by Joella Ong (P4 2021)

               “Aaah… What a peaceful day! Time to prepare for my piano performance. Time flies too fast — there are still two more days till the performance and I can’t wait to show everyone what I have been practising,” I muttered to myself as I stretched my arms outright before I clasped them together, full of hope. I got out of bed, walked to the piano in the living room, tuned it and set the score on the music rack. I had always enjoyed playing the piano since I was four years old. The piece I was playing was really challenging.   had chosen it because when I first heard the song, I had thought that it would be easy for me to play. Unfortunately, I should not have judged a book by its cover. I soon found out that it was really hard as the tempo was really fast and I was not a very experienced pianist. However, I persevered by doing my very best and managed to master most of the piece. In fact, it took two months just to learn the layered melodies and master the piano piece.

               After an hour of practising, I took a short rest. Then, I continued to practise until midnight.  The next day, I played for one hour and suddenly felt an excruciating pain in my hands. My fingers had turned numb. Today was the day of the performance and my legs were just like jelly. I dipped my hands into a bowl of ice to soothe them and thankfully, after a while, they felt better. When I reached the auditorium, I had butterflies in my stomach and my heart was palpitating wildly against my chest.  I asked the backstage staff if I could rehearse my piece one final time as there was a piano just across the room.  She allowed me to practise for my performance. I was filled with resolve and played with my heart and soul.

               Once I finished playing the song, I felt reassured that I could perform well and I was determined to try my best despite the slight numbness in my fingers.

               “Let’s welcome Sabrina Ong to play her musical piece!”  the host of the performance boomed.  Loud claps reverberated throughout the auditorium. I thought to myself: Now is the time for all the hours I had spent practising to pay off and not go to waste. I walked onto the stage and sat on the chair. After I finished the piece, I took a bow while the audience gave me a standing ovation.

               “Thank you, Sabrina! That was a marvellous piece!” the host praised me.

               I thought to myself: Yes! My days of hard work had finally paid off!

               From this experience, I had learnt a valuable lesson about perseverance. What a memorable experience!

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