Petal’s Guitar Lesson ~ BAB Appreciation Days feat. Petal

Hello friends! Today isn’t Sunday, is it? Nope. But, we’re getting BABAD today, because I have an extra special photostory coming up on Sunday. It’s Valentine’s themed, and it’s going to be awesome. Anyway, now it’s time to spotlight Petal. Enjoy!

(Also, I don’t actually play guitar, so I pretty much made up these terms. Please correct me if I’m wrong in any way…)

I was sitting on the couch of our tiny home, minding my own business.

“Petal!” Starburst called. Even though she was a mother to me in every sense of the word, she didn’t like being called mom. It made her feel old, she said.

Sighing, I replied, “What?”

“It’s almost time for your guitar lesson.”

I groaned. Going places was no fun when you had social anxiety. Even if I did love learning about the guitar.

I strapped my guitar across my back and headed to class. My stomach churned, and I wondered if I was about to throw up on my teacher’s porch.

I took a deep breath.

When I knocked on the door, my teacher Ms. Sugar was already waiting for me with her guitar.

“Have a seat,” she patted the ground next to me. I meekly did as she had asked, clinging to my guitar as if it could somehow shield me from social interaction.

Ms. Sugar began showing me some chords to play. Her finger placement was spot on, I hoped to be able to achieve that someday.

I attempted to mimic my instructor’s movements.

“Good!” Ms. Sugar complimented. “Today, we’re going to begin learning how to play a song.”

I inwardly celebrated, though my face didn’t change. Even though I had taught myself how to play a few songs, I wasn’t the best at those ones. Ms. Sugar seemed to know what she was doing, and I hoped she could teach me too.

“Do you have any guitar songs you’ve been wanting to learn?”

It was like suddenly the words were sucked out of my mouth. Even though I wanted to reply, my nerves didn’t let me. I finally managed to shrug, but even that was a struggle.

“Okay,” Ms. Sugar replied. “How about willow by Taylor Swift?”

I shakily nodded. I did love the guitar in that song.

Ms. Sugar taught me a few of the chords that were repeated throughout the song. Missing only a few notes here and there, I nearly lost myself in the music.

Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind
They count me out time and time again
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind
But I come back stronger than a 90’s trend

The melody was lovely, and while I was strumming away, I almost forgot that I had an audience.

Ms. Sugar clapped. “Great job!”

I blushed. Sometimes I got embarrassed when people praised me. Well, maybe all the time.

“Make sure to practice your G-chords!” Ms. Sugar reminded me on my way out.

I felt a rush of relief. My lesson was over, and I hadn’t done anything too embarrassing. Of course, it wasn’t easy to be alone with an almost complete stranger for so long, but I suppose I had survived.

I had no trouble practicing. For the next few hours, I played willow over and over. Starburst said I sounded great, and her compliment did make me smile a little.

However, Swirl didn’t feel the same way.

“Starburst!” she yelled. “Can I have some ear plugs?”

I laughed and kept strumming.

Do you play an instrument? Is social interaction easy for you, or no? And…Swirl wanted me to ask, do you have an annoying sibling who won’t stop playing the guitar?