Cindy at Music Camp By Teek © 2019 Chapter 04 To Play or Not to Play

Summary: Cindy's Panic Attack changes all the plans, then Mr. Elks challenges things set in stone. Cindy's future is on the line.

Samantha looked at Cindy and then at George. She didn’t move.

“Go,” George said more forcefully. “I’ll take care of Cindy. I have experience with stuff like this. Go! Mr. Elks should be in Band Room 1.”

Samantha ran out of the room and Jessica stepped back as George took a position right in front of Cindy.

“W – What happened?” Jessica questioned.

“I suspect all your fighting put Cindy into a panic attack. My little sister gets them all the time. I know how to calm her down, but I am not sure I know Cindy enough to bring her out of it.”

“Cindy,” George said in this soft gentle voice. “It is okay. Samantha and Jessica aren’t going to fight anymore. Everything is okay now. You have your dolly and we are just going to play a little music.”

Turning to Jessica, “Get on the piano and play a soft gentle lullaby.”

Jessica quickly went over and started playing a classical piano lullaby.

“Hear the music Cindy?” George continued in his soft soothing voice. “Listen to the music and slowly take some deep breaths. In through the nose, and out through the mouth.”

“All the yelling, the screaming. Mommy scared all the kids at my best friend’s birthday party. Yelled at and about me all the way to the barber shop,” Cindy flatly commented.

“It’s okay Cindy. It’s okay. No more yelling. No one is mad at you here.”

“She had him cut my braids right off. He didn’t even undo them. Two snips, and they were down on the ground.”

“It’s okay now Cindy,” George said with his hands on her knees. “That mean barber isn’t here now. Your hair looks all pretty now. It even has a pretty bow in it. Listen to the music Cindy and breathe.”

“Bought all new clothes for camp with me in a party dress and a boy’s haircut, even bought boys underwear. Announced to everyone in Wal-Mart I was a freak.”

The door suddenly opened as Mr. Elks and Samantha came charging into the room. They were stopped by George holding up his hand.

“Your mom is not here Cindy. You are safe here. No one is going to be mean to you. You are dressed up all pretty Cindy. Your dolly is in your hands and Jessica is playing some nice music. Can you hear the nice music Cindy?”

“Yeah”

George signaled for Samantha to play with Jessica. She went over and picked up her violin, joining in when she could.

“Good,” George said. “Very Good. Listen to the music. Do you recognize it?”

“Yeah,” Cindy said staring straight ahead.

“Do you think you could play the song,” Mr. Elks softly asked as he knelt down and picked up the flute next to Cindy.

George smiled at Mr. Elks and continued, “I would love to hear you play it Cindy. Can you play it for me?”

Mr. Elks put the flute in Cindy's hand. It slowly went up to her mouth and she started to play. Mr. Elks signaled for Jessica and Samantha to keep playing.

“That is very pretty Cindy,” George said.

By the end of the song Cindy had snapped out of the trance and was interacting with the world again.

Samantha was the first to break the silence, “What happened to Cindy.”

George answered, “She had a panic attack when you and Jessica were fighting over what she should wear. My little sister gets them a lot after a dog attacked her last summer.”

“Your right George,” Mr. Elks affirmed. “Kids who have gone through a traumatic event can go into a state of shock when something triggers the memory. George you did a great job calming her down and bringing her out of it. Based on your skill bringing Cindy out of her attack, I assume you have a lot of experience calming your sister down.”

“Yeah,” George’s face turned to inner thought. “She’s eight, and Cindy reminded me so much of her. I didn’t know Cindy’s happy place, but I figured a girl who can play as good as her would find music a happy place. That is why I told Jessica to play a lullaby.”

“Good job George,” Mr. Elks replied. “Now, Cindy. Are you feeling good enough to answer a few questions?”

“Yeah,” Cindy looked around at the other three kids in the room. “What I don’t feel up to answering, I am sure one of them can answer for me.”

Mr. Elks looked around the room at a bunch of faces not willing to make eye contact with him. “Okay, I guess the first question should be, who are you? There are no little girls at camp this year named Cindy. I have not met you before, but you look familiar.”

“I can explain Mr. Elks,” Jessica started.

“No, Jessica,” Cindy interrupted. “I need to explain this part.”

Cindy bent down and pulled out of the flute case the picture of her in the party outfit, “This is me, just before camp started. . . .”

Cindy went on to explain about Frank, Cindy, and what happened right before camp. Jessica explained how the two of them met on the first day of camp, and how Frank had been miserable all during the first week. She explained how Frank made sure she wasn’t always depressed for having to wear dresses every day at camp, even though she hated wearing dresses. Jessica then explained to Mr. Elks how she had developed a piano composition for his class, but changed it to include Frank’s amazing flute playing. That way, he could have some Cindy time while the two of them practiced. Jessica just needed to figure out how to get a dress for Frank to wear. Not knowing any Littles that were Cindy’s size was a big problem. This led to Samantha, who Jessica had observed the last two years as one of the best violin players at camp. Meeting Samantha and getting her to lend a dress was easy, and just after that Jessica walked into Mr. Elks composition class. That caused her to think she might be able to get Samantha, Frank, and herself to do her composition, and with three out of the five best performers in the camp it might win the concerts last performance honor. Then, why not add George. Could she write something for a whole orchestra? Samantha explained how she wanted Cindy to be here all week, especially after she heard Cindy playing. Cindy played much better than Frank did. George agreed with this statement.

As the others told Mr. Elks their parts of the story, Cindy smiled more and more, hugging Molly the whole time. She loved what she was hearing. She had friends.

“Really,” Mr. Elks inquired? “Cindy plays better than Frank?”

“It is like the difference between Samantha and me,” George continued. “I have all the technical stuff and can play with precision, but she feels the music as she plays. That feeling makes her a better performer than me. Frank doesn’t play with feeling, but Cindy does.”

“Interesting,” Mr. Elks pondered. “I have heard Frank play and he certainly is a very talented performer, but you are telling me that Cindy is even better. Cindy, could you please play me your favorite piece?”

Cindy picked up her flute, leaving Molly in her lap, and started to play.

When she finished, “Ahh, one of Friedrich Kuhlau’s flute solos. How lovely. You do that with a lot of feeling and emotion. George might be right, you might actually play better as Cindy than Frank.”

“It doesn’t matter Mr. Elks. I know I’m not allowed to be Cindy, so I will go get changed now. You won’t see Cindy again. I promise,” Cindy put down her flute and started to stand up.

“Stop Cindy. I don’t know what to do with Cindy, but for now, I came to hear the four of you play a composition that Jessica is writing for my class. You all have until the end of the day tomorrow to polish it up, but let me hear what you have so far.”

“We have been working on it together,” Jessica admitted. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it is Jessica,” Mr. Elks smiled. “I assume you wrote the initial piece and have gotten input from the others.”

“Yes sir.”

“Then let’s hear what you have all composed so far.”

The kids all went to their instruments and pulled up the composition on their tablets.

“Okay everyone,” Jessica instructed. “I made some tweaks to it last night just before bed, so make sure you pull up the latest version on your app. George, ease into your part softly after Samantha’s solo. Cindy and Samantha, I expanded the duo you two have. Cindy, if any of the notes I have you playing are too long for your breaths, let me know. Just like yesterday everyone, play the notes, but if something doesn't feel right, play what works for you. I will make changes at the end. Okay everyone, on three. One . . . Two . . . Three.”

The music started and continued for almost ten minutes. At the end, Mr. Elks clapped and the kids all stood up, curtsied or bowed.

“Impressive,” Mr. Elks praised. “Very impressive. Yesterday was your first practice ever playing together, and you are already playing off each other. It was a beautiful composition Jessica, and I like how you integrated everyone into it so well. You need a conductor. Alfred might be a good match for that, or possibly you Jessica.”

“Me? I can’t direct the group and play at the same time.”

“No, you’re right,” Mr. Elks smiled. “What if you didn’t play this composition, but instead you conducted it? Let’s see, Mary-Jane would be able to play the piano at this level.”

“Mr. Elks,” Samantha interrupted. “I don’t have a problem with Mary-Jane, but Jessica is a tween and Mary-Jane is one of the older teenagers. Are there any kids who are not teenagers who can take Jessica’s place?”

Mr. Elks smiled at Samantha, “Littles, interesting view point Samantha. The oldest in this orchestra is George, and you are what this year, fourteen?”

“Yes sir,” George Smiled.

“And Jessica, you’re not even a teenager yet, are you?”

“No, Mr. Elks.”

“Samantha is seven. Are you seven too Cindy?”

“I’m nine. Just small for my age.”

“We have never had such a strong group of young performers. It would be nice to see this group have their chance with no one older than George. Let me think.”

“Sir,” Jessica interjected. “I think I would really like to play my song. Are there any young kids who could direct the song?”

“I might have to ask Mrs. Star that question. She is teaching the music conducting class this summer, and she has the Junior Performance in the concert too. I bet she could recommend someone George’s age or younger. Jessica, since it is mostly your composition, you will have the final say for conductor. In fact, I want you right now to conduct the song. I will take over on the piano.”

The group went through the song one more time.

“Wow,” Cindy exclaimed. “That sounded beautiful. Jessica, you need to direct us.”

“Am I that bad on the piano?”

“No,” George elaborated. “It is that you know how this composition should sound, and when you were conducting it, the feeling came out.”

“You said Cindy played better than Frank,” Samantha put her two cents in. “For this song, you are better conducting it than playing in it. We need to change a few things that you directed us to do but are not in the script. It sounded better the way you directed us.”

Mr. Elks came over to Jessica, “Composing and conducting go together. If you had only written a piano solo, it would make sense for you to play it on stage alone, but you didn’t. You wrote something for an orchestra. To be honest, I would love to hear what this sounds like with a much bigger orchestra, but I definitely do see the value of keeping this one with the younger children. You want to win the honor of the final performance, and pulling that off with Littles is hard. You currently have three out of the four of you not even teenagers. An impressive feat that this camp has not seen for many years.”

“I guess I could be the conductor. I took the class last year, but always liked playing more.”

“Jessica, I could ask Miss Greenburge for the best piano player after you,” Mr. Elks smiled. “But I suspect you already know who that is.”

“Ariel!” Jessica said twisting her face all up. “There is no way I am letting Ariel into this group. She is good on the piano but she is such a . . .”

“Okay,” Mr. Elks stopped her. “We have Littles here Jessica, watch your language. If Ariel is out, who do you recommend?”

Jessica and George both got looks on their faces where you could tell they were thinking. After several minutes George started to smile.

“What if we got the best piano player at camp,” George said as his smile got even bigger.

Jessica looked at him with confusion, “This year I am the best piano player at camp. Who are you thinking of?”

“Jessica, your very good, but you are not the best. Several years ago, there was a little prodigy who came to camp and blew everyone out of the water. He was amazing on the piano, but when he came back the next year, he was no longer playing the piano. He was playing another instrument and I have never heard him play the piano since.”

Mr. Elks started to smile, “George, what a wonderful idea. He is your age, isn’t he?”

“He turned fifteen two days before camp started,” George replied. “The orchestra would be two littles and two teenagers being directed by a tween. The older teenagers will be furious if we win that spot for final song.”

“Who are you talking about?” Jessica inquired.

Mr. Elks started rubbing his chin. Jessica knew this look. He was thinking. “The hard part will be to convince him to play the piano again. Occasionally, I hear him playing the electric piano, but your right, I haven’t heard him play a regular piano since that first year. Getting him to play this type of music again might also be a stretch.”

“Who in the world are the two of you talking about,” Jessica practically screamed.

“Marcus,” George and Mr. Elks said in unison.

“Marcus?” Jessica, Samantha, and Cindy questioned in unison.