A Sliver Song Showdown
The third Chapter in Hannah's Chronicles
All four kids looked defiantly at this person with long, brown angel-like hair. She was garbed in a blue silk shirt and a nicely woven purple skirt. But for some reason she stood bare foot on the grass next to Quincy's flute. Leo was utterly confused. "Hannah?" he asked while scratching his head. "What are you do–" Leo was interrupted by Hannah.
"You're a smart boy right?" Hannah motioned bluntly. "It can't be that hard to figure out." Hannah looked Leo directly in the eye.
June understood it all, but the rest of them needed a few moments. Leo wasn't all that concerned about what Hannah was doing here. He was worried that she would get hurt instead! Hannah waited for a moment. Leo began, "Hannah, you have to get out of here! That jet is dangerous!" Hannah didn't say a single word to the worried Leo. All Hannah did was point at Big Jet, and point at herself. The team now understood completely. Leo was stunned, worried, and could barely grasp any of this.
Hannah had no more interest in befriending any of the kids. After all this time, she was tired of them. They had always won, and beat her to her goal. Now she thought she might have had a chance and winning. Hannah looked down at the silver flute. She went to grab it and June spoke up, "What are you doing with Quincy's flute?" she asked quizzically. Hannah pulled the sliver, shining flute out of the ground and answered June. "I already bested your dancing skills, and little Blondie's singing," Hannah said slowly striding towards Quincy. "Now maybe I can best him out too!" She said directing her words at Quincy.
Quincy didn't think Hannah could play better than him. He was very confident that if Hannah "challenged" him would win. Hannah cleaned off the mouth of the flute with her shirt. She brought it up to her mouth and began to blow. Hannah obviously knew how to play the flute. Elegant music was filling the air. She continued to play, never taking her eyes off of Quincy. For maybe 28 measures, Hannah played beautifully and gracefully. At last, she brought the flute back down. A long, and monotonous pause filled the air. Quincy was impressed by Hannah, but he knew that he would be successful in beating Hannah. He expected Hannah to hand him his flute so he could play it, but she kept a tight grip on it. Once Quincy knew that Hanna wasn't giving it up, he went back inside rocket. Hannah felt like she won right then. "Ha!" Hannah burst, "He won't even try to be better than me with a flute." The team was sitting down on the green, plush grass of New Zealand. They all knew that Quincy would NEVER back down from anything musical, then again, the rest of the team wouldn't either.
At last Quincy came out of Rocket. Hannah was surprised for she thought that Quincy was just giving up. Quincy was holding something that Hannah couldn't see. He was holding one of his older flutes. One that he hadn't played in quite some time. "Hannah," Quincy said boldly, "You will never out do me with an instrument!" Quincy withdrew his other flute for Hannah to see. Quincy's boldness was admirable. It inspired the other members of the team, and annoyed Hannah. Quincy put his mouth to his flute and played an improvised song. He had no idea what he was playing, all he knew was that it still sounded good! Hannah wasn't just going to sit there and watch him show off, so she began to play the flute she holding as well. Both songs were improvised and flowed together very well. Because Quincy started playing first, he kind of had control of the song they were playing. Being the smart boy that he is, he used this to his advantage. He got faster and faster, and quieter and quieter. He knew that one of the hardest things to do was to play really fast and really quiet. He continued this pattern successfully, causing Hannah to mess up a lot. Quincy didn't stop. He looked at Hannah provokingly and finally caused Hannah to lose it all. Quincy kept playing, but Hannah finally stopped. She looked at Quincy's silver flute and dropped it on the ground. Quincy concluded his song and took a bow for the breathless Hannah. The team up roared in an applause for Quincy. Hannah didn't say anything
"See Hannah," Leo said standing up, "Your not better than Quincy at playing instruments. And you're not better than Annie or June either." He said boldly. Hannah was a tid bit confused, but so were Annie and June. They liked that Leo was standing up for them, but they didn't exactly know why he was. "What are you talking about, Leo?" Hannah questioned. Hannah's words surprised Leo. Hannah had never addressed anyone of them by their names before. Why did she do it now, Leo wondered. Leo spoke with his answer, "You're not better than them because they don't perform alone," Leo said while pulling out his baton. Quincy readied his flute, while June and Annie got back up on their feet. Hannah was so confused now, and just had to ask what was going on. "By the stars, what are you guys doing," Hannah asked quizzically.
"You'll see," Leo pointed out. His answer annoyed Hannah. He clicked his baton on his hand twice, waited for it to blink a few times, and began waving his arms in the air. At first there was nothing but silence, but then Quincy stepped in with the same tune on the flute he had been playing before. After a short time, June was dancing to the music and showing off to Hannah. And the not long after that, Annie joined in the festival as well. She was singing merely "La's" and "Da's", but it still sound fanatic. Now Hannah understood what Leo meant. She would never be better than all of them because they all perform as a team. She had no team to perform with. And besides, she didn't even know how to conduct. She studied Leo. Ever so quietly to herself, she whispered under her breath, "Leo's the leader here. In the music, and in real life." She pondered for a bit and then finally just interrupted their song. "Okay, okay," Hannah shouted, "You can have the victory this time." Hannah was smiling and doing her very best to sound friendly, although she had no intention to actually be friendly to them. She was just acting, but it seemed to work. "I am very sorry Quincy," Hannah whimpered handing the Sliver Flute back to Quincy. The team said nothing, for they were very curious about why Hannah was acting so friendly. Without another word, Hannah worked her way into Big Jet and took off. No body had any idea why Hannah had made such a dramatic change so quickly. Everybody but Leo questioned her behavior. Leo just didn't believe it at all. He didn't even have to question it. June and Annie began talking to each other about what had just happened while Quincy was back in Rocket putting his flutes away. Leo stood in place watching Big Jet leave. He didn't say anything until Big Jet was totally out of sight
Back inside Big Jet, Hannah was talking to herself. She was thinking about what she had just witnessed. She had an entire discussion with herself about what she should do. "Leo is their conductor. Without him, they can't play music together." She paused. "He is also the team leader. Without him they would fall apart from lack of leadership." Hannah now went into deep thought after realizing this. "No Leo, equals no Little Einsteins," she whispered although nobody was with her. She laughed a little and continued flying out into the sapphire sky.