Christopher's Song (Indefinite Hiatus)

Chapter 5

Ethan looked defeated, "It doesn't make sense. Wouldn't he have left us a key?" He tossed the book onto the couch and sank into the cushions next to it. "What do we do now? I don't want to harm the book, but it looks like the only way in will be to break the lock."

Daniel sounded as resigned as his brother when he answered, "I don't know. I mean..." He let his voice trail off, and his expression became grim, "I guess we'll have to see what we can do to the lock. We should be able to sing it open, or something, right? Maybe there isn't even a real key. Maybe we're supposed to open it with music."

Always practical, Ethan pointed to the book next to him on the couch and asked, "Then why's there a keyhole?"

Frustrated by their lack of success so far, Daniel snapped back, "I don't know! It doesn't make sense! But since we can't find a key, we might as well try something, right?" His tone made it clear that they'd better try something, and soon.

"Okay, so how do you propose we go about this?" Ethan's voice said he was ready to try anything. "We've never really had a song to open locks. I don't even know what style would be best. I mean, the lock is metal, so maybe we could use some old folk tune, or something, but I don't even know what we should do to it." He glanced at his brother and continued, "Do we want to open the lock, break it, melt it? What?"

Daniel looked thoughtful for a moment, and when he spoke, it was in cautious tone, "Well, we could probably melt it easily with fire, but we might light the book as well. That wouldn't be good. We could try to break it, but I don't know how we'd do that with magic, and it would also mean we couldn't lock it back." He glanced down at the book and noted again that the lock was a part of the book's cover. If they broke it, the lock would never do its job again.

Ethan finished his brother's thought, "Well, I guess that really only leaves opening it. But I don't know how we'd do that, either."

Moving to the spot where they had found the book, Ethan looked up for the first time since regaining consciousness.

"Look, Daniel," he breathed out almost reverently. "There's a star in the middle of the black hole."

Following his brother's gaze, Daniel's eyes grew round and he began to hum thoughtfully. Breaking off the bit of melody, he said excitedly, "When we were singing and you were weaving the strands, they arched toward the ceiling. I remember a star forming just before I lost consciousness. Where's the ladder?"

When Ethan obediently set up the ladder, Daniel clambered up the rungs. To reach the ceiling he had to teeter precariously on the top, while Ethan steadied the ladder from below. With his hands, he explored the apparition that seemed to be the aftermath of their song, hoping to find a hole or a ridge or some clue as to what had happened. But the star seemingly held no clue. The star appeared to be just a larger version of the glow-in-the-dark stars that made up their ceiling galaxy, only those were raised and the new star was not. Its texture was the same as the ceiling around it. It was as though the song had purged the soot from a star-shaped area and left it glowing as though painted with florescent paint. Then he noticed it, a faint sooty line that almost looked like a shadow in the middle of the star.

Keeping one had on the ceiling, Daniel reached down with the other, "Give me the book," he said.

Standing on tiptoe, Ethan handed the book to his brother. Holding it against the star, Daniel noted, "There's an almost imperceptible outline in the middle of the star. It's the exact shape of the book, Ethan. That must mean something. Maybe it came from here."

He pressed the book against the ceiling within the dim sooty lines, turning one side and then the other so that it touched the star, but nothing happened. The ceiling remained just a cement ceiling. The lock remained firmly fastened. Absolutely nothing transpired. In frustration, Daniel pushed hard against the ceiling, jarring the ladder. Ethan cried out as Daniel lost his balance and the ladder toppled. As he flew through the air, Daniel twisted his body and managed to land on the sofa. The book landed on the floor with a thud.