Melody Llwellyn's Arc

Chapter 2 of 14

The morning after her first real performance, Melody sat on the squishy foam couch and worried. The parrot preened his jewel-toned feathers on the perch. The starfish clung to the driftwood wall. Melody hugged her knees against her golden shell. "I heard the contest acts practicing," she said. "One crab breathes fire. A crew of fish do backflips. My song is just... the tide and the moon. Quiet. Small." Her voice dropped. "A whole crowd won't even hear it." The parrot flapped down to the couch arm. "Then make them lean in." "How?" Melody said. "I can't breathe fire." Before he could answer, a cobalt salamander climbed onto the veranda. Six legs, orange eyes, silver stripes. Melody had seen him before, trading sea glass for shells around the cay. He dropped a green glass bead by her foot and stared at her shell. "Pretty gold," he said. "I'll trade for a shine like that." "It's attached," Melody said, pulling her head back. The salamander shrugged and settled to listen. The starfish waved an arm. "Sing for him. Practice on a stranger." Melody's hands shook. But a stranger was exactly what the contest would be. She sat up. She started the tide-and-moon song, soft as always. The salamander leaned closer. The parrot went still. Even the starfish stopped wiggling. When Melody reached the quiet part, the whole veranda held its breath to catch it. She saw it happen. Her small voice pulled them in. She stopped and looked up. "You all got quiet." "Because we had to," the parrot said. "Loud acts you can ignore. A quiet one makes you shut up and listen." Melody thought about it. A fire crab shouted at a crowd. Her song made a crowd shrink down small to hear. That wasn't a weakness. That was her whole trick. "So I don't fight the loud acts," she said slowly. "I do the opposite. I go so quiet they have to stop and lean in." "Now you get it," the starfish said. Melody grinned. She sang the ending again, softer than before, almost a whisper. The salamander crept right up to her feet. The parrot's wings drooped, spellbound. She had them, all three, hanging on every word. She finished. The salamander clapped his little front feet. "Best trade I never made," he said, and left his green bead behind. Melody held the bead and laughed. "I know how to win now. Not by being louder. By being quieter than anyone dares." The parrot tilted his head. "Then you'd better sign up. The list closes tonight, and there's only one slot left." Melody's smile froze. One slot. And half the cay wanted it. She had found her plan. Now she had to fight to even get on the stage.