Buying A Used Piano On Craigslist -

Martha’s house smelled like cedar and over-steeped tea. The piano sat in the corner of a sun-drenched parlor, looking like a shipwrecked vessel. It was a Hobart M. Cable, its mahogany finish dulled by a century of dust, with ivory keys that looked like weathered teeth.

"My mother taught lessons on it for forty years," Martha said, her voice thin. "I can't play a note, and I’m downsizing. It just needs to be heard again." buying a used piano on craigslist

The following week, a tuner named Elias arrived. He spent four hours behind the panels with a wrench and a vacuum, sucking out a hundred years of debris: a rusted bobby pin, a 1944 wheat penny, and a dried rose petal. Martha’s house smelled like cedar and over-steeped tea