“What is it, my dear? What’s wrong?”
“I . . . I broke it, mommy!”
“Well, what did you break?”
[looks up with sorrowful eyes]
“You don’t mean . . .”
“It was dirty! I tried to wash it and—”
“Show me!”
The violin lay on the bed in a crumpled, twisted heap. Traditional violin bonding is water-soluble, and modern strings put nearly 50 pounds of pressure . . .
“I’m sorry!”
[examining] “Ugh, and the wood is all warped too. You should have called me sooner!”
“I’m sorry!”
[sighs] “Well, there’s no way to fix this at all. The wood is cracked and the water warped it more. Even if it weren’t, there isn’t a luthier within half a light-hour.”
“. . .”
“It’s okay sweetie. You couldn’t have known. You’ve never seen wood before.”
Artwork by Dizzy Chen.