Chapter 2
“Make the 2nd row a high pitched sound…that’s right! Make that a sharp, please…right…good! Ok, keep going.” We practised so hard for the concert that our lips hurt. If you know how to play the flute, you’ll understand that if you play it for too long, your lips will hurt. Also clarinets are like that too. But my name is Monica, so yeah, I don’t play the clarinet.
The music teacher, Master Lolly, helped us practise. She told us what we were doing wrong and helped us improve. I like Master Lolly because she is so good at playing music. She plays all sorts of instruments, like clarinets, flutes, and more. She makes her sounds so interesting!
“That’s right! Keep it up!” We were at the last 2 lines. My lips were sore and my arms were weak. But to make a lovely sound that was worth it. I used the last of my energy to blow out the last 5 notes. Then we were finished the piece. Everyone put their instruments on their laps and closed their books. We were ready to go practise backstage.
Sometimes we would love going backstage so no one could hear our beautiful music. Sometimes we would hate going backstage because we can’t use the stage and that Master Lolly isn’t here to help us. Today was one of those days. We all groaned as we put our music stands down and opened our books. Then we started playing the second song.
We went on, and on…This song was much longer than the last one. 2 minutes later, my lips became weak and I had the urge to put my flute down. It was luck that none of the instrument players had to play their instrument throughout the whole song, since we were all playing in a band. But it was bad luck that in this piece, flutes were played throughout most of the song. Lucky clarinet players, who is, only Janisa, they only have to play less than a quarter of the piece. But pretty soon I couldn’t stand it anymore. I put my flute down and only Ally was playing. Her face was red, but she played her flute easily and made a lovely sound. How could she do that? It was already 4 out of 5 minutes of the song!
In 20 seconds or so, I felt my energy rushing back again. I picked up my flute and waited for my turn to play. I didn’t have to wait for long. Taking a deep breath, I blew gently and, to my surprise, made a beautiful sound! I played smoothly and for just a moment, I thought I was playing with Master Lolly in a band! I carefully shook my head and…oh, it was all a dream. I sounded awful. I fixed my position, rested my feet on the ground, straightened my back and…realized everyone was staring at me and that the music had stopped.
To show I was not bad at playing the flute, which I really wasn’t, I carefully blew into my flute. I bit my tongue to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, but I had made a lovely sound! At that moment everyone continued playing their instruments again, and 50 seconds later, we finished the piece.
The bell rang. We packed up our instruments and walked out of the gym together. “That music sounded great!” I told Ally. “Thanks. I practised all night yesterday. Yours sounded good too.” We walked into our classroom and sat down. I put my instrument under my desk and took out my book, In and Over. It was the first time I noticed how much I was sweating. And panting. And reading. I read 10 sentences in those last 20 seconds.
A second later Master Tann came into the classroom. We put our books away. We started a new lesson in math on multiplication. It was so easy for a grade 5! We learned questions like 50x2, 78x5, and barely any ones like 98x26. I became so bored that I almost fell asleep. Oh, how I wished the hot day would end!
Finally, the dismissal bell rang. I put all my books in my backpack and stacked my chair. Then I got my flute and I went over to Ally’s desk. She was still putting her stuff in her bag. I helped her and finally, the “Musical Wizards” were all walking down the hall. “That was so easy I almost fell asleep!” I groaned. “I know. I don’t think I would bother to study for the test 2 weeks away,” Ally said. “Me either,” said Allan. “Me double either,” said Janisa. “I think we really should study. Every time we have a test there are questions on it that nobody would ever expect,” Jason pointed out. “I think you’re right,” Ally said. I had to agree.
We walked home together. First Jason and Janisa left, then Allan had to go to his friend Ryan’s house to do a project, and soon it was only Ally and
