Charred Piano

 

10/6/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood

A substantial house fire took place in Maple Leaf sometime last year, and its remains sat untouched all this time (I’m guessing for insurance reasons). In the last couple of weeks, I finally started seeing workers clearing out the debris. Whenever I walked by, I could smell old smoke as they shoveled out ashes and dumped charred furniture.

A piano appeared on the sidewalk. When I first saw it, the cover was closed. The next time I walked by, the cover had been opened, and I could see ash stains on the keys. I wanted to stand a little closer to sketch, but workers continued to shovel debris into the huge dump truck in the driveway, raising dust. When pedestrians came by, most could not resist giving the keys a tinkle, but the piano was silent.