The Deleted Scenes of August Rush

Scene #1

A/N: It felt kinda weird skipping the part where Evan conducts in the wheatfield at the very beginning, so I decided that this would be my very first deleted scene! And as I typed, I asked myself a question: when was the first time Evan ever heard Melanie sing? So then I decided to extend the scene a bit, to show Evan's continuous struggle against adversity and that stuff.

.........

Ten-year-old Evan Taylor stood in the ocean of green wheat, concentrating. He closed his eyes and listened intently, moving his hands left and right, up and down, conducting an invisible orchestra. He could hear the magnificent sound in his mind, thunderous and exciting.

Suddenly, the wind started up, blowing a few strands of his messy brown hair from his face. It made a whooshing sound through the grain, bending each stalk in the direction it went.

And, the funny thing was…Evan could swear he could hear someone…in the wind…singing.

Wishing you were somehow here again…wishing you were somehow near…

It startled him at first. His arms froze in front of him, midway through conducting; his eyes opened, looking wildly around for the source of the voice.

Sometimes it seemed, if I just dreamed…somehow you would be hear…

After a moment or two, he began to relax a bit. He was used to hearing music in his head all the time. This wasn't that different. It was just someone, singing…a voice, pleading for help…wanting to find a friend.

Evan found his arms, once again, assume their conducting motions, brushing the tips of the grain. He listened to the voice and conducted it, closing his eyes and opening his ears.

Too many years fighting off tears…why can't the past just die? Wishing you were somehow here again…knowing we must say goodbye…Try to forgive, teach me to live…give me the strength to try!

Evan tilted his head up to the sky, the early June sun warming his face as he did so. He smiled as he continued to listen and conduct. This was the best he had done yet!

No more memories, no more silent tears…no more gazing across the wasted years…Help me say goodbye…Help me say goodbye.

The voice stopped, and Evan realized that the song had ended. His hands lowered, goose bumps running up and down his arms, the voice still ringing in his ears.

Wow…that was…amazing…I wonder who that could be…

"OH, FRE-EAK!!!" someone called. "YOU HAVE TO COME BACK NOW!"

Evan sighed and began to make his way back to the orphanage. He wouldn't worry about it now.

But…whoever the voice belonged to…he hoped he found him or her soon.

.........

It had now been six month since Evan had first heard the voice, and he still didn't have a clue whom he or she was. He wasn't even sure what gender it was! But it still comforted him, nonetheless, to hear the voice lull him to sleep at night.

"Evan? Oh, Evan?" His roommate waved his hand in front of Evan's face. "Come back to Earth, Evan!"

Evan jerked out of his daydream. He sighed when he found that he was back in the orphanage, having a less-than-satisfying lunch with his roommate. "Sorry about that. It's just…"

"Oh, no. Don't even THINK about talking to me about…whoever that freak is."

"The voice is not a freak. It's a person."

His roommate gave him a look. "Do you know how completely crazy you sound? Seriously. There is no voice in the wind, okay? It's probably just your imagination. Or maybe you've been watching too much Disney Channel. I keep telling you: it rots your brain out of your skull with its bubblegum-pop crap!"

"It's not either of those things," Evan said. "I hear a voice. A person. Singing. When the full moon comes out…I hear it. It helps me hear my parents, too." His roommate sighed. "Evan," he said. "I'm saying this because I care about you. Our parents are either dead or don't give a crap about us anymore. We're never going to see them again. And as for the voice…well, it's just in your head. You even said so yourself. You're the only one who hears it."

Evan just stared at his roommate. He really hated to admit it, but he knew the truth. His parents were probably dead or didn't care anymore. And he was the only one who ever heard the voice singing, and it was all inside his head.

"Oh, Evan, buddy," his roommate said when he saw tears welling up in his friend's eyes, "I didn't mean it personally. I swear, I didn't mean to make you cry."

"No, it's fine," Evan said, letting his silent tears roll down his face and onto his untouched food. "You're probably right. And the strange thing is…I don't care."

But he did. He did care.

And he kept telling himself that as he continued to stare at the table.

.........

"You know that book I made you read that one time?" Evan's roommate said to him in their room later that day. "You know, about the two boys and the tree?"

"Oh, you mean A Separate Peace?" Evan said, remembering all too fondly.

"Yeah. That one. Remember how we hated it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well…never mind about that. Remember how a couple of the characters kept saying 'I don't care' a lot?"

"I suppose…you know, it was a while ago when you made me read it--"

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," his roommate said, cutting him off. "It's just…you saying 'I don't care' made me think of that book. And…the characters had said they didn't care…when it was obvious that they did. And it's obvious you care now."

"So what if I do?" Evan asked defensively. "What's it to you?"

"Well…it's just that…I care, too. About the whole not-ever-seeing-our-parents-again thing, I mean. I just act like I don't because…well…you know…the older boys…and they can get pretty mean sometimes…"

"Yeah. I know."

"And they've made fun of you for both the parent thing and the voice thing...and I can tell you're getting kind of frustrated."

"I know."

"I just don't want you ending up like one of those kids who's so emotionally scarred that he picks the first family who considers to adopt him. Then he realizes he made a mistake when his new family mistreats him and his life is horrible and he can't back out." His roommate looked at him. "I really do care, Evan. That's why I'm saying what I'm saying now."

"I know."

"Don't you know anything else besides the phrase 'I know'?" This made Evan laugh. "Of course I do." He sighed and heard the distant sound of wind chimes.

"So…who IS this voice, anyway?"

"I honestly don't know," Evan admitted. "I heard it one day when I was out in the wheat field. Whenever the moon's full is when it's at its strongest."

"What does it sing?" "Usually about being alone and wanting a friend. So whoever it belongs to is lonely."

"You do realize that finding whoever this voice belongs to is impossible, right? Whoever it is could be anywhere in the world…and the chances of you ever finding him or her are, like, a billion to one."

Evan knew that was true. But he forced himself not to think about it.

"Well, maybe I haven't had the best luck before," he said after a minute. "But…maybe I can be like the narrator was in that book."

"Jump from a tree and cripple your best friend for life?"

"No…start on a clean slate and make some changes in my life." He looked out the window at the setting sun. "Because I really think it's time that I did."