Fiction

By Jodi Ho

Editor's Note: The author is a Canadian schoolgirl from near Toronto.

SELENA Beauguard had just returned from her best friend Rachel's funeral. They had grown up together in the countryside. Rachel played the harp while Selena played the piano.

Too tired and depressed to do much else, Selena went straight to bed. That night, she didn't sleep well. At about midnight, she heard her dog Marley barking. She calmed him down, but then heard the distant sounds of soft music.

As Selena knew perfectly well, she lived alone with no neighbors nearby. Although she felt scared and shocked, curiosity overwhelmed her and she decided to investigate.

After quickly getting dressed, she went outside. The music led her into the woods behind her house and toward the river. As she neared the river, the music abruptly stopped, but then started again.

What Selena saw next frightened her so much that she nearly had a heart attack. There in front of her stood Rachel's harp playing on its own.

“This can't happen,” Selena thought. “Rachel's family took that harp away.”

For some reason, Selena felt an urge to take home this nocturnal harp. It felt lighter than she expected. Once at home, she placed it in her bedroom.

The next morning, Selena awoke to the twittering of birds. Remembering the harp, she looked toward the corner where she had left it. What? It wasn't there.

“Was last night all a dream?” Selena wondered. But when she stood up and turned around, there was the harp, back in the same corner and again playing a song.

Despite feeling deeply puzzled, Selena decided to follow her daily routine. But as she reached onto a shelf for bread, someone behind her opened the refrigerator.

Selena stiffened in fear. When she turned to confront the stranger, no one was there.

After Selena finished her breakfast, she decided to read a bit. Suddenly she heard the television flick on. Again, Selena looked all around, ever so slowly this time, but saw no one.

Deeply confused, Selena chose to do what always helped her to think more clearly. She sat down to play the piano. As soon as she started to play a song, the harp did too, almost as if accompanying her.

Stopping and staring, Selena wondered if the harp could have caused so many strange happenings. “Whether to blame or not, the harp must go,” she decided.

That night, Selena stuck to her decision and threw the mysterious harp into the river. As she strolled away, a chilling hunch popped into her mind.

“Could it be?” Selena wondered.

Racing back to the river, she peeked toward the water from behind a tree. “So it's true,” she thought. “It's really true.”

Amazingly, the harp stood on the river bank, again playing, this time not by itself, but by the dim shape of Selena's friend Rachel.

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