88

As the song reached its crescendo, Elias began his ascent to the very top. His fingers flew across the ivory, climbing higher and higher until he reached the final, lonely frontier of the keyboard. There it was. The 88th key.

The 88th key was rarely used. It sat at the extreme edge of the instrument, yielding a short, percussive, almost bell-like chime. In many famous compositions, it is never touched at all. But for Elias's final original piece, it was the most important note of all. He struck it. Ping. As the song reached its crescendo, Elias began

He closed his eyes. To anyone else, a piano was a heavy box of wood and wire. To Elias, it was a finely tuned machine of exactly . He knew them all by heart. He began to play. The 88th key