Raine had pulled me over to the pile of instruments on the far left side of the clubhouse. I stood amazed at Raine's ability to wield each one of them, even if it was clear their preference was the violin. Another memory flashed through my mind. I shuddered. The last time I tried to pick up an instrument, I was laughed out of the class. Still, if this was a way to have control over my life, so be it.
"How does Bard-magic work exactly?" I turned to Raine.
"It vibrates the magic in the air. Perform the right vibrations and get the desired result," I nodded. It made sense this being external magic then. The whole idea of it was you had to 'speak' to this titan. The bard magic was not creating anything, just activating what was already there in the atmosphere, "But we are going to begin with finding your dominant instrument," Raine swirled their index finger, summoning their trusty violin to their side, "Did you ever play any instruments before?"
I shook my head, before muttering, "I was laughed out of band because I couldn't play clarinet. . ."
"Oh. . ." Raine paused before giving a supportive smile and playing their hand on my shoulder, "maybe that's just not your instrument, then! Did you try anything else?"
"In elementary school I played a recorder, and I sang in a choir for years, but I can't even whistle, so. . ." In the back of my mind I noted it was ten years of choir, but at this age that'd probably be a little much.
"Singing is one of the most difficult magics. . ." Raine frowned, turning back to me, "Perhaps you could try summoning one?"
Raine provided another demonstration, using their index finger to trace a circle in the air. I got the sense this was not going to be a magic I could do. Still, I tried. Nothing happened. No circle of light, no instrument at my disposal. Nothing.
"Guess that's one thing you can't do, huh?" Raine rubbed the back of their neck, pulling out a long line of instruments, "We'll have to do this the hard way."
We now had a line-up of basic instruments, from the recorder, ukulele, tambourine, keyboard, drums. I sighed. This was going to be a long day of me making a fool of myself. Picking up a ukulele, I turned to Raine, and said, "So, I'm trying all of them?"
"Just the basic ones," Raine took the ukulele and adjusted it in my hands, "If this works out, we'll move onto some of the other ones."
"The only thing I can hope," I looked Raine dead in the eye, "Is that my preferred instrument is not a grand piano."
Raine laughed, adjusting my fingers, "Why's that?"
"Because I can't summon my instrument, and to be chained to a piano sounds miserable."
As we both burst out laughing, so began the long process of trying many different instruments.
"Okay," Raine sighed sticking their hand in their pocket, "Last one." In their palm lay a harmonica. I smiled. I always did appreciate some good harmonica music.
Taking it, I gave it a soft blow out, letting the cheerful sound fall out in one loud hum. I was the one, at least for now.
"You seriously had to pick the last one I had to offer?" Raine deadpanned, handing me a small case, "That's just cruel."
Raine soon had to leave for dinner, and I was left alone with Hooty and the silver harmonica. Tomorrow Raine would bring some of his old textbooks, but in the meantime, Raine's tip was 'just have fun with it!' So there I was, leaning against the couch staring in apprehension at my new instrument.
Pondering for a second how such magic could work, I thought back to some of the most basic songs I knew as a child. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was as simple as I could get. Maybe I could make something happen?
Closing my eyes, I thought of the tune. I had the rhythm, the notes were another thing, but I could hear them perfectly in my head. All I had to do was learn how it translated. Fiddling with the piece, I slowly started to make sense of it. At some point, I'd have to learn how breathing in changed the sound, but for now, the clunky Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was slowly taking shape.
At first it was a mess, no music, just garbled notes, but slowly I started to get the hang of it before letting my mind wander to the images the song was provoking. I closed my eyes, envisioning a star, small, bright, over a nighttime sky. A child sat on a hill, head craned to see the star shining so bright. Because the song was so short, the image faded from my mind rather quickly, but satisfied with my progress and my imagination, I pulled the harmonica from my lips and opened my eyes.
What I was greeted with was a star, small and silver, floating in front of me. Blinking in surprise, I reached out to touch it. It blinked back and zoomed forward to float above my shoulder.
"Strange. . ." I whispered.
