my hands, and bit by bit the urge to take the
headphones off slipped away, taking the emptiness with it. I blinked again, and
stopped trying to raise my hands. That was when he finally let me go.
He
turned toward Demi, who was still playing her flute, and said something I
couldn’t hear. She stopped, lowering the instrument from her lips and staring
at him blankly. Jeff flashed her a thumbs-up and
removed the earplugs from his own ears before turning back to me.
I
took that as a hint and removed the headphones. “What the hell … ?”
“I
figured you’d try to use Demi to attract the bears—that was your goal, wasn’t it?” He paused long enough for me to nod
before continuing, “What I didn’t figure
was you being dumb enough to do it without ear protection. She’s a Pied Piper,
Henry, not a birdcall.”
“She
was playing to attract bears,” I protested.
“You’re
a narrative in abeyance. It doesn’t matter what she’s playing to attract. And
besides that, you didn’t get the sheet music for bears.” He turned back to
Demi. “How are you feeling? Any dizziness, numbness, nausea … ?”
“I
just played the song that wanted to be played,” she said, eyes wide and a
little frightened. “I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. I’m really sorry. It
was an accident.”
“Oh,
honey.” Jeff put his arm around her shoulders, shooting me an aggravated look.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Henry’s the one who fucked up, not you.”
I
folded my arms and glared at him, all too aware that my coloring was betraying
me once again and displaying the hot blush I could feel rushing into my cheeks.
He was right: using Demi as a birdcall was a good idea, but I’d gone about it
badly. I should have done more research before jumping straight to the easy
solution.
“Although
to be fair, your presence is probably influencing the rest of us to think ‘oh,
hey, call the Piper’ at every opportunity, so we’ll need to be on guard against
that,” continued Jeff. “Did we get bears?”
I
took a quick look out the window at the backyard, which now held every dog,
cat, pigeon, and crow in the neighborhood. But that was all. “No bears,” I
confirmed. “Is it because we didn’t use a bear-specific song?”
“If
the bears were close enough to hear Demi playing, they should have come,” said
Jeff. “And believe me, if they were within a mile of
here, they were close enough to hear her playing.”
“.
. . oh, that’s great,” I said, envisioning all the Lost Dog and Missing Cat
posters that would be cropping up in the surrounding neighborhoods. “Is there a
song that Demi can play to pipe all of these animals back where they came
from?”
“Yes,
and I brought it with me,” said Jeff, holding up a piece of sheet music.
My
face relaxed into a smile. “You’re so good to me.”
“Remember
that when it’s time for reviews,” he said, and moved to stand next to Demi.
“Okay, let’s just go over this a few times before you play it—some of the stops
can be tricky …”
I
tuned him out as Demi started nodding. Music isn’t my thing, and I wasn’t going
to understand most of what he said. Puss was twining around my ankles again. I
scooped up the cat and deposited it on the bed, moving away from the window in
the process. If the massed wildlife outside caught sight of me, there would be
a stampede as they tried to claim their places at my side. I may not be a fully
manifested Snow White, but there’s a point at which that ceases to matter.
Eventually,
Jeff signaled for me to put my headphones back on, and Demi raised her flute to
her lips, beginning to play a melody that I couldn’t hear. I didn’t hear the
animals leaving the yard either. The headphones blocked out everything …
including the sound of my phone ringing.
In
retrospect, I should probably have put it on vibrate.
#
We
were walking back to the van, having locked Jennifer’s door behind us, when
Jeff’s phone started to
headphones off slipped away, taking the emptiness with it. I blinked again, and
stopped trying to raise my hands. That was when he finally let me go.
He
turned toward Demi, who was still playing her flute, and said something I
couldn’t hear. She stopped, lowering the instrument from her lips and staring
at him blankly. Jeff flashed her a thumbs-up and
removed the earplugs from his own ears before turning back to me.
I
took that as a hint and removed the headphones. “What the hell … ?”
“I
figured you’d try to use Demi to attract the bears—that was your goal, wasn’t it?” He paused long enough for me to nod
before continuing, “What I didn’t figure
was you being dumb enough to do it without ear protection. She’s a Pied Piper,
Henry, not a birdcall.”
“She
was playing to attract bears,” I protested.
“You’re
a narrative in abeyance. It doesn’t matter what she’s playing to attract. And
besides that, you didn’t get the sheet music for bears.” He turned back to
Demi. “How are you feeling? Any dizziness, numbness, nausea … ?”
“I
just played the song that wanted to be played,” she said, eyes wide and a
little frightened. “I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. I’m really sorry. It
was an accident.”
“Oh,
honey.” Jeff put his arm around her shoulders, shooting me an aggravated look.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Henry’s the one who fucked up, not you.”
I
folded my arms and glared at him, all too aware that my coloring was betraying
me once again and displaying the hot blush I could feel rushing into my cheeks.
He was right: using Demi as a birdcall was a good idea, but I’d gone about it
badly. I should have done more research before jumping straight to the easy
solution.
“Although
to be fair, your presence is probably influencing the rest of us to think ‘oh,
hey, call the Piper’ at every opportunity, so we’ll need to be on guard against
that,” continued Jeff. “Did we get bears?”
I
took a quick look out the window at the backyard, which now held every dog,
cat, pigeon, and crow in the neighborhood. But that was all. “No bears,” I
confirmed. “Is it because we didn’t use a bear-specific song?”
“If
the bears were close enough to hear Demi playing, they should have come,” said
Jeff. “And believe me, if they were within a mile of
here, they were close enough to hear her playing.”
“.
. . oh, that’s great,” I said, envisioning all the Lost Dog and Missing Cat
posters that would be cropping up in the surrounding neighborhoods. “Is there a
song that Demi can play to pipe all of these animals back where they came
from?”
“Yes,
and I brought it with me,” said Jeff, holding up a piece of sheet music.
My
face relaxed into a smile. “You’re so good to me.”
“Remember
that when it’s time for reviews,” he said, and moved to stand next to Demi.
“Okay, let’s just go over this a few times before you play it—some of the stops
can be tricky …”
I
tuned him out as Demi started nodding. Music isn’t my thing, and I wasn’t going
to understand most of what he said. Puss was twining around my ankles again. I
scooped up the cat and deposited it on the bed, moving away from the window in
the process. If the massed wildlife outside caught sight of me, there would be
a stampede as they tried to claim their places at my side. I may not be a fully
manifested Snow White, but there’s a point at which that ceases to matter.
Eventually,
Jeff signaled for me to put my headphones back on, and Demi raised her flute to
her lips, beginning to play a melody that I couldn’t hear. I didn’t hear the
animals leaving the yard either. The headphones blocked out everything …
including the sound of my phone ringing.
In
retrospect, I should probably have put it on vibrate.
#
We
were walking back to the van, having locked Jennifer’s door behind us, when
Jeff’s phone started to
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