Ella was eight years old, and she had a gray cat named Pepper. At school, everyone was getting ready for the fall concert. The whole class was going to play the recorder for all the families.
The song was called “The Lighthouse Lullaby,” and Ella loved it. But it had one high note, a very high note, right in the middle. Every time Ella reached that note, the recorder went “squeeeak!”
Pepper's ears popped up, and she hid under the bed. One afternoon, after ten tries, Ella put the recorder down on the desk. “I quit! I'm terrible at this,” she said, her eyes shiny.
Mom peeked in through the door and sat down next to her. “Want to try again tomorrow?” she asked, in no hurry at all. Ella didn't answer. She just looked at the recorder for a long time.
That night, in bed, she couldn't stop thinking about the song. It was so long that it felt like a giant mountain. “But you climb mountains one step at a time,” she whispered to Pepper.
She got up, switched on her little lamp, and took out a big sheet of paper. She drew a ladder with ten steps and, at the very top, a lighthouse. Then she taped the paper to the wall, next to her desk.
The next day, she split the song into ten little pieces. Every afternoon, she practiced just one piece, slowly, until it sounded right. And when it sounded right, she colored in one step of the ladder.
Some days the piece came out on the first try; other days, it was really hard. Pepper lay on the rug and swished her tail to the beat.
The high note came on step seven. Ella blew softly, very softly, with her fingers pressed tight. And the note came out clear and round, like a bird singing.
“Pepper, I did it!” she cried, and the cat didn't even hide.
On the day of the concert, the school auditorium was full of families. Ella's hands were cold, and her heart was doing little hops. When the high note came, the recorder squeaked a tiny bit.
But Ella took a deep breath and kept playing to the very end. The whole room clapped, and Mom waved from the third row.
That night, Ella colored in the very last step: the lighthouse. Then she played “The Lighthouse Lullaby” very softly, just for Pepper. The cat curled up at her feet and slowly closed her eyes.
And Ella, with her recorder on the nightstand, fell asleep too. Goodnight, Ella…
