Page 13 of A Swan’s Love Song

guitar. He played all right by himself, but he wanted to get better.

If I don’t have enough now, maybe I can save up and take them later.

“I found something that might be just the ticket.”

Sean dropped the flyer back on the stack and turned to face Morty. But it wasn’t Morty he saw.

It was the maple guitar he held in his hand. His heart pounded at the sight. The pickguard had a dove

in a tree engraved in the laminate and, other than a few dings in the body and being badly in need of a

refinishing, it was perfect. He didn’t mind that the instrument had seen rough times, that it perhaps

hadn’t been cared for as well as it should have been. He thought it was beautiful.

His shoulders slumped. I’m sure it’s much too expensive.

“I know she looks a little beat up but with some tender-loving care, you’ll have an excellent

instrument.” Morty held the guitar up horizontally and squinted down the length of the neck. “See? No

bowing and those dings are just superficial. The body is solid, and the wood is seasoned so it’ll give

you a great sound. Wanna give her a try?”

Sean clenched and unclenched his fists. Boy, did he ever. But first, he needed to know one

important thing.

“How much is it?”

Morty held it by the neck with one hand and the body with the other, turning it this way and that.

He furrowed his brow.

“Hmm. Well, we just got her in and haven’t done any work on her yet… Whaddya say to a

hundred bucks?”

Sean’s jaw dropped. “I say yes!

Morty chuckled. “Wouldn’t you like to play it first?”

Sean nodded eagerly and held out his hands. If the guitar played half as good as it looked, it

would be the most amazing one ever. The moment he wrapped his fingers around the neck, the

memory of using his old guitar and how soothing it had been to play, surged through him. He didn’t

want to cry in front of Morty, so he took the instrument and made his way to a stool nearby.

He was too short to keep one foot on the ground with the other on the rung, so he hopped on the

seat instead. The first strum of the strings made his chest tighten in a good way. His heart pounded

from the thrill of playing again. After running through a verse and chorus of one of the songs he used

to play all the time, he stopped then petted the body and pickguard.