Renae managed to make it to her house without becoming prey. Home was her safe house. She threw her bag on the bench and rushed up to the music room. Daisy's music room. The place Renae felt closest to her mother. It had beautiful light purple walls with black paint lining the lavender. The white trim suited the pine panel floors perfectly. A sigh escaped her lips. Peaceful quiet. The one place her life was normal. Renae imagined the room in thirds. The first held a piano. The second held a single music stand. The third held music, instruments and chairs. She sat down on the bench of the piano and attempted to play it. The notes sounded distorted and gross. Renae placed her face into her hands. Another failure. Why couldn't she be okay at something?
In a lonely corner of the room was a black, smooth, cello case. Renae caught a glimpse of the magnificent case. She stood and walked over to the dusty beauty. It was sealed shut so no humidity would reach the beautiful wood and take it out of tune. That meant it also kept the dust out. Renae took off her ill-fitting sweater and rubbed the black case to free it of dust. She ran her hand along the side of the case until she found the latch. Her hand was about to undo the latch, but she stopped it. Quickly, Renae grabbed a chair and went to the music pile labeled "Beginner". She grabbed a book and took the chair to the stand along with the music. Sitting on the stand was a lovely rockstop. Left there from the last day her mother practiced. Renae had to choke back her tears. One escaped and she wiped it away. She reached for the rocket and spit on the bottom, as she had seen her mother do ever since she was small. The memories flooded back to her like a tsunami. She forced her brain to push them aside.
Renae touched the smooth cello case. It felt like glass. Not a smudge on the surface. She grabbed the handle on the back and pulled it to the music stand. Renae found and fumbled with the latch until it came undone. The case opened to reveal an even more beautiful sight.
Daisy would only have the best cello she could. The best cello she did have too! It was a dark mahogany with lighter swirls of wood for the cello's top, back, nut, scroll, bouts and neck. The fingerboard was a lovely cherry oak. As were the tailpiece, legs and pegbox. The bow was made of silver and mahogany. The hairs were beautiful white horse hairs. Renae was in awe at the beauty before her eyes. It was always the most magnificent thing she had ever seen and still was. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what her mother always did.
Renae first tightened the bow to a pinky width, like Daisy had told her. She then proceeded to rosin the bow hairs. Carefully, she placed the bow on the stand. Now to ready the fragile cello.

The cello was finally set up and pushed into the rockstop. It had taken a few minutes, but Renae was able to find the correct length for the endpin and the right distance for the rockstop. She took hold of the bow like the book had shown. The page turned and revealed a simple "D song". Renae took a deep breath and played the song. She could feel the music flow through her. It coursed through her veins. Renae turned the page to a harder song. One without the names in the note head. For some reason, this felt right. As though her mother's spirit was guiding her hands to the notes. A smile slowly came to Renae's face. For the first time in a year, she felt truly happy. Truly alive. The cello, it was her blood. She was meant to play it. Renae moved with the music. She could feel it speak to her. The cello had become a friend.