The soft, humming purples of the violins did nothing to block out the shouting downstairs. I buried my head in the pillows, but that didn’t seem to help, either. Their yells were sharp and read, cutting into my ears.

Why won’t they stop arguing?

My parents had been like this for months, fighting over money, over the dinner that night, over anything. My sister and I knew that the best thing to do was to quietly leave each time and shelter until the storm was over.

But each time, the storms got worse and worse.

There was a soft knock at the door, a soft, tan color that was much easier to bear than the yelling. I unburied my head and called, “Who is it?” although I had a feeling who it was.

“Sachi, stop moping around in there. I have something to show you.”

I got off the bed and went to open the door. Once my older sister’s face showed, I asked, “What? Is it another colorful rock outside?”

She huffed. “Don’t be silly. Come on, turn off your radio and let’s go. I want to show you music that’ll help more than that.”

I wondered if she had actually found something. “Okay, I’ll come.” I reached to turn off the radio and waited for a moment while the calming purple faded. Hopefully this will be worth it.

My sister was waiting for me. “We’ll have to sneak out,” she said, once I had closed the door behind me. She started walking down the hallway to her room, and I had no choice but to follow. “Our parents are down in the kitchen, and it’ll be impossible to go outside without being noticed.”

She took a quick look around and then opened a door in the wall.

I stared. “Where did that come from?”

She looked back. “Nowhere. It’s been here this whole time. You haven’t noticed?” My sister went down the stairs. “It goes down to the basement.”

I had been down in the basement twice, and both times had been dark and scary. On the other hand, my sister was there.

“Emily!” I called, running after her after closing the door. “Wait!”

She stopped, waiting for me to catch up, and then we headed downstairs, together. Opening the door to the basement, she looked around again before heading into the darkness.

I stopped. “Um . . . Emily?” I asked. “I can’t see you. Or anything else, for that matter.”

“Hang on,” came her voice. A moment later, light flared on, and I had to blink for some time in order to get used to it.

“There’s a light switch near the door,” she pointed out. Her hazel eyes sparked in amusement. “You didn’t realize?”

“No,” I muttered, wondering why I hadn’t thought of that before. “So what now?”

“Now we go outside.” She opened one of the large, low windows and climbed out. “Come on.”

I followed, although I was now wondering if this was a trick. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” she said. “Now, remember Dove?”

“That pretty light-gray she-cat that we used to feed? Yes. But I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“What about Tiger?”

“The tabby tom? Yes . . . what are you trying to say?”

She crept up to a bush and opened up a hole in it. “Look,” she said, beaming.

I looked inside. Dove stared up at me worriedly, while four perfect kittens squirmed at her stomach.

“Aww,” I said, forgetting the atmosphere of our house for a minute.

“Yep,” Emily said, grinning slightly. “I thought that would make you happy.”

I sat down, crossing my legs yoga-style. “What about the music that you mentioned?”

She gave me a mysterious smile. “Listen.”

I listened. The yells in our house were faint now, but I could still hear them. “You mean the yelling?”

Emily shook her head. “No, Sachi, I mean the nature sounds. Those should be nicer than arguing.”

Tipping my head to the side, I listened.

The evening air was cool, and so was the breeze that was blowing. It wasn’t an unpleasant kind of coldness, in fact, I probably preferred it to the stuffy air of the house.

Birds chirped, in cheerful blue and orange waves. Leaves rustled in a thousand shades of green. Water from a river nearby sang with sky blue. The kitten’s mews were small, fluffy golden clouds.

It’s an orchestra, I realized, with wonder.

“How is it?” Emily asked.

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered. “A colorful orchestra.”

She sat back, smiling. “I knew you’d like it.” Thinking for a moment, she added, “Makes me wish I had synesthesia, too. I’d see all the colors.”

“Oh nooo,” I said. “You do not wish that. Plus, you can just enjoy the sounds, too.”

“I guess I’ll do that, then,” Emily said wistfully. Then her gaze trailed over the landscape, and she disappeared into her thoughts.

Behind us, Dove gave a protesting mew, as if saying, Hey, I want attention!

I peeked into the hole in the bush. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your attention soon. We have to finish listening to the concert first.”

Dove huffed, as if she understood me.

A bird chirped nearby, and I turned back to the calm scene around me.

Putting my head on Emily’s shoulder, I let the sounds and colors flow around me. I realized that I was happy. The anger of our house was gone from my mind.

I knew that the concert wouldn’t last forever, of course. But now, while the music of nature played around me, I knew that each moment would seem endless. Because the concert of nature was happiness itself.