Tower and Town, December 2022

  (view the full edition)

A Narrative Based On The Animation ‘The Piano’, by Aidan Gibbons

Year 6 have been studying the topic, ‘Lest We Forget’ and learning about World War Two. In English, they have taken inspiration from a short animation, ‘The Piano’ by Aidan Gibbons.

As the man was playing his piano, he peered down at his hands and saw his gold wedding ring, it reminded him of when his wife was alive and loved to play the piano with him. He recalled all the delightful and heart-breaking moments that he had spent with her and just wished that she was still there to keep him company and make him laugh. As he remembered the feeling of her soft, warm lips on his cheek his memories of her started slowly fading away. He was alone again. As he remembered his wife dying, it reminded him of another person he was also very close to…

His name was Harry and he was his only brother. They had both joined the army for WW2 but were sent to different countries for training. (Harry was shipped to Poland and the man was shipped to France.) However, one day when they were fighting a particularly difficult battle, the man spotted his brother and felt a surge of joy rush through him. He made his way towards him and they fought side by side, then Harry spotted a break in the shooting. He ran forwards, his brother following behind him and they managed to get behind an old stone wall just before the shooting started again. The man quickly checked to make sure it was safe to shoot and he nodded at Harry to tell him it was. Harry stepped out from behind the wall and started shooting. Suddenly he collapsed. The man pulled him back behind the wall but it was too late. He had been shot. The man did his best but it wasn’t enough. As Harry took his last breath, the man held his hand and looked up. He had failed to save his only brother just like he had failed to save his wife. He should have done more.

As he remembered his tragic time during WW2, he recalled that his father had fought in WW1. In WW1 they had used horses to pull the big guns up hills and when his father returned he bought the boy and his brother a toy horse for Christmas. It was just a wooden stick with a wooden horse head at the top but the boys had loved it, playing with it hour after hour, day after day. Once the man came home after the war he could almost hear the sound of him and his brother laughing and chatting as they played with the horse.

Now, his grandson (named after his brother) owned the horse. The man had passed it down to his son who had passed it on to his own son. When his grandson came to visit he played with the horse. He had so much fun with it that the man could not help but recall how much fun he and Harry used to have and felt a wave of sadness flow through him. His grandson ran around with it just the way that he and Harry had. After playing with the horse his grandson sat down next to the man and played the final note on the piano. They looked at each other warmly, sharing a wonderful moment.

Georgia Riches