The House of Silence by Blanca Busquets

a girl who, bit by bit, had learned happiness and sensitivity at her father’s side, and musically she had come a long way as well. She had relaxed and managed to do what it takes to make music, real music.
    But it didn’t last long, because that was the end of it all. We all went out to dinner and she seemed happy, but then Maties and I exchanged phone numbers and she didn’t like that as much. When she realized that something special was growing between us, she changed again and, suddenly, I saw in her the girl who met me with hostility when I returned to class after burying my mother. That day she was afraid of being left by the only person who was there for her. And then, with Maties, she thought I was snatching her father away from her.
    Maybe we should forget about this, I sadly said one day to Maties, when I thought the situation was untenable. No, she will understand; she has to understand, he said. After all, he was right, a girl who was already an adult couldn’t dictate what her father did with his life. But it hurt me, and suddenly, Anna stopped putting what she had been putting into her music. It was as if it were all tied together: her personality, her moods, and, above all, her soul. Suddenly, she had lost it again, and no matter what instructions I gave, there was no way to get her back to the Anna she had been before, the Anna of the past four years. I tried to talk to her; I asked her if she was upset by the fact that her father and I were dating. She answered that our lives weren’t her business, although she wouldn’t meet my gaze, and she asked me to go back to the music:that we didn’t have much time, all of a sudden she was always in a hurry, she always had to leave.
    My relationship with Maties grew, while my relationship with Anna deteriorated. When I went to their house, she was never there, or she disappeared as soon as she heard me come in. She had become invisible. Then, at the conservatory, they told me she had requested a different teacher. I was shocked.
    Then I did what I never should have done, but it was a last ditch attempt to get her on my side, to get her to at least have a bit of affection for me. For all three of our sakes, I gave her my Stainer. She had seen it on more than one occasion, and I knew she envied it. I had never told her where I’d gotten it; normally, I taught with another violin and only brought it in every once in a while. And then I gave it to her. I thought that that would solve everything, that letting go of a gem like that was worth it if it meant winning over a person I needed on my side. I also thought that things with Maties would move forward and that we’d eventually end up living together, and the violin would stay in the family. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I gave it to her.
    That day when I lost my head, I also lost what had saved my life at the age of seven. I didn’t get anything out of it, except for a thank-you and a sarcastic smile. At our last class, I placed it gently in her hands. Since it was a magic violin, I thought that it would allow Anna to find her soul in music. But that wasn’t the case: in her hands, the Stainer turned into just another instrument, nothing more, it no longer made magical music, it lost its enchanted aura I had seen at the dump. But she didn’t refuse to accept it, shetook it immediately. I was left without Anna, without the violin, and, a few years later, without Maties as well.
    Now, she pulls the Stainer out as often as she can in front of me, to rub my nose in it, and I think I’ll never find another like it. Giving it to her was so stupid of me—so, so stupid. But Anna is the one who lacks true music, with or without the Stainer. And I’ve got it.

Anna
    This second movement is for sappy, sluggish people like Teresa. It’s too easy for me. Sure, it’s pretty, and Teresa goes wild for that kind of thing; you can see it a mile off, it looks