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Val was just about done, but it occurred to her that she ought to run through the song she had been playing once more. After all, it was always best to finish on a high note, and her last run-through hadn't been her best musically.
By now, she knew the music nearly by heart. She tried adjusting her playing to the new instrument, letting the crystalline high notes ring out more, and not hitting the bass too hard, as this particular piano seemed to have a tendency to sound overly harsh if the lower register was played too loudly.
The girl's hands swept upward, and then down in the final sequence of cascading chords. The last notes pierced the air like delicate needles, and then vanished. It seemed to her, however, that the crystal continued ringing just below her hearing for a long time afterward.
She sat still for several seconds after she was done, even after she finally released the keys. Then, almost silently, she pulled the lid down over the keyboard, which vanished beneath the sparkling black crystal.
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