By HeeSun Koh

“Do do ti do la do sol do fa do mi do… 

mi mi re mi do mi ti mi la mi sol mi…”

I was playing *Hanon with excitement. My fingers moved so fluidly that I felt like I was a famous pianist performing on stage.

“Ring ring”…

“Julia, are you playing the piano right now?”

‘Eek, how did my mom find out?’

“The concierge called me. There was a noise complaint from the neighbor upstairs.”

My heart sank and I quickly looked outside the window. The sun had already set.

“Didn’t I tell you to play the piano only during the day?”

‘Oops, I forgot about that.’

My face turned red from feeling sorry and embarrassed. I put down the telephone and walked around the living room wondering what to do.

‘Oh my, what should I do?’

I went into my room. I took out a piece of paper and a pencil and started writing a letter. My handwriting looked so messy that I kept erasing it and writing it over again.

‘Hello, 

My name is Julia. I’m a first-grade student at Swansea School. I live downstairs. I was so immersed in playing the piano that I didn’t know it was getting dark.

It must have been noisy. I’m sorry.’

I took out some crayons and started drawing an apple. The red apple with a green leaf looked very pretty. I put the drawing and the letter inside an envelope went down to the ground floor, and placed it in the mailbox for unit 1002.

The next day, I came back from school and noticed a basket sitting on the table. Mom said, “Someone left it in front of the door just now…”. There was a letter inside the basket.

‘Dear Julia, 

thank you for the kind letter and the drawing.

I can rest assured that there will no longer be loud noise at night. Please don’t worry about me and continue playing the piano. Even skipping one day might slow down your progress, so, it’s good to practice every day.

These apples are organic and are harvested with families in mind so when you eat them, just rinse with water and eat them with the skin on. It will be delicious.

 – From the lady upstairs who loves nature and doesn’t want to be called grandma yet.’

*Hanon (Charles-Louis Hanon): A French pianist and educator (1820-1900) who created the piano exercise piece called “Hanon Exercises”

*“Apple” is “사과 – Sagwa” in Korean. It has two meanings.

One is the fruit “apple” and the other is the “apology”.

HeeSun is a poet and storybook writer who belongs to the University in the Community. She brings hope to people and brightens the world with beautiful poems, songs, and stories. She is a member of the Pen International.