Chapter 2
Harriet sat at the table in Madame Musette's house with a large art pad in front of her. She drew feverishly on the pad with her pencil while Will sat beside her.
"Come on, you can finish this time, Harriet," he said.
Harriet ripped the sheet from the pad, crumpled it up, and tossed it aside.
"Oh...there's nothing wrong with that one..." Will said.
Harriet restarted her drawing, but after a few strokes, she ripped that paper and tossed it aside as well.
"Oh...I thought you were on a roll that time," Will said.
Harriet let out an exasperated sigh as she dropped her forehead on the table.
"That one had real potential," Will added.
Harriet raised her head. "I can't do this! I stink! I hate art!" She picked up her pencil and snapped it in half.
Will stood up and began to pace around her. "You're striking yourself out, that's all. Just a little follow-through, kiddo! Hang tough! Come on, don't give up now! You got it! Yes!"
Madame Musette entered the room and set a cup of tea on the table. "Your father is right, Harriet. Just finish what you start. Anything you do will be wonderful."
"Leave me alone..." Harriet mumbled.
"Just stick with it; you really have something," Will said.
Harriet slammed her hands down on the table. "Now you made me mess up! I'm never gonna win!" She crumpled up yet another sheet and threw it aside.
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"Hey, G-Girl!" Norma called. "Check out this song I'm writing! This song is sooo cooool! Hattie doesn't have a chance of winning."
"What kind of song is it?" Grune asked.
"It's a song about us. Anyone who messes with us is gonna hear this song."
"Really? Will they like it?"
"Hmm, I don't know. I'm having a little trouble, though. I have the first verse done, but I don't know where to go from there. Maybe you can help me, G-Girl."
Grune smiled. "Okay, what should I do?"
"Here's what I have so far." Norma began to sing her song.
I...will hunt you down in time
Will have you in my sight
Can see throughout this night
Will find your weakness now...
You belong to me solely now
I will shatter your chances now
Say the power is on you now...
You have a reason, you have a rhyme
You have been thinking to cross my line
You are my soul mate, you are the crime
You've gone too far, you've crossed my line...
"Oh my...that's really fun," Grune said. "You should continue."
"I know, but...I don't know what to sing next. Can you help me, G-Girl? What should I write next?"
Grune paused in thought. "I wonder..."
Norma shook her head. "Never mind. I'll just wait and see if I get any inspirations."
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Shirley was in the upstairs bedroom of Musette's house working on her painting. She had painted a bowl of gold apples on a counter. Musette came in to check on her.
"Oh Shirley, it's beautiful!" Musette said, eyeing the painting. "You did this?"
"Yes," Shirley said. "I call it, 'Seeing the Beauty in the Everyday.'"
"You are quite the budding young artist," Musette continued. "You know, Harriet could use some of your inspiration. She's downstairs in the kitchen, sitting next to the crumpled up paper. Nothing that Will and I say seems to help. Could you go downstairs and give her a hand?"
"I'll see what I can do." Shirley went downstairs and approached Harriet, who was now smearing paint all over the paper in front of her.
"I can't do this," Harriet said.
"Hattie, you're doing fine," Shirley told her. "Relax."
"I can't do this!" Harriet repeated.
"Just try to have fun with it."
"Fun? This isn't fun! This is the exact opposite of fun!"
"Harriet, calm down. You're going out of control."
"What do you know? You're really good at this. I wish I were as good as you. I'm going to let Dad down..."
"You're a good artist when you're not trying so hard," Shirley said.
"So what? This is a contest," Harriet told her. "I want to win so badly, I keep messing up."
"Just do your best. Talent isn't a competition."
"It's not?"
"No, it's not."
"Oh sure! That's why every year we compete in the annual talent show! That's why Norma and I want to win! That's why they give out prizes! Because talent's not a competition!"
Shirley paused as she went into deep thought for a moment. Harriet did have a good point.
"They...they just want to make it a competition!" Shirley exclaimed.
"Who's 'they'?" Harriet asked.
"They want to ruin everything! We have to show them how wrong they are!"
"Who's 'we'?"
"You're right, Hattie. Every journey begins with a single step. Yeah..." Shirley turned and walked back upstairs.
Harriet's lip slid upwards in a fierce snarl. "Well, maybe I can't draw! But at least some people can understand what I'm talking about..."
Shirley returned to her room and pulled the protective sheet over her apple painting. She then took the canvas and shoved it under her bed. Finally, she pulled out an empty canvas and began to work on an entirely new painting.
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In the back of the Oresoren village, Poppo was working in his mechanical workshop. Jay walked in to check up on him.
"Greetings, Poppo," Jay said. "How is your project coming?"
"Oh, Jay!" Poppo responded, somewhat surprised. "It's coming along nicely. I should have it finished in a week or so. I'm really excited; I can't wait for you and the others to try it out. I'm sure it'll be helpful in the fields, or even in the ruins."
"Sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to it."
Just then, a random Oresoren walked in and whispered something to Jay. Jay staggered backwards in response to the message.
"What? There's some unusual activity happening in the Legacy's bridge?"
The Oresoren extended his hand, a positive gesture. Jay paused to think about it for a moment.
"No...we won't worry about it now. The Radiant have altered the bridge's controls, so only they can control the Legacy with it. I'd like you to keep a close eye on the situation and keep me updated. Then we'll decide if we need to take any action."
The Oresoren nodded, then left the room.
"Jay, is it really okay to leave the bridge alone?" Poppo asked.
"We still don't know who's causing the activity," Jay told him. "At this point, it could be the Radiant themselves for all we know. We need more information to determine if it really is a problem."
"I understand..."
"I'm also hoping that we can wait for your project to be finished before we take any action."
"Right. I'll keep working on it."
"In the meantime, I'll head for Werites Beacon," Jay continued. "I'm curious as to how the talent show is going."
"Talent show?"
"It's a show where people display various talents. The competition is sure to be fierce, particularly between Norma and Harriet. I'll have to be sure they keep themselves under control."
"Why?"
"When people are so obsessed with winning, they lose control of their character. People act differently. They get angry and frustrated, and that can't be good."
"How scary..." Poppo said.
"Right. So I'll head over there and make sure they don't kill each other over this competition."
"Take care, Jay."
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Senel's entire group gathered at Madame Musette's house to check on each other's progress for the talent show. Harriet was still scribbling her drawing on the sheet in front of her. Will stood over her, encouraging her.
"Come on, Harriet," he said. "Just add a little more blue to that sky."
"Oh, I'll never be able to finish!" she whined. "And even if I do, it'll totally stink!"
"Oh, that's too bad, Hattie," Norma said. "I guess I'm going to win the talent show, huh?"
"That...that's not true!" Harriet cried. "I'll get it finished! It's not like your stupid song will be any better!"
"Hmm...maybe I could just help out a little..." Will picked up a pencil.
Harriet gasped, "No, Dad, drop the pencil!"
Will dropped the pencil and stepped back. Harriet slammed her hands on the table.
"I don't need your help! This is entirely between me and Norma!"
Will held up his hands. "Sorry, I didn't know."
Moses pointed a finger at Will. "Ha ha! Guilty!" he sang.
Musette set a cup of tea down on the table in front of Harriet. "Your father won't do it again." She then turned to Will. "Will you, Will?"
Will shrugged. "No, I'll be good."
Just then, Shirley came downstairs with the canvas in her arms, with the painting facing her.
"Oh, I see that Shirley is ready for the talent show," Musette said.
"I've given this whole thing a lot of thought," Shirley announced.
"Uh-oh," Senel muttered.
"And I've decided that it's time to make a stand," Shirley added.
"Uhhh-oh..." Senel muttered again.
Senel knew Shirley better than anyone else in the group. Shirley may appear shy and frail most of the time, but there was a side of her that clearly said, "Don't mess with me." And Senel knew that that part of her was about to be unleashed.
"I think stands are good," Grune said.
"I have a new entry for the talent show. I just finished it." Shirley turned the canvas around for all to see. And what the other saw was not a real painting, but a text message in rainbow colors. The message read, "TALENT SHOULD NOT BE A COMPETITION."
"Huh?" Musette and Chloe raised an eye.
Jay and Moses glanced at each other. "Huh?"
"Huh?" Norma and Harriet asked in unison.
Everyone looked at Shirley again, as her face seemed to glow.
"Oh, it's modern art!" Grune gushed.
"Talent should not be a competition?" Will asked. "Where's your good painting?"
Shirley glared at him. Musette walked past Shirley and went upstairs.
"This is a joke, right?" Will asked. "Shirley, where's your other painting? You know, the one with the apples?"
"Gone," Shirley said with a smile.
"Can I use it?" Harriet asked.
"No!" Will snapped.
Harriet's face soured.
"Your apple painting was your best shot!" Will said. "Why wouldn't you want to win?"
Shirley's jaw dropped. "It's my statement, and it says exactly what I mean it to say!"
The others exchanged nervous glances, but said nothing.
"Forget it, Shirley," Will said. "Your apple painting is going into the contest, and it's going to say, 'I know how to paint circles around everyone else.'"
"Hmph!" Shirley spun around and marched upstairs to her room. "Well, I don't care what you say!"
"You're not submitting that crummy thing!" Will shouted.
Shirley slammed the door to her room with an audible thud. Will let out an exasperated sigh.
"I wonder what's gotten into Raynard?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, he's ordering Shirl around like an old man," Norma said.
"They're even worse than us," Jay said.
"Yeah, they'd better stop or they won't get new shoes," Moses added.
Jay gave him a look. "What do shoes have to do with anything?"
"I've never seen Shirley act like this either," Senel said. "I know she has a tough side, but I've never seen it this bad."
"The competition must have gone to their heads," Jay explained. "There's a lot of anger and frustration that comes with the pressure to win."
"Now that you mention it, you're right," Norma agreed.
"Ahem." Will turned to face the group. "Did you all say something?"
"Uh...no, nothing," the others lied.
"Hmm. Very well. I'm going out for some air. Harriet, be sure to keep working on your project."
"Okay..." Harriet said, a little down.
Will turned and left the house. The party fell silent for a moment.
"Ooh, I just thought of a great idea!" Norma said. "This'll be perfect for my song."
"How is that song coming, Norma?" Senel asked.
"Check this out. This is what I have now."
I...am one who never quits
Am one who tries to rise
Am pure of thought and mind
Am sure of one thing now...
That I stare in your bad face now
That I see you're a weakling now
Say the power is on you now...
You have a reason, you have a rhyme
But you had chosen to cross my line
You are my soul mate, you are the crime
You've gone too far, you've crossed my line...
"Oh my, that's so much fun," Grune said.
"It does suit the current situation rather well," Jay agreed.
"By the way, JJ, how can you stay so calm in all this competition?" Norma asked.
"For one thing, I'm not entering the talent show."
"Ooh, ooh! You should enter with your breakdancing thing!"
"Ooh-ooh, because I don't want Curtis to recruit me on the, ooh-ooh, Bantam Bouncers," Jay responded.
"I wonder if Shirley has a point?" Chloe asked. "This talent show has already gotten out of hand."
Combine that with the unusual activity on the bridge, Jay thought to himself.
"Let's just go our separate ways for today," Senel said. "I think we all need some time to cool down."
The others nodded, then began to walk towards the front door.
"Oh, good luck with that drawing, Hattie!" Norma called.
"Ooh!" Harriet jumped out of her chair and began to chase after the group.
"Uh-oh!" The group jumped with a start as they ran out the door, slamming it behind them.
Harriet stopped at the door, then folded her arms. "Hmph!"
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Shirley received the title of Hurricane Shirley
Will received the title of Competitive Dad