her small white purse flopped around at her side. What stood out most was her flaming red hair that put the autumn leaves to shame.

“Thanks, I thought I nearly lost it.” She took the hat and placed it back on her head, shading her face and hair.

“No problem.”

The girl turned to leave back towards the swing, when the wind knocked off her hat. Mason reached up and grabbed it.

“Thanks again.” She took her hat back.

“I’m Rosie by the way.” Rosie extended her hand.

“Mason.” He hesitantly shook it.

“Want to ride on the swings with me? I’ve been riding them by myself for a while and got weird stares from the parents.”

“Aren’t you a little too old for swings?”

“Maybe, but who really cares. So long as you don’t break them, you should be fine, right?”

“I guess.”

“Come on!” Rosie grabbed his hand and lead him towards the swing. She swung him around into a seat while she sat in the one next to him.

He sat  barely swinging while she swung in full force, with her feet nearly touching the heavens.

“Come on, that’s not how you do it.”

Mason pumped his legs into a gentle swing.

“Come on, put some back into it! I bet you can’t go as high as me!” Mason slightly smiled as accepted the challenge. He swung so hard that he caught up to Rosie in no time, eventually matching her rhythm.

“Fun isn’t it?”

“Swinging? Yeah, I haven’t done it years!”

“Why not?”

“Too busy.”

“I guess. To be honest, this is my first time on a swing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve just been watching people do it and decided to try.”

“Well you’re pretty good at it.”

“Thanks,” Rosie eventually slowly her down to a stop. Mason, still in a competitive mood, slows his stride just enough to jump, nearly losing his balance as he lands.

“So how is it that you have never been on a swing before?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Strict parents?”

“Something like that I guess.”

They stood in awkward silence. Their single bond of riding the swings was now over, and Mason was at a loss of what to do. He didn’t necessarily want to go back to the concert hall.

“So what else would your parents not let you do?”

“A lot of things.”

Struggling to find an answer, Mason noticed a sign nearby for a local zoo.

“You ever been to the zoo?”

“A zoo?”

“You know, with animals from all over the world.”

Rosie shook her head no.

“Come on,” Mason began to walk down the road when he noticed Rosie wasn’t following him. She avoided his gaze by looking down, holding tight to her purse strap.

“What’s wrong?”

“Thanks, for riding the swings with me, it was a lot of fun. But I don’t want to bother you any further. I’m sure you’re busy with other things to do.”

“Not really, I’m free until 7. Well technically 6:30, but I wouldn’t mind taking you to the zoo.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, not a problem at all.” Rosie smiled a little and together they began walking.

“So what do you have going on at 7?”

“Oh, I have a concert tonight. You can come if you want, although tickets may have sold out. I don’t know. My grandmother handles the financial stuff.”

“Your grandmother?”

“Yeah, she acts like my manager, and handles all the places I perform at, although they are usually old family connections my grandparents have.”

“Your grandparents sound like very important people.”

“In the music world, yes. That’s why they have me doing these concerts so they can keep their reputation.”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“Why do you do the concerts? Why do you play music?”

“Because they told me to.”

Rosie sighed, “I learned recently that maybe because someone tells you to do something, is not the reason for doing anything. You have to want to do it or need to do it. You do it because you love it, or someone who depends on you needs your help. People have a choice.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. My grandparents have always dictated my family’s life as long as I can remember. My dad got a job at one of my grandpa’s friend’s factory. But he did it because he loved my mom and wanted to do his best to support her. I liked to play music because I could express myself. It made my parents and my sister happy.”

“Made.”

“Huh?”

“You said made, does it not make them happy anymore?”

“No, it made them happy until my parents passed away. My sister is  now in a boarding school and can’t hear me play.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Luckily I have international phone service so I can talk to my sister when she’s not in class.”

“That’s nice.”

“So where are your parents?”

Rosie bit her lip nervously, “It’s better if you don’t know.”

“How come? Will you get in trouble for this?”

“No, to them, I don’t even exist.”

“I’m sorry.”

Mason, feeling more awkward than before, kept the silence. Maybe he was talking too much or pushing her to talk about things she didn’t want to talk about. He wasn’t suppose to know these things on the first date, right? Was it a date? He wasn’t really sure. All he knew he was going to the zoo with a girl he had met 10 minutes after catching her fly away hat. He opened his phone to text his sister.

“Does going to a place with a girl you just met to count as a date?” He clicked send.

“Who’s that?”

Startled, Mason snapped his phone shut, lest Rosie read his message.

“Who’s who?”

“The girl you sent the text to?”

“Oh, she’s my sister.”

“She’s cute.”

“Thanks.”

“Does she play music too?”

“No, but she likes to learn other things. She wants to be nurse when she grows up.”

“Why?”

“Because she wants to help people. Ever since she was young, she liked to help any animal that came by our home, whether it was a bird feeder, bird bath, or even feeding the neighbor’s cat. And when dad or I were sick, she was always wanted to help. Even our family doctor said that with studying, she will make a fine nurse or doctor.”

“That sounds nice to have a dream like that.”

“Yeah, when I was little, I loved doing music, but I also liked doing art too. My dream would be able to do both again. Help people put pictures to my music, and put a song to my art.”

Rosie continued walking, not responding.

“Do you have a dream?”

“Do I need to?”

“Well, maybe, I don’t know. Most people do have something they want to achieve.”

“Then my dream would be to have the most normal life as possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way I grew up I guess you can say wasn’t normal. That’s why I’m here. To live life as a normal person.”

“What do you then consider normal?”

Rosie crumpled her face into deep thought, “I don’t rightly know. I guess I’ll have to figure that out.”

Mason and Rosie approached the zoo’s entrance.

“Hi, two tickets please,” Mason quickly pulled out his wallet as Rosie was about to open her purse. After handing his card to the cashier, he cringed on the inside. Wasn’t the guy paying for the girl making this a date? Did he want this to be a date? Did Rosie think this was a date? Maybe she was too sheltered to realize this was a date?

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Here are your tickets, and enjoy your time. The zoo will be closing in 1 hour.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” Mason took the tickets and handed Rosie a ticket, proceeding to walk toward the zoo entrance.

Mason opened his phone to see no response from Elysia. “Does buying a girl’s ticket to the zoo make it a date?” He clicked send, hoping that by mentioning the zoo would get his sister to respond.

“I found a map,” Rosie approached Mason with a map of the zoo in hand.

“What do you want to see first?”

“Well, maybe we can just go around in a circle, that way we’ll see everything.”

“Sounds good.”

Mason led her around the zoo to the various animals, Mason being sure to take pictures of each one to send to Elysia later.

“Ooo, what’s that one?” Rosie stopped at an exhibit where’s the creature’s bright red fur nearly matched her own.

“That would be a red panda, it says here they are found in the Himalayan foothills of southwestern China, Tibet, northern Myanmar, and Nepal;  and they live in temperate forests at elevations of 4,900 to 13,000 feet.”

“Can you take a picture of me with it?”

“Sure.”

Rosie posed herself next to the sleepy panda as it lay on a branch close to the window. She smiled as the panda decided to stand up and meander elsewhere, just as Mason snapped the photo.

“Awe, it moved.”

Rosie turned to see the red panda walk off.

“Can I see the picture?”

“Sure,” Rosie glanced over at Mason’s phone.

“You can still see him, although he isn’t facing the camera like how I wanted.”

They moved past the red panda to the rest of the other animals, with Mason eventually taking pictures with Rosie in them, whether she knew it or not.

As they were finishing up the bird exhibit, Mason received a call.

“Hello?”

“You’re on a date?!” His little sister practically screamed in his ear.

“I don’t know, am I?” Mason backed away from the penguins that had drawn Rosie’s attention as they swam in the water.

“You’re alone with a girl, plus you bought her ticket. How much more of a date can you get?”

“Well, how do I make it so it’s not a date?”

“You don’t want it to be a date?”

“I don’t know, I met her an hour ago.”

“Think of it like a blind date. Does she know it’s a date?”

“I don’t know. She hasn’t said it's a date, and when it comes to normal things, she is pretty clueless. She originally didn’t know what a zoo was.”

“Then you should be fine. How’s America?”

“It is pretty from what I’ve seen. I’ve only been to the park across from the concert hall so far, then we are taking a red-eye to our next destination.”

“I’m glad you got to go out. How’s grandma.”

“Cranky, I don’t think tonight’s performance is going to go well. Nothing is really coming to mind for the opening.”

“Is she stressing you out that badly?”

“I guess… I honestly would rather just be home with you, playing you and dad the piano out in the country house where his parents used to live.”

“Once you get back, we’ll go to the country together. Maybe play about that.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Thanks, Elysia.”

“Love you Mason.”

“Love you too. Do good in school.”

“I always do. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Unwilling to hang up, Mason watched his phone until it showed Elysia had hung up.

“I’ll see you soon. I promise.”

“You’ll see who soon?” Rosie came up beside Mason.

“My sister. She just called.”

“I heard.”

Mason’s face turned beat red, hoping she hadn’t heard the beginning conversation about their hopefully not a date.

“You miss her a lot don’t you?”

“Yeah, other than my grandparents she is the only family I have.”

“How can you stand being so far away from her?” Mason relaxed a little, maybe she had missed the first part of the conversation.”

“It’s hard, but then I know I can still talk to her, and I can see her, and she’ll be waiting for me to come and get her. Once I’m old enough and with enough money from the tour, I want to take her somewhere far away where we can do life how we want to.”

“So that would then be your dream.”

“Another dream, yes. I want my sister to live a life free from my grandparents. Free to learn and be who she wants to be.”

“You really do love her a lot don’t you?”

“We’ll of course. We’re family. Families are supposed to love each other.” Rosie bit her lip as Mason realized what he just said.

“We’ll not all families do, I mean, it would be great if they did… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Maybe then my goal is to find the right family for me, that will love me and I will love them.”

“I hope you find that Rosie,” Mason grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. She squeezed back, a little harder than meaning to, causing Mason to let go.

“Attention, the zoo will be closing in 10 minutes” came a loud voice over the intercom. “Please make your final purchases and head towards the exit.”

“Ready to go?”

Rosie nodded. They passed by the last exhibit and made their way to the exit along with everyone else.

“That was fun. I’ll have to send these pictures to Elysia after the concert.”

Rosie nodded.

“Wanna grab something to eat? I can’t play on an empty stomach?”

Rosie shrugged. Mason started walking back towards the general direction of the park. Rosie followed him, but lagged behind to avoid conversation.

“Great, really messed it up big time. Your not suppose to get personal with someone you met over an hour ago.” Mason kicked a rock while looking around for somewhere to eat. He turned his head to see Rosie looking over at a family with the father holding a little boy on his shoulders while the mother pushed a stroller. He slowed his stride to match Rosie’s.

“You OK?”

“Just thinking.”

Mason nodded, a little clueless what to say.

“You can tell me if you want. I know my sister and I like to tell each other things because we care about each other.”

“So you care about me?”

Mason shrugged, searching for the right words, ”I guess, maybe, I don’t know… I want you to have your dream. It’s a good dream to have and one that you can choose and make yourself. I’m glad I have my sister, but I got stuck with my grandparents. They are still family, whether I want that or not. But you get the chance to make your own family.”

“How? Not like I can walk over to that family and then they are my family.”

“True, but family doesn’t always mean you have to be born into one, the people who you care about and who care about you are your family?”

“So you’re my family?”

“Not really, because we just met. Family are people you’ve known definitely a lot longer than an hour and a half. But I would consider you a friend.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah, a friend is someone who cares about you and you have special bond with, one that is different from family. We are friends because I want to see you succeed in your dream.”

“And I want you to succeed in yours and always be with your sister. So we are friends then?”

“Friends!” Mason flashed her a big smile.

Rosie looked up and smiled back.

“Oh hey, there’s a hot dog stand. You like hot dogs?”

“I love them. They’re my favorite.”

“Then let’s have hot dogs.”

Mason and Rosie walked over to the stand, ordering two hot dogs with the works.

Rosie sat on a nearby bench with the hot dogs while Mason paid the vendor.

“You probably won’t believe this, but this is my first hot dog,” Mason admitted as he took the hot dog from Rosie.

“Really?”

“Yep. Here goes nothing.”

Mason took a bite out of his hot dog, Rosie watching in anticipation.

“Not bad, for American food.”

Rosie smiled and took an unladylike bite out her hot dog.

“So if we are friends, is this a date?”

Mason choked on his second bite of hot dog.

“A date? Why would you think it’s a date?”

“Well, a boy, a girl, doing things together, boy paying for things. Most people consider that a date.”

“Well friends can just hang out and do stuff together.”

“So you don’t want this to be a date?”

Mason turned 50 shades of red.

Rosie sat back and took another bite of her hot dog, “Date or not, I’m having fun all the same. Although this wouldn’t be my first date if it was.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was last summer, with a boy who looked a lot like you, minus the red in his hair.”

“What happened to him.”

“He’s just living his normal life. I guess he was my first friend.”

“I bet you have more friends than you know. Friends aren’t limited to your same age. They can be older or even younger than you.”

Rosie nodded as she finished her hot dog.  She sat and contemplated while Mason slowly consumed his.

“Where to next?” Mason asked. Rosie continued to stare off into deep space.

“Rosie?” Rosie stood up and turned to face Mason.

“Thank you for today, but I’d better be off.”

“You sure?”

“There’s some family and friends I need to find.”

“Want me to help you look?”

“No, they are bit too far from here, and I wouldn’t want you to miss your concert.”

“I guess, although I still have time.”

“Better to be early than never, your goals await you, Mr. Williams.”

Rosie nodded and began walking in the opposite direction of the concert hall.

“Wait, I never told you my last name,” Mason stood up and called out, but she was already gone. He looked around but he could not spot her anywhere.

“Strange.”

Mason began walking back towards the concert hall. A strange day it had been, accidentally going on a date with a mysterious girl with a mysterious background with a mysterious dream. She didn’t exist to her family, but then wanted a genuine family. She wanted a normal life, but was wandering alone in the park. A lot of things didn’t add with Rosie, but unless he was to see her again, he would never really know the answers.

A buzz came from his pocket. He opened his phone to see a text from Elysia.

“Send me pics from the zoo! <3”

Mason walked over to the side of the road and  sat on the grass, spamming his little sister with pictures of the animals.

“She’s cute.”

Mason stopped his massive onslaught on texts to look at the picture. It was Rosie with the red panda. He smiled as he continued the spam of pictures, taking a moment to pause when he saw her. She was full of life, engaging in her world.  From what he could puzzle together, her history did not sound too pleasant, but she had found her chance to enjoy living.

Mason resumed his walk after the brigade of pictures sent to his sister. He paused as he stopped by the park. It was mostly empty, everyone heading home for dinner. Looking to make sure no one was around, he ran towards the swings and hopped on. He swung himself so his feet nearly touched the sky.

Mason had forgotten what it felt like to enjoy life. He remembered it best back when he was with his family. From his vantage point, he could see his father and sister playing on the slide, as his father would catch Elysia every time she came down. His mother sat on the side draw the happy scene. Everything was right in the world.

He slowed the swing to a stop, to see no one there.

The audience stood with thunderous applause. Mason stood from his seat in front of the piano to face the audience. He bowed, as the audience’s applause roared. He left the stage to be greeted by his grandmother.

“That was a good performance, although I do not approve of you being nearly late to your own concert.”

“Sorry grandmother, I was … preparing something for tonight.”

“We have time for another song,” a stagehand approached them.

“Better not keep them waiting then.”

Mason nodded and went back out on stage. As he entered center stage, he motioned for the applause to die down.

“Mic please,” he called to the wings and a stagehand brought one to him.

“Ladies and Gentleman, thank you very much for being here tonight on our first stop of the American Tour. For my next performance, I’d like to present you not only with a song, but with a painting.”

He gestured to the opposite side of the stage. A canvas covered by a cloth entered the stage. They set it beside the piano, as many spectators lifted their opera glasses to get a better view.

Mason threw down the tarp to reveal a painting of a whimsical red-haired girl riding the park swings, staring off into the heavens.

Mason sat down at the piano and began.

The park was filled with little children, laughing and playing, unconcerned by the cares and fears that befell their nearby parents. But no parent betrayed their thoughts to their children as they played together, enjoying the youth the children brought to them.

A girl with red hair sat under the trees nearby watching the happy scene. She held herself close, feeling lost and alone. She noticed as a parent and child left the swings, the swing still in motion despite lack of rider. She hesitantly stood up and walked towards the swing and sat. Another girl with dark layered hair sat beside her and began to pump her legs. The red-haired watched and tried to the same, eventually catching up with the little dark-haired girl’s height. But when the red-haired girl reach the top, the dark-haired girl was gone. Instead, the red-haired girl looked up at the sky, and smiled.

The audience sat captivated by the art piece before them and music as it entranced them into a story. Only one person in the audience remained unmoved, standing near the doors of the concert hall. Rosie, dressed in little black dress and leather jacket lowered her opera glasses and smiled.

“Well done Mr. Williams, well done.”