My Father’s Guitar
There was a girl named Kate. She grew up without her mother, who had left the family when Kate was very young — walking out of their lives and leaving Kate alone with her father. Despite everything, her father loved her and raised her as best he could. The two of them were poor, but they had each other. Kate’s father loved playing the guitar, and Kate loved it too. It was one of the things that connected them most.
But when Kate was in senior high school, her father became very ill. Because they were so poor, he could not go to the hospital. Kate did everything she could, but in the end, she could not save him. After he passed away, she took his guitar and began playing it outside the house. She had almost nothing left — no parents, no money, no one beside her. People looked at her and saw someone to look down on. She could hear what they said about her. She asked herself why she always had to be the one left behind. She had done nothing wrong. She had simply been born without the things other people had. And still she kept going, telling herself she had to do something — that one day, people would see who she really was.
One day, she met a boy named Ray. He heard her playing and singing in the street and stopped in his tracks. He thought the music was beautiful. He walked over and asked how old she was, and where she had come from. Then he said: my school is just nearby — would you come with me? Kate noticed that he was the first person who had not laughed at her. So she went with him.
At the school, she saw a large poster on the wall. There was a singing competition, and first place came with a prize. Kate thought: if I win that, everything could change. She turned to Ray. “Can I join it? I really want that prize.” Ray looked at her and said, “Of course. I think you can do it.” Ray wrote her name on the entry form, and Kate went home to prepare.
The competition was in one month. Kate practiced her guitar every single day. She thought: if I win the money, I will finally have something. I will finally stop falling. She practiced until it felt like breathing. When the month was over, she went back to the school and found Ray. “I don’t think I can get first place,” she told him. “I’ve never played on a stage before. I’m so nervous.” Ray said, “It will be okay. You play so well.” Kate sat down backstage and told herself quietly: I can do this. Then she walked out onto the stage and began to sing.
When she finished, the room was still for a moment. Then the applause came. People who had never noticed her before were on their feet. When the principal announced the results, Kate’s name was called first. She had won. She was overwhelmed with happiness — a feeling she had not let herself feel in a long time.
After the competition, Kate was approached by the head of the guitar club, who told her she was talented and invited her to join. Kate thought about it. She wanted to say yes — but she also remembered every time she had walked into a room and been laughed at. What if it happened again? She thanked the principal and said she would think about it.
Some time later, Ray came to find her. He told her she was wonderful. He told her he loved her, and asked if she would be with him. He said he could play guitar with her and take care of her. Kate looked at him. She thought about what it would mean to say yes. And she said yes.
After that, the two of them played guitar together in the street. People who passed by stopped to listen. Some of them — the same ones who had laughed at her before — came over and said they were sorry. They said she was a good person. Kate smiled and told them she could teach them how to play. Years later, when Kate was twenty-five, she and Ray were still together. She was living well. And wherever she went, she brought her father’s guitar.
