The music gathered a crowd.
Four Begin a Song
Theo had played the beginning of his song six times.
On the seventh, Sam joined him on the wooden box he used as a drum. Lina clapped along, and June tried to remember the words to the short part that came back after each verse.
They reached the end.
Or almost.
Theo stopped with his hand above the guitar strings.
“I still don’t know how to finish it.”
“You could play the beginning again,” Sam suggested.
“That’s what I’ve been doing.”
“And it sounds better every time.”
“That may be because you’re playing faster.”
Sam tapped the side of his box. “I’m thinking ahead.”
“You’re arriving ahead,” Lina said.
Four people walking past had slowed down to listen. One of them, Bea, began to move with the rhythm. Ari tapped a foot beside her, while Cleo lifted her hands, ready to clap.
Max stayed a little farther back.
“Can we join you?” Bea asked.
“Please do,” Theo said. “We’re looking for an ending.”
Four More Arrive
Theo began again.
Sam played the beat. Lina clapped, and June sang the words she remembered. Bea turned in a small circle while Ari followed her steps.
Cleo clapped too, a little earlier than Lina. Sam heard Cleo and changed his rhythm to meet her. Bea quickened her steps. Ari tried to keep up and nearly walked into Max, who moved aside just in time.
Theo stopped playing.
“Did we finish it?” Sam asked.
“I think we passed the middle,” June said.
“Twice,” Theo added.
Cleo lowered her hands. “Was I clapping in the wrong place?”
“I changed the beat,” Sam said. “You were very convincing.”
They laughed. Bea came back to stand beside Ari.
“Could we hear it once more?” June asked. “Just the part before it repeats?”
Theo played a few chords. There was a short pause, then he started the same part again.
Lina held up one hand. “There. We were clapping through that pause.”
“I couldn’t hear when you started again,” Sam said.
“Neither could I,” said Bea. “I was watching Ari.”
“I was watching you,” Ari replied.
A Space Between Beats
They tried once more, more slowly.
Theo lifted his head just before the repeated part. Sam kept a steady beat, and Lina and Cleo clapped together. This time, everyone left the little pause clear.
Bea and Ari moved side by side. June sang the repeated words, and Theo joined her.
Max listened from the edge of the group.
“Would you like to sing?” June asked him.
“Perhaps in a minute. Could I try something else first?”
Theo nodded.
“After that part comes around again, could you leave one beat for me?”
Sam held his hands above the box. “One beat with nothing on it?”
“That’s the one.”
They began again. Theo played the verse, June sang, and the clapping followed Sam’s rhythm. When they reached the repeated part, Max waited.
Then he gave one clear clap.
Theo heard it and started the verse again.
“That works,” he said.
Max smiled. “I knew where to put my hands. I was waiting to find out when.”
Sam tapped his box once.
“Could I answer your clap?”
“On the next beat,” Max said.
They tried it: one clap, one tap, then Theo’s guitar.
Bea took two steps to match the sounds. Ari copied her and added a turn of his own.
“I can remember that,” he said.
One Last Clap
For the next round, Theo asked everyone to keep the same places.
“Not the same places on the ground,” he added as Bea began moving back. “The same places in the music.”
“That gives us more room,” she said.
They played the song from the beginning. Sam kept the beat steady, even when he smiled at Bea and Ari dancing. Lina and Cleo clapped together. June sang the words she had now heard enough times to remember.
At the end of the repeated part, Max clapped once.
Sam answered with a tap. Theo played one final chord, and the sound settled around them.
For a moment, everyone stayed still.
“Was that the ending?” Bea asked.
“I think so,” Theo said.
“Do we wait for another clap?”
Max raised his hand. Everyone watched it.
He lowered it slowly without making a sound.
Sam gave the box one very small tap.
“That wasn’t me,” Max said.
“It was the beginning of the next song,” Sam replied.
“We haven’t chosen the next song,” Lina said.
“We could play this one again,” June suggested.
Theo looked around the group. “Does everyone know where they come in?”
Ari raised one foot. Cleo lifted her hands. Max held his palms apart, ready to clap.
Sam rested his hands on the box.
“I know where I come in,” he said. “I’m still working on where I stop.”
Theo played the first chord. This time, all eight were ready for it.
Livora Gracely ♥
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