Ragtime

Ragtime at the Golden Piano ~ "Maple Leaf Rag" Winifred Atwell

Ragtime heard freedom smelled sweet. She didn't know where, but she knew she heard it somewhere, from someone. Ragtime also believed freedom tasted sweet, sounded sweet and felt sweet. Ragtime worked at the Golden Piano. A classy restaurant & bar with a piano lounge in the Golden Quarter of the Phoenix Hotel & Casino on the outskirts of the Las Vegas Desert.

Ragtime played all the songs she was named after, mostly those by Scott Joplin, but there were also others. Growing up, Ragtime learned ragtime and blues, but last night after her shift ended, a couple of restaurant patrons tried to talk Ragtime, Ragtime's girlfriend Harp and their mutual girlfriend Oboe into forming a trio or even a jazz quartet with a singer and a saxophone, in preparation for the upcoming Golden Archery Competition. The only problem was the piano - if left unattended, it played unrecognizable songs from wherever it came from.