Death's Awakening Read Online Free PDF

here, she was an embarrassment?
    She couldn’t win
with this woman.
    Anger trickled through
her and she felt that tug. That familiar, rebellious pull that made
her want to kick off her shoes and run screaming into the pool in
front of everyone. What would her mother have to say then?
    But her mother had
already turned her attention to a man Parrish recognized from Zoe’s
music lessons.
    Parrish stepped away
before the awkward introductions began. She was going to scream if
she had to hear one more person say, ‘Wow, I never realized Zoe
had a sister’ or ‘What instrument do you play, Parrish?’
    Having to explain just
how little musical talent she possessed was never the highlight of
her day. Being the firstborn child to a famous opera singer and a
professional cellist, she was supposed to have been a musical genius.
It was part of her birthright. Or so everyone thought. By the time
she was six her parents had ushered her to every kind of music lesson
imaginable. Piano, violin, voice, even trumpet. The result was always
the same.
    Parrish was no prodigy.
    So they tried again.
    And Zoe? Zoe was a
different story.
    The cling of silver
against glass sounded over the crowd and everyone gradually turned
their attention toward the back deck. Parrish moved to the back of
the group and leaned against the wooden fence, watching.
    Her father stood on the
deck with a glass of champagne in his hand and a wide, proud smile on
his face.
    “My wife and I
would like to thank you all so much for coming tonight,” he
said. “As most of you know, we are here to celebrate our
daughter’s amazing talent.” Several people cheered and
her father slipped his arm around her mom with a smile. “Tomorrow
morning, Zoe and I will be flying out to New York City where she will
play a series of concerts with the New York Philharmonic. Then, in
two weeks, we’ll be heading to Paris for the start of her first
European tour!”
    Parrish crossed her
arms as the crowd broke out in excited applause.
    Zoe stood beside their
parents, a well-trained smile on her angelic face. Parrish swallowed
back the bitter taste of jealousy and shifted her weight from one
foot to the other. It wasn’t Zoe’s fault she was born to
play the violin.
    “This is a very
important event for our family, and we are just so touched that you
have all come out to see Zoe off,” her mother said.
    “As a special
treat,” her father continued, “Zoe has prepared a special
piece just for this occasion.” More gasps and cheers of
delight.
    Parrish bit the inside
of her bottom lip.
    “If you would all
make your way to the formal living room, you’ll see that an
intimate concert hall has been set up for you,” her mother said
with a laugh. She grabbed Zoe’s hand and patted it. “The
concert will begin in just a few minutes.”
    Everyone rushed toward
the French doors, eager for the best seats. Parrish grabbed a
discarded flute of champagne and disappeared into the shadows around
the side of the house. She slipped out of her shoes and stepped into
the cool, damp grass. It squished under her feet, climbing up between
her sore toes as she made her way through the gate and onto the front
lawn.
    She downed the
champagne and tossed the plastic flute on the ground.
    Earlier, as they were
setting things up, Parrish had cracked open the windows in the formal
living room. Now, she found a soft spot in the grass just below the
open window and lay down, happy to be alone and away from the judgey
eyes of her parents and their friends.
    Her long dark hair
fanned out behind her. She spread her arms out to either side, as
though she were trying to make a snow angel in the green summer
grass. It felt good to stretch out. To be herself without worrying
what anyone thought of her.
    Parrish closed her eyes
and breathed deep, waiting for the rich sounds of Zoe’s violin
to flow through the window and fill her up. Instead of music, she
heard footsteps rustling through the