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There it was, glowing quietly in the corner of the study. In the early morning, as she passed it in the hallway, there would sometimes be a stray sunbeam alighting on the strings. It should be stored in its case, but as time passed, it seemed harder to put the instrument away. There was a comfort of sorts in having it there, a silent presence in the suddenly empty house.

It was the quiet which was at once overwhelming and essential. When Fiona had moved in, there was always music playing in the house. ABC Classic would be murmuring away in the kitchen as Chris cooked, and there was an extravagant sound system in the living room and outside deck. Chris would practise outside when the weather was kind, hours of scales at high speed and repetition of the current works before a performance. Fiona, who was known to sing off-key and prefer hiphop to more traditional forms of music, had taken some time to get used to the instrument’s sound. She loved to watch Chris play, to see his face soften as a melody took shape. That smile which lit his eyes after a performance, knowing that the hours of practice had been worth every moment.

The fact that the viola was here, and he was not, was how Fiona knew that something was wrong. Chris loved his viola, could talk for hours about the places that they’d travelled to, the music they’d created. Fiona had asked in jest once if she should be jealous, and wanted to give the instrument a nickname. Maybe Vera or Veronica? But Chris had grinned back at her, saying that music was his constant companion, but that Fiona was the love of his life.

She had struggled to get the police to take it seriously when Chris had disappeared. Fiona knew that he would never go anywhere for any length of time without his viola. That it was here, and he was not, made no sense at all. As days and weeks passed, it waited, just as Fiona did, for Chris and the music to return.

This was written to a prompt at my writing group, inspired by a tiny replica of a classical stringed instrument.

Photo: Before the performance, Riverside Theatre, Parramatta