Cindy at Music Camp By Teek © 2019 Chapter 18 The Concert

“Two Littles in the top five,” Elizabeth stated as they walked up the stairs to the girl’s dorm. “That is amaaaaaazing. Wish you two could do a piece together in the final concert to show those teenagers what good music actually is.”

Cindy and Samantha looked at each other, wanting to respond.

“What if we could,” Samantha asked? “What would we play?”

“Something to blow those teenagers out of the water,” Suzy insisted. “I am sick of them calling us babies and beginners. Do something that they would find hard to do, and do it way better than they could ever do.”

“Hadn’t thought of that,” Cindy thought out loud.

“Disney music,” Samantha questioned?

“Definitely no Disney music,” Emmah insisted. “If Littles got up there and played Disney music, they would all say a baby song played by a baby. You would need to play a piece that was hard, a classic, and do in such a way that they would have their eyes popping out of their heads. You two could do it, too bad you won’t have the chance.”

“Guess a trio is out then,” Samantha said.

“There are no other Little’s in the top five,” Anna pointed out. “You wouldn’t want someone who wasn’t a Little on the stage. Emmah’s right, it really is too bad you two can’t do a duet at the concert.”

“Yeah,” Cindy glumly said as she realized the truth; all of her ideas for music were out, and whatever they chose, Samantha and she would need to practice it until it was flawless. They would need some way to make it eye popping. Her solo performance would also need to have the eye popping effect. These are not pieces played by Littles, for Littles. They will need to be pieces played by Littles to prove that Littles belong on that stage. They will need to squish the teenagers like little bugs.

Mr. Elks was giving Samantha and her a chance to show the camp that they actually deserved to win the positions. They couldn’t just do any piece, they needed to do an amazing performance to show that they really are the best at camp this summer.

After packing up, and a bunch of tearful goodbyes, Samantha and Cindy headed for Mr. Elks’ house.

“What are we going to do?” Cindy asked as they headed out of the dorms.

“I don’t know,” Samantha admitted. “The girls were right though. We can’t do a Disney piece, and we definitely can’t get Jessica or Marcus to join us. This has to be the two of us and something amazing. When we get to Mr. Elks, let’s start searching YouTube for ideas.”

“No stress,” Cindy said. “Just all the Littles at camp looking to us for revenge against all the baby and ‘just a beginner’ comments this summer.”

When the girls reached Mr. Elks’ house they immediately went to the bedroom. Mrs. Elks, correctly assuming the Goodnite would need changing, told Cindy to change before they started playing. Afterwards, the girls searched YouTube in hopes of finding some eye popping violin and flute duet. Video after video, but nothing seemed just right. Finally, they found something that would definitely get everyone’s attention. They didn’t think there would be any other type of music like it during the concert. It wasn’t completely a classical piece from one of the masters, but it also was. They would each have a solo part in it, but there were also points where they were playing together. They immediately started to practice. They had to have this perfect, and they had so little time.

The girls had no idea how long they had been practicing when Mr. Elks and Samantha’s Dad entered the room.

“Wow girls,” Mr. Elks said. “Is that what you two are planning to do for your duet? It certainly is different from what we discussed earlier.”

“Sorry it’s not perfect,” Cindy apologized. “You didn’t give us much time to find something and practice it.”

“Perfect? No one is expecting perfection, but that was amazing,” Mr. Elks said. “It was also so unexpected. I’ve never heard the two of you play anything like that before.”

“Yeah, well,” Samantha added. “The other Littles convinced us that we needed to do something eye popping that the teenagers would find challenging.”

“You two told the other Littles that you had the top two positions and were going to play a piece together?”

“No, Mr. Elks,” Samantha said. “They came up with the idea of us playing a piece together. We got them to talk about it, even though they all believed that it would never happen. You know it’s not easy keeping a secret, specially if you are not allowed to lie either.”

“That is a challenge when it comes to secrets Sammie Pooh,” Samantha’s Dad went over and hugged her.

“What you have there will certainly be eye popping and very unexpected,” Mr. Elks said. “I can’t wait to see you perform it on stage.”

“Hard to believe my little Sammie Pooh just did that,” Samantha’s Dad just kept shaking his head back and forth. The concert is going to be recorded, right?”

“Yes,” Mr. Elks said. “All individual or group performances will be posted on the camp web site, and parents can buy a DVD of the whole concert for $20.”

“I will have to buy several copies,” Samantha’s Dad said. “For no one is going to believe me when I tell them what you did. Just imagine the reaction your Music Teacher will have when he sees it.”

Samantha starts giggling.

“Girls,” Mr. Elks calmly says. “That really was amazing, and I am sorry to interrupt your practice. Right now, though, Cindy is needed in the living room.”

“Sammie Pooh,” Samantha’s Dad got down in front of his daughter. “I need you to stay in here and play either on your violin or with the toys.”

“But I want to be with Cindy,” Samantha pleaded.

“Not this time Sammie. This is official Police business, and it doesn’t involve you. That means you need to stay in here. Cindy will be back shortly.”

Leaving her flute behind but taking the Molly Doll, Cindy followed the adults into the living room where she was introduced to Mrs. Stone, a Social Worker from Child Protective Services. Samantha’s Dad also introduced his partner, Officer Patty Granlin. Officer Miller explained that Mrs. Stone’s job was to protect kids and when she heard about how Cindy had been treated, she wanted to hear Cindy’s description of events. He then explained that normally there would only be one police officer with Mrs. Stone, but with the State Police involved, there are more today.

Mrs. Stone said that she would prefer to do this without Mr. and Mrs. Elks, but if Cindy wanted them there, she was willing to allow it due to the history of panic attacks. Cindy grabbed tight on to both of their hands as she sat down on the couch. With Mrs. Elks on one side, and Mr. Elks on the other, Cindy hugged the Molly doll, positioning it on her lap.

“Cindy,” Mrs. Stone said. “I have a few questions for you. I need you to tell me the truth. Do you understand the difference between the truth and make believe?”

“Yes Mam,” Cindy said.

“Good,” Mrs. Stone smiled. “Can you please tell me about the day your mom caught you at your friend’s birthday party?”

Cindy told Mrs. Stone everything that happened that day. Further questions had her telling about times she was allowed to dress as a girl at home and when she did it secretly at her friend’s house. Cindy also told all about the events at camp that led to her being Cindy, and the problems with Ariel. The discussion ended with Cindy telling what she thought her parents will do at the concert and after they leave camp.

When the questioning was done, Mrs. Elks brought Cindy back to the guest room and made sure Cindy got changed out of the wet Goodnite she was wearing. This concerned Cindy. She hadn’t used the bathroom once today and so far, needed to change twice. Mrs. Elks also seemed to know when it was wet, but Cindy didn’t. After getting changed, Cindy picked up her flute and got lost in her favorite flute solo.

When she finished playing, Samantha joined Cindy for another practice of their duet. Then they decided to take a break and play with the doll house. They had been having a lot of fun when George came in with a little girl their size.

“Samantha and Cindy,” George said. “This is my sister Lucy. Lucy, this is Cindy and Samantha. Why don’t the three of you play in here a bit while the grown-ups talk in the other room.”

“Georgie, will you stay,” Lucy pleaded.

George sat down on the bed, while Lucy was introduced to Molly and the dolls in the doll house. It didn’t take long before the three were playing together like they had been friends for years.

At one point a woman came into the room, but she was quickly escorted out by George, “Mom, leave them alone. They are playing together just fine and don’t need you ruining anything.”

“Mommy seems to think there is something very wrong with you Cindy,” Lucy said once her mom had left. “But I don’t see it. She has to be wrong anyways. She said you were just a boy pretending to like girl things. Anyone can see you are a girl, and no boy would ever wear something so pretty.”

Cindy just looked at Lucy for a minute, before Samantha got the attention of both of them by making one of the dolls do a double summersault off the second floor of the doll house. Immediately, Lucy picked up another one of the dolls and had it reprimand the first one for doing something so dangerous. Cindy picked up another doll and congratulated the first one for doing such a nice summersault. The girls giggled and were back to playing.

After a while, Lucy noticed something that confused her, “Why are you wearing a diaper Cindy?”

“It’s not a diaper,” Cindy quickly defended. “It’s a Goodnite.”

“Oh,” Lucy replied. “My friend Hellen wears those at night, so she doesn’t wet the bed. Why are you wearing one during the day?”

“I um. I . . .”

“She gets panic attacks and has accidents because of them,” Samantha blurted out.

“I hate my panic attacks,” Lucy said. “I am sorry. It would be terrible to have potty accidents with them. That must be horrible to be back in diapers because of panic attacks.”

Cindy hugged the Molly doll tight and nodded her head. Then the girls were back to playing like nothing had been said at all. Cindy, however, kept pulling at her dress to make sure her Goodnites didn’t show again.

Since parents were starting to show up at camp, the girls had lunch at Mr. Elks’ house. After lunch, Samantha and Cindy got dressed for the concert, with Cindy borrowing the shoes that Lucy brought. Shortly after lunch Jessica, George, and Marcus showed up. George’s Mom set up the TV in the living room to show the concert. The plan was for the kids to stay at Mr. Elks’ house until the piece before they had to perform. After they performed, they would be in a practice room on the second floor of the concert hall, which also had a TV set up in it. Since Cindy’s first performance was going to be the mini-orchestra’s piece, she would be the last one leaving Mr. Elks house.

Marcus had with him a few Giants, or at least that is what they looked like to Samantha, Cindy, and Lucy. They were introduced to the group as ‘The Gang’. They were bodyguard protection for the group. Five of these Giants were there, so each kid in the mini-orchestra had their own bodyguard. Cindy’s was a nice lady named Penelope. She said she had a four-year-old daughter, and she would protect Cindy like she would protect her own daughter.

Cindy was exactly four feet tall and weighed forty-seven pounds. Penelope was six-feet six-inches tall and weighed 215 pounds. Even more amazing was that she wasn’t the tallest of the bodyguards. Samantha had the tallest one, Luke, at six-foot ten-inches tall.

The discussion about the bodyguards was interrupted by a package delivery. It was George’s French Horn. He quickly got to practicing on it, for he really wanted to use it in the concert.

When the concert started, all the kids except for Lucy were in the living room watching. Lucy was in the audience with her mom.

One by one, members of the mini-orchestra left with their bodyguards to perform in the concert. They all had at least one other performance in the concert in addition to Jessica’s piece. The Woodwind group performed just before Marcus’ Rock’n Roll performance. When they finished, Cindy left with Penelope and Mrs. Elks to go to the Concert Hall. She met backstage with the others in the mini-orchestra, watching the end of Marcus’ band perform.

“He is really good,” Samantha said as she watched him play his guitar and sing the song.

“He’s the best,” George said. “Has been ever since he switched to Rock’n Roll.”

When the band finished, there was a standing ovation, along with a group of girls repeatedly yelling out Marcus’ name.

“He always has girls yelling out his name after he performs,” Penelope rolled her eyes and shook her head back and forth.

Penelope was the last bodyguard with the group. The others had spread to the exits of the stage area, and two were down where the audience was, standing just inside the exit doors by the stage.

“With that,” Mr. Elks said walking out onto the stage with a microphone in hand. “We have gotten to the coveted last performance of the concert, or at least the last one anyone could earn. This year twelve-year-old Jessica created an original piece of music and put together a mini-orchestra to perform it. Then she did something many of you will have a hard time understanding, she chose to conduct the piece, instead of performing it. I want you all to listen carefully to this. Jessica is considered by most to be the best piano player we have at camp this summer, but she has chosen to be the conductor instead of the piano player. I heard her piece done with her playing the piano and with her being the conductor. It sounded better with her conducting. When you write a piece of music for an orchestra, it can sound better if you are conducting it. Just like an author reading their own book, a conductor can put in more of the intended emotions of a piece than they ever could just being one of the members of the orchestra. I am very proud of Jessica for being mature enough to know it would sound better with her conducting. She is just a Tween, and she was able to make this decision, even though she wrote the piece with the intention of herself performing the piano section. Let’s give a round of applause to Jessica.”

While Mr. Elks was talking, the drum set disappeared below the stage and the rest of Marcus’ band left the stage. Marcus, however, just put his guitar into a stand and walked over to the piano where he stood waiting.

When Jessica reached Mr. Elks, she was handed the microphone, “Thank You Mr. Elks. To take my place on the piano will be Marcus.”

Even from backstage, the audible gasps could be heard, along with one kid saying, “See, I told you he played the piano.”

“Next we have George on the French Horn,” Jessica continued as George came out to applause. “We have Samantha on the violin.”

Samantha came out to applause and curtsied, getting a few ‘awwws’, before going over to her seat.

“Finally, the last member of our group is Cindy,” Jessica said as Cindy started out on stage. “She was my inspiration for the piece you are going to hear. She was also the one that allowed me to get this group of talented individuals together to perform for you today. Without her, none of this would have happened.”

The cheering and applause were significantly more for Cindy than it had been for George or Samantha. Cindy came out holding both her flute and the Molly doll, did a curtsy, and then went over to her seat. She saw her parents and older sister in the front row, but she tried not to look at them. Cindy sat down in her chair, put Molly on her lap, and waited for Jessica.

Going up to the lectern, Jessica tapped 3 times and nodded her head once. A second before the first note was played, someone in the audience screamed out, “FRANK!”

Everyone turned to look straight at Cindy’s Mom who was standing up and pointing at Cindy.

“Grace,” Cindy’s Dad stood and tried to get his wife to sit down.

“No Herbert,” Cindy’s Mom shouted. “That is Frank up there with a girl’s doll on his lap. Frank you freak, get that stupid doll off your lap and get your butt down here this instant.”

“Mam,” Marcus’ Dad said as he approached. “Would you please sit down so my son can perform.”

“There is no way I am sitting down until my son gets down off that stage. I am not having my freak of a son be up there in a dress on display for everyone to see.”

Samantha’s Dad stood up, “Mam, you have been asked nicely to sit down, so the kids can perform.”

“You’re a police officer,” Cindy’s Mom stated. “You should be arresting the camp leaders for letting a boy go around camp dressed as a girl. What kind of camp is this anyways?”

“I am sorry Mam, but there is nothing illegal in letting a child dress in the clothes they want to wear,” Samantha’s Dad stated. “You, however, are disrupting a performance, and if you do not calm down, and sit down, I will have to remove you from the Concert Hall.”

“You can’t do that,” Cindy’s Mom announced. “That is my son up there, and I am going to get him off the stage right now, if I have to go up there myself and get him. He is going to get one severe whippin for this. Get down here now Frank. The longer you take the harder I’ll whip ya.”

“Grace!” Cindy’s Dad shouted. “That is enough. I came here to watch my son . . um . . child perform and I plan on doing that. Now you sit down and shut up.”

As Penelope was getting all the kids off the stage, Cindy’s Mom started to move towards the stage. The last thing Cindy saw before leaving the stage was the bodyguards blocking her path, while two uniformed police officers and Officer Miller were attempting to drag her mom out of the room. It was not however the last thing she heard.

“Get back here Frank! You thought your punishment before camp was bad, just wait until you get home. You won’t be able to sit for a week.”

“Grace! That is enough!” Cindy’s Dad said. “I put up with you giving our child a bowl cut and parading him around Wal-Mart telling everyone he was a freak. I tolerated you punishing him for going to his best friend’s birthday party wearing a little girls party dress. But, enough is enough. Frank has been wearing his sister’s clothes and telling us he is a girl since he could talk and dress himself. All those kids were cheering for a little girl named Cindy. Our little girl. Now shut up so we can hear why they were all cheering for her. You refused to do anything when the camp called and said our son was being bullied . . .”

That was the last Cindy heard as the door to the staircase closed behind her and Penelope continued to push her along to the designated room on the second floor.

When they reached the room, everyone was silent.

Penelope quickly turned when someone tried to open the door. It was only Mrs. Elks. Penelope let her in, locked the door, and then stood guard at the door.

“Are you all okay,” Mrs. Elks asked as she looked around at everyone on her way over to Cindy.

“We’re fine,” Marcus said. “Thanks Penelope.”

“No problem kid-o,” Penelope responded with a smile.

Then there was a knock at the door, “It’s Mr. Dillinger. Please let me in.”

“That’s my dad,” George said. “Look at Cindy, he’s here to help.”

Penelope looked over at Cindy. She was on the ground, legs up to chest with arm around them, and was rocking forward and backwards. Penelope opened the door to let in Mr. Dillinger and then locked it again.

“Jessica and Samantha,” George directed. “Same as before. Start playing a gentle lullaby.”

Mrs. Elks was rubbing Cindy’s back, and Mr. Dillinger was directly in front of her trying to talk her down. It took several minutes before they could get Cindy to join in on the lullaby. When it was done playing, Cindy was directed to play another piece. She played her favorite flute solo. About halfway through, Mr. Elks, using his own key, came into the room.

“Mr. Dillinger,” Mr. Elks inquired? “Do you think she could come down and perform now.”

“Are you nuts,” Mr. Dillinger glared at Mr. Elks.

“Yes, Mr. Elks,” Cindy meekly got out. “I can do it. It will help me calm down.”

“Dad, it really will help Cindy to be playing. She can block out the world when she is playing.”

“I do not approve,” Mr. Dillinger said, but you all know Cindy better than I do.

“Is Cindy’s Mommy still there,” Samantha asked?

“No Samantha,” Mr. Elks explained. “The police have gotten her out of the concert hall.”

The group returned to the stage. As they walked out, the room went silent. The kids took their positions and with three taps on the lectern, and a nod of her head, Jessica started the piece.

When Cindy came back to reality, in front of her was a standing ovation. She looked over to where her Mom, Dad, and Sister had been. She saw a smiling Dad and Sister standing and clapping away.

“That truly was an outstanding performance,” Mr. Elks said as the room quieted down. “At this time, I usually clear the stage and bring up the top five winners of the Best Performer Competition. This year, however, they are all on the stage already. It is the first time in the camp’s history that we have had the best at camp performing together. Not only is this group impressive enough to contain the top five Best Performers at camp this summer, it has also caught the attention of three Symphony Orchestra Conductors from around the world. This group has been asked to perform that piece in concerts around the world. Never before have any of our students earned positions in professional performances, based upon what they did here at camp.”

The room erupted into applause.

When the applause started to lessen, Mr. Elks continued, “In 5th Place we have George on the French Horn.”

George got up from his seat in the mini-orchestra, collected his trophy and then left the stage.

“In 4th Place, we have Jessica with her piano playing.”

Jessica did the same as George.

“In 3rd Place, we have Marcus based upon his Piano playing.”

Mr. Elks paused as the room was cheering for Marcus. As Marcus left the stage, Mr. Elks gestured for Samantha and Cindy to join him, “In the camps history, we have never had two Littles in the top three. This summer, the top two positions are both Littles. Samantha is only seven, and Cindy is nine. Quite an impressive feat for two little girls. Over the last week, I have heard the two of them playing everything from Disney Movie pieces, to Lullabies, to stuff from Bach and Mozart. I even heard one performance of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. All of it was simply astounding. For this special occasion, I have asked the two of them if they would do a duet for you all. They found out about this request this morning. I have given them no guidance on what to play. Cindy and Samantha, are you still willing to do this?”

They both nod yes.

“Well then,” Mr. Elks stated. “With that, I will turn the stage over to the two of them.”

Mr. Elks left the stage while microphones were set up for the two girls. Cindy and Samantha were standing in the center of the stage with their instruments. Cindy put the Molly doll down on the floor in front of them and then stood up. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Samantha tapped one of the Vampirina stickers on her violin before bringing it into position. Cindy opened her eyes, looked straight at Samantha and nodded her head three times. Suddenly the room erupted in music.
YouTube Link to the Music Cindy and Samantha played for everyone

The girls played a Celtic/Classical blend of music while dancing on stage. When they finished the room exploded with cheers, applause, and calls of ‘Go Littles’. Mr. Elks rejoined the girls with a huge smile on his face.

“These two little girls have never stopped amazing me for the last week. Today is no exception. They are both quite talented prodigies. Before this morning they had never played that music before. Neither had ever done any Celtic music. To Blend Bach and Irish tunes in a few hours and put on a performance like that is unheard of. They wanted to do something eye popping to show the teenagers they deserved to be up here, well they just did. Let’s give another round of applause for Samantha and Cindy,” Mr. Elks gestured to the girls.

“Now it was not a tie for first-place,” Mr. Elks continued. “One of these girls impressed celebrities from around the world and is in contract negotiations with world renowned conductors to be a guest solo performer with their orchestras. The first-place winner this year gets a big trophy, paid tuition for next summer’s Music Camp, and an American Girl doll. This year’s winner is, . . . Cindy.”

“Cin-dy, Cin-dy, Cin-dy,” was being repeated over and over again from the campers.

Eventually Mr. Elks got everyone to quiet down, “I have asked Cindy to perform a solo piece for you. She has chosen to play the piece that wowed the judges in the competition: Friedrich Kuhlau’s Fantasy for Flute Solo. And please note everyone, Cindy has played everything for you today by memory. She can read music and learns from sheet music, but then quickly memorizes it. She feels her way through the performance. Cindy, the stage is yours.”

Cindy escaped reality as she played the piece on her new flute.
YouTube Link to the music Cindy performed

When she finished, she came back to reality and looked out at the standing ovation she was getting. She curtsied for the audience. She looked over at her sister and father. They both had huge smiles on their faces and were clapping away with everyone else. Next to Dad was an empty chair. Cindy wondered what happened to Mom. She didn’t have long to contemplate that however, for Mr. Elks was quickly back at her side.

As soon as he got the room quieted down, he had the trophy brought out to Cindy. It was huge, she had to use two hands to hold it. Mr. Elks took her flute so she could hold the trophy.

The cheering and clapping were slowly becoming a background noise to something else. The other campers were calling for an encore. Although Mr. Elks had herd this request in previous years and he had never honored it. It was different this time, they were asking her to play a specific piece of music. They were shouting ‘encore’ and then ‘Scarborough Fair’. Marcus came out onto the stage to join Mr. Elks and Cindy.

Holding his own microphone, Marcus started to talk to Mr. Elks, “We want to hear Cindy play one last piece for us. For her solo performance she wanted to play Scarborough Fair, but she needed someone on the piano. Since you would not have allowed that, she played what you just heard instead. I agree with you Mr. Elks, it was well worth hearing her play a solo performance. Now, however, we campers believe she should have a chance to play Scarborough Fair like she wanted to.”

“But . . .” Mr. Elks started.

“No Mr. Elks,” Marcus said. “There was a decision by the campers that we were going to hear Cindy play Scarborough Fair. After her Mom almost prevented Cindy from even performing, Cindy isn’t sure if she will ever get to play again as Cindy. You have noted that Frank is a very different musician than Cindy is. Please Mr. Elks, for what may be Cindy’s last performance, please let the two of us play Scarborough Fair, up here on stage. Be aware however, the campers have already decided that we ARE going to hear her play the piece. She is either going to play it now up here on stage, or at the amphitheater after you dismiss us all.”

Looking down at Cindy Mr. Elks smiled, “Okay Marcus, I guess we have one more performance. Are the two of you ready?”

“Oh Yes,” Cindy quickly puts down the trophy, grabs her flute and gets the Molly Doll. Sitting on the conductor's platform, with her legs under her, she positioned the Molly doll leaning up against her. While getting in position, the stage hands clear the stage and position a microphone. With a smile over to Marcus, Cindy nods three times, and they started.
YouTube Link to Scarborough Fair Flute performance

At the end, and after the applause had died down, Mr. Elks addressed the room, “Thank you everyone for coming. It has been a great camp this year. I look forward to seeing you next summer.”

With that, the curtains closed, and the Concert Hall became chaos as kids and parents tried to connect with each other. As Penelope led Cindy off stage and back to Mr. Elks house, Marcus’ Dad informed Cindy’s Dad that he would take him to her.