Just Like Momma

This is my third submission for the Writers to Writers Challenge on Instagram. To see my original submission, visit my Instagram page at @selinawriting.

The prompt for this round was to include a "key", literally or figuratively.

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Just Like Momma

Danielle smiled. She liked her bow and the spunky nose Momma called a cute little button. 

"I look pretty!" she chirped, and skipped downstairs for supper. She wanted to ask Momma what to bring for Show-and-Tell, but Momma looked busy.

Danielle sat on the piano bench and watched Momma in the kitchen. Then she turned to admire the ebony wood and the shiny white keys, a long row of grinning teeth. She danced her fingers a hair above the keys and imagined music soaring like a bird over the sea. She plinked a little on the keys. 

Suddenly, caught between her fingers sat the top of a key that had come loose. The piano's smile had a gap now, like hers did.

Inspiration lifted Danielle's features. She pictured herself in front of her class.

 

"This is the top of a piano key D," she told them. "My Momma wrote a song for me in D because my name starts with D. Momma writes beautiful music. This key represents Momma and how I want to be just like her. Momma works hard so we can do things like piano. I start lessons next year and I can't wait! One day I will write songs, just like Momma." 

Satisfied with her rehearsal, Danielle pocketed the key.

〜

Julienne frowned. She didn't love her hair, or her stubby nose.

"I look... tired," she thought to herself. Sighing, she slunk downstairs to see what she could scrounge for supper.  

 

Julienne heard Danielle at the piano as she checked the freezer for ideas. Her little girl, who wanted to play so badly.

Julienne had once wanted to play so badly. She had scraped herself bare to continue lessons after Momma couldn't pay. She sold everything she could, she delivered papers, mowed lawns, cleaned houses and shoveled snow, made girls at school pay to have their hair braided, and it cost younger girls fifty cents to use the bathroom. She even did a special photoshoot with the grownup next door. No one knew, but the piano's long row of shiny white teeth seemed to growl rather than grin after that. Her Momma thought she was just doing the neighbour's dishes. Momma was real proud of her girl and came to every one of her concerts. 

Momma would have known what to make for supper. When they were eating just rice, beans, and crackers, she would brighten things up by serving it in shapes, or telling stories about magic beans, or playing "find the chicken in your rice". She lit candles and decorated the table like a feast. 

Momma could turn aside the edge of any cloud to find the sunbeam beneath.

Inspiration lifted Julienne's features. A little bit of pantry scraps goes a long way with some cheer and imagination. She hummed to herself as she stirred this and that into a simple soup. She set the table with their nicest tablecloth and filled wine glasses with water.

 

She even lit a candle.

Just like Momma.