The Guitar
Jaiya loved guitars. She loved everything about them. The way they looked, the way they felt when she held them between her chest and right arm, even their faint smell. But most of all the sounds they made. Every note, every string pluck sounded to Jaiya like a harp being played by an angel. The only problem was, she didn’t own one. The only time she had even picked one up was at her local musical instrument shop.
Jaiya’s parents were very poor. They lived in a studio apartment, with her parents sleeping in a double bed whilst she slept on a couch. They had no computers and no TV. Her parents knew of course of her love of guitars and had promised to try to save up for one – maybe for her next birthday? Jaiya knew though that this was definitely not a sure thing.
But Jaiya was a bright and determined girl. She would not wait until she had a guitar of her own to learn to play. She found a large piece of cardboard and cut the shape of a guitar out of it (based on some measurements she’d found on the internet). She then drew on it the sound hole, strings and frets, all as close to the correct distances apart as she could manage. Then she borrowed her mum’s phone and used YouTube to teach herself to play. It hardly mattered to her that her cardboard guitar made no sounds – she knew the sound of every string and note so well she could hear them all in her mind.
Eight months passed. No guitar for her tenth birthday, much to her parent’s shame. Jaiya understood though. Food and running water were more important. But in that eight months Jaiya became a superb cardboard guitar player. One day her best friend, Rashmi, came to visit her and offered to record her strumming her favourite song, ‘Motown Rain’, whilst it played in the background. Jaiya agreed, and the video came out really well. It really looked like Jaiya was playing the song’s guitar music. Rashmi suggested that they put the video on YouTube, but Jaiya was quite against that idea, knowing that her school mates might tease her mercilessly if they saw her playing a cardboard instrument. But… when Rashmi got home she found that she just couldn’t resist. She posted it anyway. To her, Jaiya’s playing was incredible and beautiful, and more people should be able to see it.
Well, more people certainly did see it. Within two weeks the video had over 82,000 views. One of those viewers was a local rock ‘n’ roll legend named Rick Rolls. He was the lead guitarist for a band called Twisted Metal, and was known for being someone who could play any song, no matter how complex.
In the comments section of the YouTube video, he wrote of how impressed he was with Jaiya and asked if he could be e-mailed her address so that he could send her a gift. Jaiya probably would have politely declined, but Rashmi – whose account the video was on – did not. Two days later, a package arrived for Jaiya at her door. Recognising its shape instantly, she tore open its packaging – it was a guitar! And not just any guitar, this appeared to be Rick Rolls’ legendary first guitar!
With her parents out of the flat at that moment, she didn’t waste any time trying to play it. She played the first twelve notes of her favourite song… then the guitar played the next twelve, all by itself! Was this some sort of trick? Jaiya looked at the guitar more closely. No electrical wires, no computer, nothing out of the ordinary. Which only left one possible explanation. She tentatively played the first sixteen notes of the hardest song she could think of… and the guitar played the next sixteen. There could be no doubt about it now. Rick Rolls’ first guitar – and now Jaiya’s guitar – was magical.
What will Jaiya do with this amazing gift?
Will she tell anyone else the guitar’s secret, or keep it to herself?
Will she use the guitar to help others somehow? Or just herself?