On A Different Note

• Conor Thornberry, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2017

As the sun beats down on my scaly body, I stretch and let out a huge sigh. What a beautiful day.
Lazily, I reach over and grab my guitar from its resting place beside me, leaning up against the stick that I’m sprawled all over. I sit up slowly and pluck the strings absent-mindedly and frown as I remember the day before.
I had tried to sneak inside the human’s habitat and practice the songs that they were playing. A few of them had gathered together and were playing different contraptions. But as soon as I had stepped inside, I was thrown back out again! My only option was to climb up the rusty barbeque and peek through the window.
A small, toothy grin creeps across my face as a song starts playing in my head. It happened to be the only song I had managed to copy from the humans in the past. The only thing that can be heard in the backyard is the smooth strum of my guitar. As I listen, my mind begins to wander around in a calm daydream…
My snooze suddenly takes me to a place of beaming lights and swarming crowds. It was where I had dreamed of being since I had first started playing my guitar. I turn around and another of my kind is pushing me forward. “C’mon, you’re on stage now!”
I step on to the glistening stage and am nearly blinded by the powerful spotlight overhead. The sound of the roaring throng just about knocks me over. It is then that I realise that they are cheering for me! My guitar is resting softly in my hand. I slowly close my eyes and drive my hand over the strings. The crowd screams as the twang of my guitar echoes loudly throughout the building.
I play a few more notes and the crowd’s response doesn’t differ. I want this moment to never end, but like all other things, it must.
All of a sudden, my mind snaps back into action, and I realise that I had still been strumming slowly while I slumbered. I blink rapidly and take a glance at my surroundings. Still tired, I pause for a while and think about how I can get closer to achieving that goal. I could attempt to learn another song from the humans…
Slowly but steadily, I sneak closer and closer across the backyard to the wide-open door of the human’s habitat. The spiky woven mat at the entrance pricks my feet as I step onto the smooth surface of the human’s place.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP
But before I can get anywhere, I look down and see the ground getting farther and farther away from my feet.