Musician's Touch by SAMANTHA SCHELTEMA

Oh! The things he asked her to do, sometimes she could scream in fury. Sometimes she did. Of course, she was punished afterward. She was used to it though; he often punished her for no reason, just for the joy he got from it.

Her name: Alaina of Tremain; her task: cleaning up after one of his experiments. This was the most dangerous task he could ever have assigned her, and he did so frequently. She didn't know which chemicals were dangerous and which were safe. Once, she had touched with her bare hand, a chemical that had been spilled on the floor. Her master ended up having to clean off her hand and used another liquid to keep her hand from burning off. He had saved the hand, and she was grateful, but a great, crimson-red scar was left, and nothing could be done about it. Now, she took extra precautions while cleaning: she wore a robe over her dress, and protective gloves. They had been a gift from her master, who had not wanted to lose his slave. These would protect her even if she ran through fire.

She threw on the robe and grabbed the gloves off her dresser, then headed to the laboratory. The mansion she lived in with her master felt empty and cold, as it usually did. The only time that it actually felt like a home was when he had a party with men of different Touches. Her master alone seemed to have many different touches, but his actual Touch was Alchemy. His Alchemy Touch explained why he never wore gloves when working with chemicals. He had never thought about whether or not Alaina should be protected until she had almost lost her hand. All the other occasions she may have gotten injured were all minor, and she cared for herself.

The men who came had always had many interesting things they could do with their Touches. One man saved her the trouble of serving them and made little balls of wine that each floated gracefully in the glasses. Another man with the Wooden Touch pulled up a chair for himself with just a wave of his hand. Yet another man made shapes with the smoke from the fireplace.

Alaina thought about the many amazing men, and how she would gape, awestruck at the men and what they could do. When she was allowed to see them on the rare occasion. Then, her master would bring her back to reality, ordering her to do more work. Her master barely let her stay in the same room with them. He was often too embarrassed by her appearance to let the men see her. If her master knew ahead of time that there would be company over, he sometimes allowed her extra bathing time to take care of her brown, matted hair, and clean her pale, freckled dust-covered face. Sometimes, she would look in the mirror, admiring the way she looked after bathing. Her hair was always cut short to prevent it from becoming damaged. Her nose was round and rather big, and Alaina believed it suited her round face. Her frame was skinny and graceful, but she hadn't sprouted in the chest area as she had wished. Probably her most beautiful feature was her eyes. They were a deep, amethyst purple that sometimes shaded to a jet-black when she was angry. She accepted herself as she was, for she did not have much with which to compare. The only woman she ever saw visited only once a year. Her portrait hung in the laboratory hall. Alaina would examine it every time she could.

Alaina began putting the clean glasses and utensils in the proper cupboards. Suddenly, her master came in mumbling. She continued cleaning the tables as he walked around; he would touch specific chemicals and sniff others. Alaina was used to this behavior, for it meant he was about to make a discovery for the good of mankind.

Alaina glanced at his features. Then she glanced at the woman's portrait on the wall. Both were very old. Her master was old enough to be her grandfather: he had a scraggly white beard, and his silvery white hair was falling out. He was a big man, who huffed and puffed when he walked a lot or went up the stairs. His eyes were gray, and were slowly clouding over with blindness. He was still determined to solve the problems of their world and to help mankind before he moved on to the heavens.

Alaina found the woman very beautiful when she saw her, even for her age. She had flowing brown-gold hair. Her eyes were a golden color with brown flecks. She held herself proudly. Sometimes Alaina would gaze at her in admiration. The portrait did not do her justice: it did not show her kindness and gracefulness. She would often bring Alaina gifts "just because," but always avoided her eyes. Alaina wondered why, but the gifts she was given were often so extravagant, and so expensive, she would forget about it in a second.

What was the relationship between the woman and her master? Alaina had seen them either staring into each other's eyes lovingly or screaming at each other, often in another language Alaina could not understand. On the screaming days, the wonderful woman would leave in a huff. Those days, Alaina was forced to stay in the lab with her master while he flung chemicals everywhere, often causing explosions. At the end of those days, Alaina would be found nursing wounds all over.

Now he was continuously mumbling to himself. It took him some time before he finally shouted, "Ah ha!" to no one in particular.

Most of the time, he treated her with kindness but still as a slave. On rare days he would treat her with malice, as if everything she'd ever done was wrong and she needed to be punished. On even rarer days, he would treat her as though they were the best of friends, sharing a secret.

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