Where is the Music Coming From, Where Has the Music Gone? Elaine Chiew

Five nights consecutively, Hu Tien listened to the piano playing across the street. Chopin's Polonaise in D minor, Op. 71. One of Chopin's most physically demanding pieces. He peered through the window blinds. There's a woman on a bench, her hair and face obscured by a black lace mantilla shawl. Hu Tien could see the downward arch of a nose, the trace outline of lips, the swaying of her shoulders. Austere, yet with a trace of femininity. She looked so utterly European, foreign and inaccessible. A feathery feeling…