Melody Llwellyn's Arc

Chapter 10 of 14

Melody walked back down the slope with her voice whole and her mind empty. The salamander scuttled at her heel, orange eyes flicking up at her. Her throat could carry any song now. She just had no song to carry. The crowd waited near the stage in the low orange sun. Sundown was close. "Think," the parrot said, landing on a stone. "Something new. Something he never heard." The starfish paced on his five arms. "Every note you know, he knows. He memorized the whole veranda." Melody pressed the flat green sea glass in her fist. She had nothing. Then a small shape burst from the ferns. A baby land shark tumbled out, rainbow skin catching the light, grinning wide. It skidded to a stop at her feet and let out a squeaky bark. The salamander hissed. But the pup only wagged and barked again, three quick notes, high then low then high. Melody stared. The barks had a shape. A rhythm. "Do that again," she whispered. The pup barked the same three notes, pleased with itself. She hummed them back. The pup yipped and added two more. She caught those too. Something loosened in her chest. "That's it," she breathed. "Not a song I wrote. A song we make right now." The starfish froze mid-step. "You mean improvise? On the final stage?" "He can't copy what doesn't exist yet," Melody said. Her heart pounded, but her voice held steady. A judge called from below. "Turtle. It's time." Melody climbed onto the exposed stage. The huge-voiced competitor stood off to one side, arms crossed, sure of himself. The crowd fell quiet on its own, waiting. The sun touched the water's edge. She did not open with anything they knew. She listened first. A gull cried far off. She caught its pitch and answered it, one soft note. The pup, waiting below, barked its three notes back. Melody wove them into her line. She let the sound rise, drop, rise again, following nothing but the moment. The crowd leaned in. No one had heard this before, because it had never been sung before. The competitor's smug face fell. He had no memorized trick to match a song being born as it played. Melody climbed to a bright, clear peak, then softened to a whisper the crowd strained to catch. When she let the last note fade, silence held for a full breath. Then the crowd roared, louder than for any act all day. The parrot spun in the air. The starfish threw all five arms up. The pup barked along with the cheering. The judges huddled, then straightened. "The turtle," one announced. Melody had won the tiebreaker with a song no one could have stolen. But the head judge raised a claw. "One matter remains before the cay is awarded," she said. "The organizer has filed a final challenge." The crowd hushed. Melody's win was real. The prize was not yet hers.