That summer night, at the end of Adnawite's first day of band camp, was warm and clear. Everyone in the marching band had gone home for the evening. They were eating dinner, practicing, or just relaxing after the long, hot day. Those who were in the alto sax section were preoccupied with the strange things that had happened that day.
Last year, the trumpet section had been a nice enough crowd, and some of them had been good friends with some of the alto saxes. This year, they had all become bitter and unfriendly, especially to the alto saxes. Mike, the trumpet section leader, had hidden Kristen's mouthpiece (Kristen was the alto sax section leader) and laughed as she searched frantically for it. She'd finally found it in one of the paper bins on the wall of the band room. The other trumpets had made it a point to step on the heels of the alto saxes whenever possible, even while marching.
All the alto saxophonists were asleep by 9:00. At 9:30, their adventure began.
A sudden feeling of cold and vulnerability awoke Kristen. Sne jumped to her feet and yelped when she discovered that she was in an empty field, still in her pajamas. Everyone in her section was around her, similarly dressed and waking up to this inexplicable reality.
"Kristen!" exclaimed Angela, when she saw her section leader. "What's going on?"
"I don't know!" answered Kristen. "Did you just wake up here, too?"
"Yeah!"
"Come here, alto saxes," said a loud voice.
The teenagers fell silent. A bright glow was coming from within a group of trees. Unnerved but curious, they walked slowly towards the light.
Amid the trees stood the most incredible person the students had ever seen. It was a woman who looked too perfect to be real. She was wearing long golden robes and a silver necklace.. The glow was coming from a point just above her.
"Welcome, children," she said.
"Who are you?" Kristen half-whispered.
"I am your guardian spirit, and we need your help. My name is Diabola."
"What? What is all this about?"
"All right, gather around, people. Here's the big explanation. Is everyone listening?"
"Yeah," said the students.
"Good," said Diabola. "This is the story of who I am, what I want, and why I need your help. I'll start with my history. I appeared when our instrument was first invented, which wasn't really all that long ago. It took me a while, but I figured out who I was, what I was doing, and who my enemies were. They are the trumpet gods."
"Trumpet gods?" said Kristen.
"Oh, absolutely. Did you notice anything strange about the trumpet section today?"
"Yes! They hate us now!"
"That's because they're being possessed. The trumpet gods have control of the entire section right now. The only way to stop them is to fight back against them and be true to your instrument."
"But they're our friends!"
"Maybe they are, but the gods aren't; they're evil, not to mention very stupid, and they're using your friends for their purposes. They'll destroy the unity of your whole band unless you stop them."
"What do we do?"
"Every time they do something mean, you just stand up for yourselves. Fight back, if you have to. I'll be watching you as much as I can."
"One more question," said Kristen. "How did we get here?"
Diabola smiled. "I transported you. It's a perk of being a guardian spirit. When you're ready to go home, just lie down and I'll send you back."
Kristen lay down on the grass. In a moment, she was back in her
bed. She sighed and tried to go back to sleep. What in the
world have we gotten ourselves into?