ekentrada's profile

I I fell in love with Chopin because of Piano Sonata No. 3. The name doesn’t sound romantic, I’ll admit, but if you’ve ever heard it, you would understand. Four movements: Allegro maestroso, Scherzo, Largo, Finale. It develops into a rising harmonic progression from a heavy beginning, then becomes melodic and bursts into an unsettling largo with subtle undertones. I learned the piece early, but didn’t master it until my early 40s and even then I never really mastered it. It’s been said to be ...

In my life, I have been saved twice from the water: Once, when I was six years old and rescued from an unexpected current in the bay of our village, and again when I was an eleven-year-old passenger on the cargo ship Kioea. My Uncle Dali saved me the first time. The second time, it was Sanchie Villaneuva, an alleged half-Chinese prostitute. Kioea’s twenty allowable passengers included me, my older sister Leila and my mother, Mei-Mei. Before we boarded, the crew explained that their first prio...

In my life, I have been saved twice from the water: Once, when I was six years old and rescued from an unexpected current in the bay of our village, and again when I was an eleven-year-old passenger on the cargo ship Kioea. My Uncle Dali saved me the first time. The second time, it was Sanchie Villaneuva, an alleged half-Chinese prostitute. Kioea’s twenty allowable passengers included me, my older sister Leila and my mother, Mei-Mei. Before we boarded, the crew explained that their first prio...

Nine-year-old Matthew Forrester knew his father mostly by sounds. The closing of the front door at ten o'clock was his father coming home from work, long after dark, when Matthew had already been in bed for an hour. This was followed by the sound of his father's work boots being shoved in the corner near the hat rack and the sound of the recliner squeaking under his hefty frame as he sat down to watch late-night television, only he never really watched it, because he always dozed off before t...

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always wondered if maybe I was a little bonkers, but it wasn't until the morning of April second, while I stood before my rose bushes with hands on hips, that I ever really considered the fact that I may be insane. A certain patch of grass in my yard, under which Dean Percel lay decomposing, had appeared brighter, greener and healthier, and it pleased me so much that I suddenly wondered if it was normal to consider a human being, even Dean, as nothing more...