The boy’s face remained expressionless. He was tired out by the amount of walking he had done. Three months, to be exact. And that wasn’t something easy for a boy who had barely lived a dozen years. His uncle ordered the butler to show him to his room. It was evening already, and the sun had started to set. Nocturnal animals started to creep out of their homes in search of food as darkness covered the land. His room was small, barely five metres wide. It contained a chest of drawers, a closet, a bed and a table with a table lamp on it. The table had a layer of dust on it, and the corners of the ceiling had cobwebs on it. It was an abandoned room, not used since Mrs. Colby’s mom had passed away and the maids never bothered to clean it, explained the butler to John. His tired mind barely took in any of the details in the room and dropped on his bed in exhaustion. The butler apologised for the rude behaviour previously and then took off to do his usual duty. The boy nodded and dozed off.
He had slept barely for two hours when he woke up again. The piano in the house was being played again. He could hear every note and every mistake made by the pianist, but he did not know who was playing what. He could hear the sounds outside the house. He could feel Mother Nature playing its own accompaniment to the playing of the piano. He smiled. It was soothing. All his tiredness faded away as his body swayed along with the music. He grew more and more ecstatic as the music gradually climbed towards the climax of the composition. He began to hum along, stopping a few times only to smile. Soon, the music stopped, but the tune was still alive in his brain. His mind started composing a sequel to the piece he just heard. He twisted and turned in bed, not being able to sleep even though it was 4a.m.. Regardless how tired he was, his mind just could not stop thinking of the tune he had just heard.
The next morning, he was found sound asleep by the butler who came to his room. Looking at his face, the butler decided to wake him up later. Breakfast was served to Mr. Colby who was up and ready to go to work. His eyes were glued to the newspapers in his hand as he munched down his breakfast and downed it with a cup of coffee. Once he finished eating, he rushed off to his workplace. It was 11a.m., and John finally woke up from his sleep. It had been the best sleep ever for him. All his life, he had never slept that peacefully and comfortably. He wiped the drool off his chin and went to find the butler. He passed by the toilet and saw the butler inside shaving. He wondered what the butler was doing as he had never seen someone with a blade and white stuff all over his face. The butler ignored him and continued shaving. John waited patiently outside. The butler finally came out after cleaning his face. He politely asked John whether he was waiting to wash up.
“Wash up? What’s that?”
“Don’t you know? It consists of brushing teeth and washing your face etc.”
“No sir. Never heard of it my whole life.”
“Come. I’ll teach you.”
After washing up, both of them went to the kitchen to get breakfast. The butler, an excellent chef, began to prepare the stuff and asked him what he would like. “Anything would do,” said John. A three egg omelette with ham, tomato, mushroom and cheese plus two slices of toast was served in an instant. “Enjoy, master,” said the butler as he placed the food before John together with a cup of orange juice. John hurriedly gobbled down the meal as his mind was on something else. He was still thinking of the tune he had heard yesterday on his bed.