She loved classical music, especially when she listened to Van Cliburn’s magic with the ivory keys or Doc Severinson’s fluid tones from his trumpet.

Music raised her emotional level to almost incredible. Her mind began to visualize scenes. Working on a story or a piece of writing during those moments placed her in the scene. She tried to captivate in language what her senses revealed..

She had seen Walt Disney do this with “Fantasia”, using animation to bring to life some of the greatest classics, and at the same time, entertain all ages. She could not forget wide-hipped elephants in little pink tutus tiptoeing around the stage to strains of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” Those elephants were anything but graceful floating fairies, she recalled.

Under a nearly hypnotic spell, she was drawn to the undulating rhythms of Tchiakowsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” and the seductive movements of veiled ladies during the haunting rendition of Arabian.

“If Disney can produce such imagery, then I should be able to.” She spoke aloud to her image reflected in the full-length mirror hanging on the back of her bedroom door. She turned and walked across the room to her desk. She opened the laptop lid and logged on to the program she used for writing stories. She reached to her right and punched the “On” switch to her MP3 dock. She selected an album of piano music recorded by Van Cliburn, placed the instrument in the dock, and sat back in her chair—listening. Eyes closed.