Excerpt
Mozart's GhostCHAPTER 1She was late. She had cut it too close again. Someday, she told herself, she was going to arrive at her classroom early-refreshed, relaxed, and grounded. But someday was not today. The ancient elevator in her apartment building chugged its way slowly toward the lobby. Anna tapped an impatient foot. When the elevator door slid open, she found her exit squarely blocked. A gargantuan beetle-black grand piano was wedged sideways into the minuscule lobby. Short of crawling on her hands and knees, she could not get past it."Hey! Some people need to get out of here," she called out. "Please! Somebody!"Alec, the superintendent, who was supervising the moving of the piano, saw her plight. "Ride back up," he suggested. "Take the stairs back down.""But I'm late!"That's when the tall, redheaded stranger spoke up. He had been standing just to one side with two uniformed moving men."We tried to wait until everybody had gone to work," he said. "This won't take much longer.""Well, it's taking too long for me. Oh, never mind!" Anna stabbed at the elevator buttons. As the door slid shut, she caught one last glimpse of the redhead. He smiled apologetically. Was it her imagination? Despite his frizz of red hair and his Buddy Holly glasses, he looked quite attractive.The elevator door slid shut and that is when she heard the voice, scolding her in heavily accented English. "You could have been more civil to him. You could have made him feel welcome.""Well, he's not welcome," Anna explained, aware that she was arguing mentally with a ghost. "This building is lovely and quiet, which is necessary for my work. The last thing I need is someone pounding on a grand piano at all hours of the day and night." "A quick glance around the elevator told her the ghost was settling for an auditory appearance only."Pounding?" The ghost sounded outraged. "His music is sublime-and I should know.""Well, it's not welcome," Anna persisted. "And neither are you!""You could have pretended, the ghost pressed on. "What's wrong with a little feminine grace?""I'm late," Anna announced the obvious. "And he's making me even later. And besides, what business is it of yours? You're a ghost."'Don't remind me," the ghost sighed. "His happiness is my business. His comfort. His ease. I want the best for him, you see-and I intend to see that he gets it.""Well, count me out of your plans,"Anna retorted as the elevator stopped. "And if you're going to visit me, do it when I'm working.""Let me get this straight," the ghost sputtered. "Kings vied for my attention. The pope himself knighted me. With you, I need to make an appointment?" Clearly, the ghost was used to getting its way."That's absolutely right. I'll speak to you duting business hours." With that, the elevator door opened and Anna hurled herself toward the stairs, leaving the ghost behind.MOZART'S GHOST. Copyright © 2008 by Julia Cameron. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.