The Story Teller

Going home from work one day, Ronnie saw an old man playing a violin beside a store. He seems to be so engrossed with his playing that he didn’t notice that no one was actually listening to him. Ronnie felt pity for the old man so he dropped some coins on the floor but the old man seemed not to notice. Ronnie stayed for a while and listened. The old man was just a mediocre player. A guitar player in a band himself, Ronnie even noticed some mistakes but the old man didn’t seem to care.

More curious than entertained, Ronnie stayed altogether and decided to go home later than  he planned. After finishing the piece, the old man played another, this one with as many mistakes as the previous piece. When the old man played a third piece, Ronnie started to ask himself why he stayed and why didn’t he want to leave yet. Ronnie waited and couldn’t almost believe it when the old man finally stopped playing but didn’t look surprised to see Ronnie beside him.

‘Hello, Sir! I’ve been listening to your violin..’ said Ronnie attempting for a conversation.

‘Yes, I know..’ replied the old man.

‘You’re good..’ lied Ronnie in absence of anything to say.

‘No, I’m not’

‘Why did you say that?’

‘Because no one bothers to listen to me’

Ronnie was surprised..

‘Well.. if you know that no one listens to you, then why do you keep on playing?’

The old man looked at him then answered..

‘I don’t care how other people feel about my music. What matters to me is how my music makes me feel…’

Ronnie looked at the old man. Contentment written all over his old face. As Ronnie started to leave, he checked his heart and found discontentment and self-doubt. He looked at the old man and asked himself if he has the same courage to ignore what other people say and feel and think about what will make him happy.

(Original story by the blog author. Any similarities with other stories, fiction or otherwise, are purely incidental.)

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