The narrator apologizes for the incident that occurred six years ago. He says that he wishes he could apologize for what happened, but that he can't stand around talking about it. The narrator tells us that the family has just returned from a concert, and that the house is "still messy" . He asks where the children are, and they tell him that they will be back in a week or so. He tells them that his father's job is as a piano player, and the piano room is "life after all," and that he left it that way for so long because he didn't want to "crush those chil-crush them . .