Read A Voice in the Distance for Free Online

the one who used to complain about the long
walk home. Kate retorts that she wasn't the one to start
this relationship.
    'You see what I have to put up with?' Harry turns to
me for support.
    'Hey.' I hold up my hands, laughing. 'I'm keeping
right out of this.'
    The buzzer goes and Harry gets up. I sit back on my
heels and survey the room. 'We've nearly finished!' I
exclaim with satisfaction.
    Harry comes back in with Flynn. I stand up for a kiss
but Flynn is too busy looking around at the freshly
painted walls. 'What colour d'you call this?' he exclaims.
'Vomit?'
    'Flynn!' I give him a meaningful look but he doesn't
appear to notice. Kate is worried enough already about
Harry's parents' reaction.
    'Did you remember the tea?' Harry asks him.
    'What tea?'
    I roll my eyes.
    Harry and Flynn go next door to make more coffee.
I squat down and pick up my paintbrush again.
    'Is it really the colour of vomit?' Kate asks in a small
voice.
    'No!' I exclaim vehemently. 'It's a lovely soft beige.
Flynn just thinks he's being funny.' I can hear the other
two in the kitchen. Flynn is talking rapid-fire about
some television programme. They come back in, Harry
holding coffee mugs, Flynn still talking: '. . . and so you
can use the transfer of learning method to practise the
same trick with the other hand. Except you don't
actually have to use the other hand, so basically you
could just practise all day with your right hand and then
the next day find that your left hand has learned the
sequence of movements without doing any practice at
all . . .'
    'I thought you said the documentary was about circus
clowns learning to juggle,' Harry says, handing out the
mugs. 'I don't see how learning to juggle has anything
to do with playing the piano—'
    'No, I'm talking about the transfer of learning!'
Flynn practically shouts. 'Jugglers practise a skill with
one hand only and then find that the skill has automatically
been transferred by the brain to the other
hand! So it means they can cut their practice time in
half by training one hand to do one set of skills and then
the other hand to do a completely different set of skills,
rather than have to repeat the same skills with each
hand . . .'
    'Who's learning to juggle?' Kate asks with an amused
grin.
    'Flynn, apparently,' Harry replies with a roll of the
eyes.
    'This means I could practise harmonic scales with my
left hand and dominant scales with my right hand and
then my brain would transfer what my right hand had
learned to my left hand . . .'
    I feel uneasy suddenly. Flynn has a sharp, almost
agitated look in his eyes. 'Watch out!' I shout.
    Too late. Flynn leans the whole of his left side against
the wall that Kate has just finished painting. Kate and I
look at each other in horror. Flynn straightens up and
peels his arm away from the wet wall, gazing down at the
mess of beige paint on his jacket and jeans.
    'Whoops.' Harry looks as if he is trying not to laugh.
    I look at Flynn's suede jacket and the massive splodge
on the wet wall with bits of fluff stuck to it. 'Anyway,'
Flynn goes on, taking off his jacket and tossing it onto
the floor – apparently unaware that it's now ruined –
'I'm going to put it into practice by learning a fast
new piece with my right hand and then the next day I'll
see if I can do it with my left hand, and I should get
exactly the same results, because if it works with
juggling—'
    'Flynn, stop talking for a sec,' I cut in, worry making
my voice sound harsh. 'Why don't you sit down and have
something to eat?'
    But now he is off again about how juggling is going
to make a significant difference to his practice schedule.
Harry and Kate, good-natured as usual, seem to be finding
it all quite amusing.
    'I'm sure Professor Kaiser will be delighted when you
inform him you've given up the Rach Two in favour of
one-handed juggling.' Harry laughs. 'Just let me know
in advance so I can watch the spectacle from a distance.'
    'You don't believe me. I'll show you.' Flynn downs