Melody Llwellyn's Arc

Chapter 5 of 14

The whistle blast still rang in Melody's ears. The crowd shifted and grumbled. On stage, she stood frozen, her song cut in half. At the rope line, the crab in the tall hat lowered his whistle. He jabbed a claw at the parrot holding the bell. "That is a prop!" the organizer shouted. His voice carried over the crowd. "Props are forbidden. This bird rings a bell to trick us. Her act is cheating." He turned to the judges' table. "I say she is disqualified." Melody's legs trembled. The green glass bead sat warm in her claw, the salamander's gift for nerve. She looked down at her three friends. The starfish clung to the post, all five arms tight. The salamander's orange eyes stayed fixed on her. The parrot held the bell up, ready to fight for her. She could stay quiet and lose. Or she could speak. Melody stepped to the front of the stage. "The bell isn't the act," she said. Her voice came out small. The crowd leaned to catch it, the way they had before. "The bell only made you quiet. It never sang a note. I did." The organizer opened his mouth. Melody kept going. "Take the bell away," she said. "I'll sing without it. If my song can't hold you on its own, then disqualify me." The crowd murmured. The organizer's eyes narrowed. He waved a claw at the parrot. "Set it down, bird." The parrot hesitated. Then he set the bell on the sand behind the rope and gave Melody one sharp nod. The starfish waved an arm. The salamander clacked the glass in his cheeks. Melody had no bell now. No trick. Just the loud, restless crowd and her small voice. Her breath went short. She closed her claw around the green bead and started her song again. She sang soft, softer than the noise, the way she always had at the water's edge. The nearest faces stilled to hear. She held the note and did not shake. The quiet spread from the front rows outward, one row at a time. No bell pushed it. Her voice pulled it. By the second verse, the whole cay had gone silent. Even the fire crab stopped fidgeting. Melody sang about the world going quiet underwater, and hundreds of faces leaned in to follow her down. When the last note faded, no one spoke. Then the crowd roared. The starfish bounced on the post. The parrot shrieked with joy. The organizer stood stiff at the rope. He could not call it a trick now. There had been no bell. He gave one tight nod. "The act is fair," he said. "She stays in." Melody's shell tingled. She had won the crowd with nothing but her own voice. But as the cheers rolled on, she saw the judges bent over their table, scoring her against every act still to come. The contest was not over. She had only earned the right to finish it.