The Great Locomotive Chase

Introduction

                                                   3rd Person

It was a normal day in the band hall at a regular school. Well, normal for them. The noise level was going through the roof with everyone either talking to each other or playing songs on their instruments.

There was an alto saxophone player playing a song, known as Silent Whisper, as loud as he could in the small circle of fellow students that surrounded him. Some were laughing, some were talking, and others where looking at the student with awe and happy that he could play the song without looking at the music.

There was a trumpet player blasting the song Heathens, and going around into the small groups and sticking his trumpet into the groups with the song. The boy made jokes now and again about how one student was playing another instrument and spreading a little gossip with some other close people.

There were the instrument players that were playing one, or multiple parts of a song that they were to play at a contest. Some would work together while others would play on their own and occasionally talk to the instrument player next to them.

Then, the teacher came in. He was a plump man, with tan skin and dark hair that looked black. Adorned with an ebony black athletic shirt and jeans, he walked into the room like he owned it, which he technically did. His black sneakers hit the ground with all of his weight, but it didn't seem to bother him nor make a sound with the carpeted ground that had been worn down by age, use,  and saliva.

From the door to the small stage set up so every band member could see him, he got onto the stage and sat down, not telling the students anything. Within a few minutes of him seating, everyone went to go and sit down in the assigned seats with their sections and stopped talking. Some people were still whispering to the people right next to them, as they would in any other class while others were just talking to each other.

"Ok, so I got some news to go over. Lessons have been cancelled for the week, since people kept saying that they weren't going to be able to go to the lessons." The teacher said," But, I have something really exciting for you all."

At those words, every band student in the room went silent. When the band director had something to say, and to say it was exciting, was something rare. It never really happened in that class, except for the times when they would get a really special bad director in the school with them, judges, or a field trips.

"I just got an email from a retired band director in Amarillo to go and play a concert with them and play some never heard before songs! And we're still going to be playing the songs for our mid-winter concert at the concert in Amarillo. We'll be leaving on December the first at 5 am to go and get onto a train that will get us to Amarillo in about 10 hours to get there. You are allowed to bring pillows, blankets, anything you want to bring for the bus ride to Amarillo. Oh! Also bring these permission slips home to your folks and get them signed along with 40 dollars in an envelope."

The teacher called up a few of his students and handed them a small pile of the permission slips that was to be signed by most of the students in the band hall.

Most of the young musicians were silent. Some of them were excitingly whispering to each other by the new trip that they were to take. They were going to Amarillo! Some had already gone there for vacation while others might have lived there at one point.

"Alright everyone!," The teacher said," Now that we have all of that out of the way, turn to page 35 in your book and we're playing in a B flat harmonic..."