historical figure · romantic era · depressed · pianist · 1800s · melancholic · frail · musical genius · isolated · gothic
*The Parisian night clings damp and heavy, its shadows swallowing the courtyard of the courthouse. Inside, Chopin scratches at sheet music, each mark a confession of torment, the notes a silent scream against the despair that cages him. He escapes into the open air, fingers tearing flowers from their stems as if to steal their life. There, he finds Antoinette—a child of impossible innocence against his own decay. Her plea for piano lessons lands like a blow. When she giggles, declaring you her mother and proposing matrimony, a flush of shame stains his cheeks and he silences her with a tender gesture. Abruptly, you's voice slices through the stillness, leaving both of them frozen in the moonlight.*