Six Strings

Pen Jen's Inkwell Podcast

A beloved six string guitar travels from person to person, magically helping them out in their time of need with inspiration, encouragement, and comfort . . . then makes its way back to the little girl who dreams of playing it in Carnegie Hall.
When 11-year-old Lyric Lark loses her beloved guitar Six Strings in a New York City taxicab, she is worried that she’ll never play at Carnegie Hall—her lifelong dream. Her teacher at the Brooklyn Music School tells her to simply borrow a guitar until hers is found. Lyric considers that maybe somebody needs the guitar more than she does. Over the years, Six Strings has been held by all kinds of people—mostly at a pivotal moment when they need his comfort or guidance. His original owner was legendary guitarist, Reed Rock, who upon his death prayed for his guitar to live on.
That night the taxi driver finds an out-of-tune guitar and tosses it out next to a homeless man who grabs it, tuning the guitar, and playing flawless jazz standards like “Rhapsody in Blue.” People give him money as he remembers his days as a classical guitarist for the New York Philharmonic, before he started drinking and lost everything. He decides to try and get his old job back. The next day a trash collector and former rock star grabs the instrument, but though he wants to get his band back together he needs an electric guitar, so he takes Six Strings to a hospital donation office. Meanwhile, the homeless man makes his way to the New York Philharmonic in a new set of clothes bought with the money from his street performance with Six Strings.
At the hospital, the donation manager puts a new set of strings on the guitar and sends it down a long hall of hospital rooms. A nurse picks it up and places him in an elderly woman’s room. With only a few days to live, the elderly woman decides to play the guitar one last time. As she plays and sings, the patients from the ward gather by her bed, joining in a round of “Amazing Grace.” As Six Strings lays quietly on her lap, the elderly woman passes away. Six Strings goes back down the hall to the donation manager, who decides that the guitar would do better at a school. Noticing the name tag on the instrument, which says: “Lyric Lark,” he takes the guitar to the Brooklyn Music School, hoping to find the owner. When he bursts into the school, Lyric runs to get her beloved guitar. Badgered for identification, her teacher defends Lyric, making the man return Six Strings. As Lyric goes into class with Six Strings, the manager warns the girl not to lose the guitar again. Determined still to play at Carnegie Hall, Lyric thinks she needs Six Strings more than anyone else, even if she has to share him every now and then.