Dark Muse by David Simms

hacked a long, stuttered
laugh.
    “Something wrong with you?” Silver Eye asked.
“I finally want your response and now you act like those
idiots on the streets who act but don’t speak?”
    “They’re called mimes, Grandpa.” You couldn’t
shut up Otis for long, but even his rebuttal lacked spice.
    Poe rarely lost focus, however, which seemed
sort of ironic. “You didn’t finish the story,” she said evenly.
    Silver Eye sighed, head hung low. “I went
there with him couple more times, but he got greedy.”
    “Where is he now,” Muddy asked, hands white
on the guitar.
    “Next topic, please.”
    Corey whistled to himself.
    “If there’s no ‘selling of the soul to the
devil,’ then what harm is there in traveling? Besides those drummer
apes, of course,” Poe said.
    Muddy had a feeling Poe’s tongue was loose
because she’d tasted sight for the first time since forever.
    “Honey,” Silver Eye cooed, “the devil would
be chewed up and spit out if he took up residence over there. That
little vignette you breezed through—”
    “Breezed through?” Muddy sputtered. “Those
oafs nearly killed us!”
    “If you think they were tough, you’ve got
another thing coming.”
    Corey tried looking cool, but his eyes told a
different story. “Like what? Jumping thunder sticks? Humongous
hungry horns? Hordes of little people tooting flutophones?”
    If one eye could pierce someone’s soul, that
bluesman accomplished just that as he stared back at their horn
guy. “You wouldn’t survive one night there, buddy.”
    “Who?”
    Silver Eye waved them away. “Don’t matter
none. It ain’t like you’ll be getting that far, anyway. By the time
you reached the real dangers, the ones you’d have to beat to get
your brother back, I’d be able to find you by the trail of body
parts the rest of that world’s horrors left behind.”
    Muddy sighed, knowing the answer to his
question. “You’re not going to tell us, are you?”
    “What would be the fun in that? Did Obi-wan
tell Luke Skywalker about the trials he’d face in all of the Star
Wars movies? No, he let the kid fumble and tumble through those
Jedi thingamabobs. Did Morpheus tell Neo how to do all those wacky
kicks? Nope, he let Neo fall flat on his face until he was
ready.”
    The band sat there, allowing it all to sink
in, brains brewing, but silent. Of course, the absence of sound
could only avoid the vacuum that was Otis for so long.
    “So, does this magic work in this world? Or
just in the land of the hairy drums? You going to let us in on that
secret or what?”
    “Your mama ever whoop you? Recently?”
    The little drummer shivered. “Um…”
    “I thought so,” Silver Eye said, a knowing
glint shimmering in his eye. “Maybe if she kept it up, you might
learn to think before your lips flap.”
    The others giggled, knowing that Otis’ mom
was the one person in this world who could zip those lips. Muddy
often wondered if something existed in that other world that
rivaled the thunder that torched their ears every time she got
ticked.
    “And the answer is?” Corey asked, hands
conducting in the air.
    The old man grumbled to himself and tapped
out a rhythm on his thighs.
    “Umm…”
    “Yes?
    “Tomorrow’s Friday. Come here after school.
We’ll train more, and then I’ll answer your questions.”
    A cacophony of mumbled curses drowned out
whatever he said next. Why would they have to wait another day just
for an answer?
    Obviously, Silver Eye knew this was coming.
“If you’re serious about this, you’ll have no problem with
tomorrow. Luke, Harry, Neo and Frodo didn’t become heroes
overnight.”
    “But—” Muddy tried to step in.
    “Yeah, I know. He’s your brother. He’s over
there, I understand that. However, you remember what happened when
Luke rushed to fight Vader? Or how Vader became Vader?”
    Of course they did. Everyone knew Star Wars,
either the first or second trilogy. The group might wind up losing
more than a hand