A Sadness Within by Sara Fiorenzo Read Free Book Online

about how she must have felt during those last few years. In a way, I could relate to her. I knew what it was like to be alone. Before the Bradley’s moved back to the area, rumors circulated that the house was haunted and that a woman could be seen walking past the windows from time to time.
    A shiver crawled down my spine. I don’t know why I had suddenly thought of this.  I didn’t want to think about the sorrow of the Bradley family now. Today had started out well, and I didn’t need to let dark thoughts bring me back down.
    “Hey, are you ready for Monday?” said a voice that bounded through the door. My best friend Kara, who also happened to teach across the hall, was one of the few good things in my life.
    “Monday?” My mind anxiously thumbed through my mental files.  What did I need to remember about Monday? Auditions!  “Oh yeah, auditions! Um, I think so. I’m planning on having Steve help me out, but I haven’t talked to him.” It may be my first year here, but that didn’t stop them from asking me to direct the school play. Steve was another English teacher who I had hoped would help me out. The idea of being on stage again was exciting, but anxiety was growing in me as I wondered if I would really be able to direct something. Although, it would give me something to do at night for a few months out of the year. This year, we were attempting Shakespeare’s As You Like It .
    “Well, I know that I’m not much of a thespian, but I can help you if you need me to.”
    She laughed, knowing that I would never ask her, and then went back to her own classroom. She actually was quite a drama queen. She just didn’t realize it. Maybe I should ask her just to shock her.
    First bell rang and my students began to trickle in, forcing me to focus on the task at hand. The rest of the day was uneventful as I continued through my normal routine. Discussions, reading, writing, etc. Ah, the life of a teacher. Finally, what seemed like days later, the 6 th period bell finally rang. I could see Celia watching me casually, her blue eyes surreptitiously glancing through her curls, as I made my end of the hour announcements. 
    “Don’t forget to read the next chapter in Pride and Prejudice, and remember you have a vocabulary quiz tomorrow.” My announcements fell idly on the backs of the students as they left my classroom. Within seconds, the classroom was completely empty and quiet and I was alone. Good. No one wanted to stay and talk. I flopped down into my chair and sighed deeply. There was always grading to do, and then perhaps, I would go to the auditorium and play for a while.
    I lived to play the piano. I had taken lessons from the time I was in elementary school, all the way through high school and had even been in the school orchestra. Now I just played for me. The sound of a piano is always very calming. There was a piano at home, but there was something about playing a big grand piano on a stage that reminded me of what it was like to play in front of an audience. The sound reverberated through the empty space and danced off the walls, sending a small thrill through me. A concert pianist would have been a logical career choice, but I never had the guts to go through the pressures of practicing to perform.
    By the time I had finished grading papers and getting the vocabulary quiz ready, the school was nearly empty. Only a few staff members remained and the auditorium was vacant, as I had suspected. I flipped on the stage lights and immediately felt the heat radiating from them. I was momentarily blinded as my eyes adjusted until the auditorium seats were a haze before me. The sound of the bench sliding across the wooden stage echoed loudly, and I sat gingerly. The ivory was cold and silky under my fingers. If I closed my eyes, the music would find me. I never knew what song would come, but it would be one of many I had learned over the years. I had never been very good at writing my own music. Today, it was