Mallet Blues
On a nice sunny day at Westley, Kim was sitting on her stool in front of her xylophone with her hands on her cheeks looking down at her favorite mallets broken into two. She was crying as she realized she wouldn't be able to play her instrument without them.
"Mmhhmmmm, hmmm, boohoohoohooohooo," Kim sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Kam noticed that his twin was upset and walked over to her.
"Kim, what's wrong?" Kam asked, concerned about his sister's tears.
"(sniffle) I broke my favorite mallets, Kam!" Kim said as she looked up at her twin with watery eyes.
"Aww, don't worry, sis, I'm sure we can go to the music store and find a new pair for you," Kam reassured Kim.
"No, you don't understand, (sniffle, sniffle) these mallets were special to me," her voice trembling. "I had them since kindergarten and they've helped me create beautiful music on my xylophone!" Kam knelt next to her and gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Now why did they break in the first place?" Kam asked.
"I guess...I guess...I guess I was playing a little too rough," Kim admitted with a shaky voice. Just then, the rest of the friends arrived as well as Sunny and they immediately noticed Kim's distress.
"Kim! What's wrong?" Madison came running over. "Oh no, did your xylophone break?!"
"No...I just...I just...broke these mallets, waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Kim sobbed even harder at the sight of her friend's concern.
"Mallets? Kim don't you have like a million of those back at home?" Tamika asked.
"No, I just had one pair and this was it, this has been with me since Kam and I were in kindergarten," Kim explained through her tears.
"Aww Kim, I'm sorry!" Philly Phil's voice trembled as he sympathized with Kim's broken mallets.
"Here how about some money for more?" Eddie gave Kim a warm smile as he handed her money to buy new ones.
"Thanks, Eddie, but I think I'll just play my maracas instead," Kim said blowing her nose with a tissue.
"OK!" Lil D said. "That's it, Kim, show some love to them maracas!" Sunny took role and noticed everyone was present and began the lesson. "Alright, y'all let's rehearse!" Sunny said picking up his saxophone. Everyone was excited to start except for our dear buddy Kim, who was still feeling a bit down about her mallets. Kam, being the thoughtful brother he is, said, "Hey Kim, why don't you improvise on your xylophone without mallets? Even though your mallets are broken, you can still create beautiful music using your hands." Kim wiped away her tears and sighed. "I guess I can give it a try," Kim said with a faint smile. Kim went over to her xylophone and used her hands instead of her mallets. Everyone began on their instruments and Kim hit the bars of the xylophone with her hands, but doing so made her incredibly upset as she was reminded of the broken mallets. Kim quietly sobbed to herself and Sunny was conducting his music class but noticed the xylophone bit was lacking energy and spirit.
"Hold up, y'all!" Sunny said waving his hands in the air. Sunny noticed that Kim had been using her hands as mallets but seemed to be struggling emotionally, causing her to play sour notes. So he walked over to Kim and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Kim, little bit, what's wrong?" Sunny said kneeling to her level.
"Oh Hi, Sunny, I...I broke my favorite mallets, and it's hard for me to even focus on playing without them," Kim said sniffling.
"Aww, little buddy, come here," Sunny said comfortingly, embracing Kim in a warm hug.
"I know how much those mallets mean to you, but remember you are a talented young girl with or without them! Where are the broken mallets?" Sunny asked. Kim sobbing pointed to them on the floor right beside Sunny's left foot.
"Oh, I see, let me take a look," Sunny said picking up the broken mallets. Sunny examined them and realized he could fix them. "Let me just hold onto these and see if I can repair 'em."
"Oh thank you, Sunny!" Kim cried gratefully. "They've been with me since I was little!"
"Oh, so they really special to you then," Sunny said understandingly.
"Yes, they really are," Kim sighed.
"Aww don't worry y'all, I think we can go get some ice cream to cheer girl twin up!" Lil D said after class was finished.
"Ice cream? Oh, OK that doesn't sound too bad," Kim said still sad.
"Hey girl, I'm sorry for my insensitive comment about yo' mallets befo'," Tamika apologized.
"Aww, it's OK, Tamika you didn't know," Kim said blowing her nose with a tissue.
"Maybe ol' Sunny can fix 'em!" Tamika reassured.
"I shall try to!" Sunny said getting to work on the mallets. He stayed behind at his desk and took the mallets home. With that the kids walked out of the school, gathered by Kim's side, and went to get some ice cream. They arrived at the nearest ice cream parlor in Little Five Points-Dr. McFudgy's Amazing Slopitorium!
"Hi, what can I get you all?" The friendly employee asked with a scooper in hand.
"One scoop of double chocolate with triple peanut butter swirl, please!" Lil D ordered.
"One order of cherry-flavored soda with extra whipped cream on top!" Philly Phil ordered.
"I'll have a regular mint ice cream with...a vanilla scoop to go along with it," Tamika ordered.
"Can I get...one order of the orange, the white, the green, and dark brown, all topped with hot fudge?" Madison asked.
"I'll have a simple chocolate," Kam ordered. "What about you, Kim?"
"Um...I guess I'll have what he's having," Kim said pointing to Kam.
"I'll take a nice scoop of strawberry and vanilla!" Eddie ordered with a smile.
"Wow! Coming right up!" The friendly employee cheerfully replied as they scooped the ice cream flavors requested. As the scoops of ice cream were being prepared, the kids chatted in excitement about their plans.
"Mmmm, I cannot wait for mine, y'all!" Tamika said with anticipation.
The kids eagerly awaited their scoops and excitedly discussed their favorite ice cream flavors.
"I love all of them!" Madison said laughing.
"I love chocolate," Kam said.
"I love strawberry AND chocolate!" Eddie said with a grin. "But I guess I was more in a vanilla mood today."
"This ice cream is amazing, it's soft-serve and so scrumptious and soft on the tongue," Philly Phil admired the parlor. "Anybody with a hint of depression will surely be cheered up after a single taste."
"What's your favorite flavor, Kim?" Lil D asked.
"...Depression," Kim replied.
"Depression?" The others echoed back.
"Uh...I mean, chocolate and mint," Kim said trying to hide a moment of embarrassment.
"OK, here are your orders, you kids enjoy!" the friendly employee served with a smile.
"Thanks," everyone said in unison.
"Yes, thank you!" Eddie said while paying the friendly employee. "Here's your tip for the great service."
"Gee, thank you!" the friendly employee smiled again and went back behind the counter.
"Mmmm, scrumptious, let's go sit!" Lil D said. Some kids ordered cones, others ordered cups. Kim and Kam had their ice cream scoops in a cup while the rest had cones.
The kids found a cozy spot to sit and enjoyed their delicious ice cream treats.
"Mmmm! This is delicious! Cherry-flavored ice cream is a new win for me!" Philly Phil exclaimed. The kids all nodded and murmured in agreement except for Kim who just used her plastic spoon to roll the delicious treat around in her cup, peering down at the cup in pure sadness.
"Aww, Kim, y'all ain't still upset about the mallets right?" Lil D asked.
"Sighhhhhhhhhh," Kim exhaled with her hand on her cheek. "I guess you could say that I'm just really in my feelings today," Kim replied.
"Take a bite, sis, it's really good!" Kam encouraged, holding out a spoonful of his ice cream.
"Sighhhhhh, OK," Kim took a bite and chewed in depression. She felt her throat tighten as she tried to suppress her sadness.
"Gosh, Kim, really is having a tough day here," Lil D whispered.
"Yeah, how can we cheer her up?" Madison suggested.
"This spoon reminds me of my mallets," Kim said as her tears started to well up in her eyes.
"I have an idea! What does Kim like?" Eddie asked.
"Well we gotta ask Kam, he would know best," Madison replied.
"Kam," Philly Phil tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. Kam, who was still eating his ice cream, turned to Philly Phil with a raised eyebrow, "Yes?"
"Hey, Kam-" But before Philly Phil could ask he burst out laughing because he saw that Kam had a huge chocolate mustache, complete with a goatee. The rest of the gang followed suit and laughed their heads off.
"HAHA, you look like Sunny!" Lil D exclaimed amidst the laughter. "All y'all need is a straw hat!" The laughter filled the area as the kids pounded their fists on the table, unable to contain their amusement.
"What?" Kam asked in confusion. He turned to his sister who was still upset, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of Kam's chocolate mustache, she couldn't help but join in on the laughter.
"You too?" Kam asked slightly annoyed and confused.
"Hahahaha, you know what they say, laughter is the best medicine!" Madison laughed amidst giggling. At that moment, laughter filled the air and brought joy to everyone's spirits.
"Kam, look at your face!" Kim laughed her tears away, pulling out a mirror for him to look at.
"Oh... hehe, I really do look like Sunny," he said grabbing his chocolatey, flat, goatee. This made the kids laugh even harder. Kam took a napkin finally and wiped his chocolate-stained face clean with a grin.
"How you feel now, Kim?" Madison asked her bestie.
"Haha, I feel so much better now! Thanks, guys," Kim replied with a smile. At that moment, the power of friendship and laughter remedied Kim's depressive state and lifted her spirits. The next day at Westley, Sunny had a huge surprise for Kim to make her even happier.
"Good morning, class!" Sunny welcomed them.
"Good morning, Sunny!" the class replied in unison.
"Oh and hello, Kim," Sunny said holding out a box with a mischievous grin.
"Huh? What's this? Is this for me?" Kim asked.
"Yes, go on open it!" Sunny said excitedly. Her brother and friends watched in anticipation as Kim opened the box.
"Oooh, maybe it's a new pair of sunglasses!" Kim thought to herself. She opened up the wrapping paper to reveal her once broken mallets, restored to brand-new condition again. Just the way she had them before the incident.
"(gasp) My mallets!" Kim exclaimed her eyes widening with delight. "Thank you so much, Sunny!" Kim gave a hug to her music teacher and started crying tears of joy and gratitude.
"How did you fix them?" Kim said wiping away a tear.
"Well, I have my ways..." Sunny replied with a smirk.
"It's incredible, did you glue them together?" Kim asked.
"Nah, I used one of my gadgets at home, glue wasn't gonna do it justice," Sunny chuckled.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kim exclaimed, overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude.
"Aww, y'all got yo' mallets back!" Lil D said with excitement.
"Yay, Kimmie!" Madison hugged her.
"Awesome!" Kam celebrated with a fist bump.
"Haha, but you know, I think I'm gonna...just put these off to the side for now, and use my maracas instead!" Kim said with a cheerful grin.
"Whatever works! Who's up for a jam session?" Sunny said grabbing his conductor's wand.
"I am!" Tamika raised her hand.
"Me too!" Eddie followed suit. The music filled the classroom and Kim took the box with mallets and put them on a shelf nearby as a reminder of the incredible kindness Sunny had shown her, and the blast she had laughing at her twin brother when he had chocolate all over his face. She grabbed her maracas and jammed into the rest of the day.
"Thanks, guys," Kim said feeling grateful for the amount of support she received from Sunny and her friends.
"Aww, thank nothin' of it, Kim," Sunny said with a warm smile.
"Yeah, we hate seeing you all upset!" Madison said. "We're happy you're happy again!"
"Yeah, and come on let's jam!" Lil D said pounding his drums. As Lil D pounded on the drums forcefully, his drumsticks broke into two pieces. Everyone saw and gasped in surprise, with Lil D's mouth ajar.
"Oh no, Lil D! Not you too!" Madison cried out in concern. Lil D's mouth fully ajar and his eyes wide in shock, he spoke up, "Aww, man! My sticks!" Kim saw his concern and immediately went over to Lil D with a fresh new pair in hand.
"Don't worry, Lil D, I'm a percussionist too, I always keep a spare pair of sticks in my bag!" she said with a playful wink as she handed D the drumsticks.
"Thank you, Kim!" Lil D said with gratitude.
"No problem, we musicians have to stick together," Kim said walking back to her maracas.
"And when one of y'all needs support, we lend each other a helpin' hand," Sunny said as he conducted the symphony again. The rest of the kids all cheered for Lil D and Kim as they led the number.
