Just a wall apart

Kind of an idea I got from the anime "Your lie in April" but nobody dies here at least. I just wanted the idea out of my head 

I was just supposed to be staying for a while. Yeah, just for a few weeks. I planned to go back home as soon as my three weeks of vacation time was done but that wasn’t the case. The news came out about a deadly virus, the coronavirus, it was called. As per safety protocols, a two-week lockdown was implemented. Before I could even be informed of the circumstances, it was already too late. I didn’t have much on me, and I didn’t have that much food to live off of. But I had my violin. That was the most comforting thought I had at least. 

Two weeks passed and the home quarantine was again extended. I was ready to get home by then. When that happened, I just continued to play the violin day in and day out. It eased my anxieties, it even allowed me some peace of mind. 

Another two weeks passed and I still wasn’t allowed to travel home yet I was allowed to buy food for myself. Luckily my family would send me money I could use for food at least. 

On my return to the rented apartment, I found a note

I’ve been listening to you play. You’re good. I’m your neighbor, by the way

-Noemie

A smile curled on my lips. I remember someone telling me that my playing was horrendous. I was surprised when someone wanted to hear me play. 

On the free space of the paper, I wrote:

I could play something you’d want to hear if you want?

-Esme

I wasn’t sure which door this person was behind so out of good nature, I just let the note hang on my door, in hopes that they would notice. 

Noemie was a nice name, I thought to myself. Maybe a girl’s name, I wasn’t sure but whoever they were, they were nice and if they loved hearing me play so much, I would play only for them. 

The very next day, I saw a note on my door again, but this time, it was on a different colored paper.

Could you play river flows in you by Yiruma? I also left you bread as thanks. It’s nice to meet you, by the way :) 

-Noemie

When I looked down at the doorknob, there was a bag that hung from it. And as promised, the bread that was still so warm. Did they bake this, perhaps? I took a bite of it and it was delicious and very filling. It energized me and I saved the rest for when I got hungry again at any point of the day. After the small meal, I immediately played. I wasn’t sure how to go about playing it but when I thought about this mystery neighbor, I think of how subtle and delicate their approach was towards me, a foreigner… I was thankful so that’s how I thought of playing it. And for the whole day, I only played such soft and delicate tunes that matched this stranger. 

By the evening of that very day, I left a note of my own on the door and a bag that contained my country’s delicacy. I still had leftover candied fruits so I gave some of them to my neighbor.

Noemie, I hope you enjoyed the songs today. I appreciate the bread, I hope you would enjoy these fruits as I’ve enjoyed your food. What’s it called?

-Esme

For a while, we continued with our small exchanges by note and by food. I found out that she was indeed a girl. And when I couldn’t offer food, she would say it’s okay. Things got more interesting when she mentioned that she used to play piano and that she started asking for duets. And so we did. 

Usually, this would be done through calls or just meeting each other since we were just neighbors but I was enjoying our exchanges too much so we continued with our notes. I even collected most of them. There’s a different feeling when someone would send notes. It just made one feel warm. 

Going back to the duet… since she said she was a bit rusty, we agreed to start small so I asked her if she knew Mozart’s twinkle twinkle little star. Luckily she did and for the whole day, we played that over and over again until she managed to perfect it. 

Next, we went for eine kleine Nachtmusik, minuet then we tried a more difficult one like river flows in you. We didn’t stop until she could get it right. It all just seemed pretty funny to me, she was just a wall away yet we still didn’t dare meet each other. 

Months passed with our setup being like that. Food, notes, and music. I didn’t even notice the months pass. When I checked in on the world again, the travel restrictions were lightened and I was pretty excited to be home again… yet it saddened me that I’d have to say goodbye with my shy mystery neighbor so I told her on a note. 

Hey… this might be sudden but I can go back to my country. Can we play one last duet? Do you know Leibeslied by Rachmaninoff?

-E

I knew she practiced it all night because I could hear her piano from beyond the wall. She really wanted it to be a proper send-off, it seemed. 

I was expecting a note again when morning came but it wasn’t a note that greeted me. It was a woman probably around the same age as me. She had the cloth bag that we used to exchange food with

“Hi… I’m Noemie” An awkward smile graced her lips. Definitely a french girl with her accent. I could only smile in return

“It’s nice to finally meet you” I smiled in return and gestured her inside “What brings you to finally meet me?” I teased but her reaction wasn’t quite what I had in mind

A pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me in an embrace. Surprised was an understatement, honestly. I wasn’t even sure what I had to do

“Would you mind if we tried playing that song in my apartment? I want to watch you play. This might be the last time” 

With that, I just smiled and gave her back a light pat. She let go of me and allowed me space to get my violin. I never expected to ever meet my stranger but this was more than I could ever ask of her. I was happy that she invited me and she even gestured to the food she had prepared.

“Since you’ll be leaving by the weekends… I wanted to remember you as a person and not as a mysterious violinist I suddenly met during the lockdown” 

I couldn’t agree more. That was why as soon as she was done setting up, we played the song, shared a meal on the same table and we just talked. It went on like that until I had to move back to England. She did promise that she’ll be the one seeing me soon. In the meantime, we kept communication up with our song recordings. We still tried to play together on video chats but I can’t wait for the day I’d get to play with her again. She said she had a surprise for me the next time