The Sound of Silence
This is my one-shot that I wrote for the Advancers September Fanfiction Contest. (You may remember that I wrote Battlefield of Dreams for the last contest, with the theme "lights") This time, the theme is music. Entries are being accepted until the end of September, so if you're interested in entering, I'll gladly give you the link you need.
Just a heads up, this story is written in the form of an epic poem, so the formatting may seem a little odd. It's all intentional. After all, what is music but a poem put to rhythm?
Anyways, enough stalling, let's get on with this show…
Uh 1, uh 2, u and…
"If music be thy food of love, play on"
The words from The Twelfth Night
Maybe, just perhaps,
Shakespeare was right.
After all,
Flowers die
And ribbons fade
But through the years the music still plays,
And love is the same,
In a relative way.
Through the years
Love stays,
It is not silenced,
It does not fade,
Though it does not always remain the same.
As how music some a times
Falls out of tune,
Out of style,
Or just plain out of date,
Love is in many ways, very much the same.
Although it's always there
It often does a change,
A change in key,
A change in speed,
A brand new mood.
Regardless of the ever changing
The song is, ever flowing,
So through the years
The song remains the same,
Though not in such a literal way.
After all,
The more things change,
The more they stay the same.
What does change do,
But prove to us
That what we know today is true,
For to be something different
First must be,
Love is quite the same
Just look, and you shall see.
Anyways, I feel
That from the story at hand
I have begun to stray,
So in the interest of time,
I shall return
And speak to you the tale,
Before night falls on this day.
I shall tell you the tale
The tale of love
The tale of music
The tale of wonder
All these things, this tale is,
Above all
This is the story of how I became his,
And he became mine,
How our melodious song began
That still plays in the present time.
I remember, that wonderful time
When all my dreams were coming true,
Except one,
The dream to be with you.
I still remembered
Before a many a days
When you and I had decided
It was time to go our separate ways.
After all,
We were young,
And we had dreams,
Though it was, our last day,
With each other
We both somehow knew,
We would have another.
So we went,
Along our own roads,
To wherever they may lead,
Though our friendship was strong
Still we went,
Not wanting to hold,
The other from their dreams.
So I went to Johto
And you went to Sinnoh
It seemed all hope of love
Was falling apart, at the seams.
We saw each other again
While on our separate ways
When our paths crossed, at the Wallace Cup,
If only for a couple of days.
Alas, what came of it
Nothing more,
Than our old friendly ways.
Perhaps, I should not say,
I was looking for your love,
Not for you on a white rapidash
Followed by swarms of pidoves.
But a part of me,
Something deep inside
Must have wanted to,
Because when I got the chance
I immediately thought of you,
Not Drew, Not Harley,
Neither of those two,
When first I got my chance, I immediately thought of you.
It was several years later,
You had finished your previous journey
And moved on to the unknown frontier of Unova,
Likewise, I had finished my journey,
And as is nature's way,
I moved on to the next great challenge,
The next step along the way,
To the dreams I had chased.
With Hoenn, and Kanto, and Johto,
Behind me,
I moved onto Sinnoh,
I would have went to Unova, but as you know,
They don't have contests, at least, that's the way it seems,
And in the field of contests, do lay my dreams.
Besides, you had already met, and were traveling with another girl,
Traveling Unova
Far and wide,
And barging in on that, uninvited,
Just wouldn't seem quite right.
So I stayed, and followed my own dreams,
Down the path they lead me,
The decision treated me well,
It seemed my dreams loved me.
For that same journey,
In Sinnoh, so far away from you,
Did I find myself, with dreams about to come true,
Though it had happened, this way,
Several times before, this time felt different
Opportunity was knocking,
And I fully intended, to open wide the door.
I was, along the shores,
Of Lake Valor,
Awaiting my chance to make reality of my hopes,
When taped to the door,
One morning I found a note.
"Dear qualifying coordinator
You are hereby, cordially invited,
To the start of the grand festival's newest tradition
The starry night masquerade ball."
At first I thought, starry night,
How cliché,
But then I read on farther down,
And saw what else, the note had to say.
"The Event is formal
Your best dress is expected, though not required.
Consequently, it is quite acceptable if you wish to bring with you, another.
An escort is optional, though highly suggested
As this eve is made for romance.
For what can you expect at a starry night dance?
To answer the question,
Escorts are not required to be qualifying coordinators,
Nor do friends need to be a qualifier to attend.
The invitation is in fact, open.
Feel free to tell all your friends."
Immediately, I ran,
Down to the lobby of Hotel Grand Lake
And rushed towards the video phones,
Quickly I put in my call,
And anxiously waited for result,
And I was delighted when your face appeared,
It was undeniably
The opportunity I had waited for all the years.
Calmly,
Or as calmly as I could,
I explained what was going on
That I wanted you to come,
And you said you would.
We talked a little more
After that,
But I didn't really hear it,
I was too happy,
Knowing you had said yes.
The hours from then
Until that night
Were spent in quiet anticipation.
Finally,
I would get my chance
To explain to you my feelings
As we danced all night,
Under the starry lights,
Like a scene out of an old romance movie.
The night came,
Though it took its time,
I made my way down
To the dance hall
I was,
At the time,
Alone,
Because you were still on your way from Unova.
I found a seat,
Along the wall,
And silently sat down,
I decided to wait until you showed up,
To start to dance
In my fancy formal gown.
As I sat there
I watched the clock,
Hung up on the wall,
And I saw to my surprise,
The hours turning late,
At first I thought you had missed
Our very first date,
Because how could I have known you were running late.
I sat and watched
As everyone else danced,
Waiting until I would get the chance,
Though the odds seemed poor
That the time would ever come.
And I find it ironic,
The song they played
A song by the Heracrosses
Off their album Krabby Road (side A)
You wouldn't believe the song they chose
"Eleanor's Magby"
Do you know how it goes?
Ah look at all the lonely people
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor's magby helped her beat Pryce
In the gym of Mahogany
But like a bad dream
Her friend Mackenzie didn't like the fiery pokē
She left him behind as she went off to follow her dream
Ah look at all the lonely people
Where do they all come from
Ah look at all the lonely people
Where do they all belong
Poor ol' magby left behind calling out his name into the air
No one came
His trainer kept walking on and on 'til she reached the cave
No one waved
Goodbye to magby
As they left him behind
To fend in the world on his own
All alone
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from
All the lonely people
Where do they belong
It's amazing,
How true those words can be,
Eleanor's magby is a lot like me,
Left behind, while the trainer went on to their dreams.
The night wore on
And people began to leave
You still hadn't shown,
I was still sitting there alone.
I stayed in that spot
As eve turned to night
Hoping you'd come,
My heart refusing to give up the fight.
Eventually all the people left,
And no more music played
I was all alone when finally,
You showed up
As night turned back to day.
"Sorry" was the first thing you chose to say
To which I responded "It's okay."
"No it's not." You shot back,
"I promised I'd come. Then I took that promise back."
"It's fine" I said, "You're here after all."
"Still," You replied. "I could've gave you a call."
I must admit, I did wonder
What had taken you so long
That you couldn't have foreseen
Or at least told to me
Luckily you explained,
"It took a little longer on the plane,
To get here from there.
I would have let you know,
But I couldn't reach you on the phone."
"Well," I replied,
With a disappointed sigh,
"I'm afraid we're too late.
The music is gone,
The dancers are gone
We've reached the end of the line,
We simply did not get the chance
While we had the time."
"Why can't we dance
Together now?"
You questioned.
I composed my reply,
"But I don't hear any music."
"You don't need music" you explained
"To have a good time,
All you need is love."
And I'll never forget
What you chose to say next
"May, I love you."
To which I replied
"I love you too."
"So" You continued,
You reached out your hand
"May I have this dance
After all,
Silence is music too."
The only words that came to mind were
"Of course I'll dance to the silence with you."
And we took each other in our arms
And we danced the night away,
We swirled and twirled
As the empty orchestra played.
I learned something that night
As the songs went on
First came silence
Then came lull
Then hush, and quiet, and still,
If you don't have music
It doesn't matter
It never will.
Love doesn't care,
About where you are,
Or what you wear,
It doesn't care about the atmosphere
Love will always be the same,
Regardless of what music is playing.
When there is silence,
And love in the same
The heart makes the music
As on that day.
Though it was late when you finally came
We both had love for each other
And so,
On that day
That wonderful day,
The start of a new chapter in our lives,
Or to put it in a sense of music
The next release in our career that is life,
Our song began to play.
And on that wonderful day
You and I danced,
Long into the night,
Rocking, and swaying,
To the sound of silence.
Fin.