Chapter 7: Sweet Betrayal

4 1 0
                                    

The beer barn, as its name would indicate, was a former two story barn that housed fruits in the first floor and condensed them down to liquids on the second floor. It had become a regular hot spot for farmers who wanted to drink liquids from fermented fruit. Eventually Mrs. Du Bois changed the upper floor that was already full of hand made juicers into a place to serve thirsty customers. It was a popular place for town meetings and parties, including the one held on the very day. Though the tension was thick over the changes within the spirit woods, the juices and merriment lifted the villager's spirits. Only Jeeg and Aya remained wary of the future. Jeeg elected not to tell the villagers the full extent of the forest's problems until things settled down and the culprit couldn't do any more harm. He hoped this night would be the night the wrong doer was exposed.

Jeeg and Aya were perched on a small raised area in back of the beer barn as they entertained the villagers at the night party. Jeeg strummed a large wooden triple necked zitar with sixteen strings. The instrument covered every octave in the Tarabosian key, a key previously unknown to humans. The key was normally un-hearable to humans who didn't sport the long, pointed ears of Tarabos natives; and until it could be tuned down on their instruments, humans never heard it. Many first-time listeners were captivated by the unusual but spirit lifting tones. Jeeg's long fingers picked at his instrument with spindle like precision. They moved slowly but never missed a single note.

Aya, in contrast, hastily panted into a wooden flute with three different ends. It was trident shaped and each end was separated by an adjustable gate. When all gates were open, they could reach the Tarabosian octave. Aya had to keep a frantic pace to make sure she hit all the notes perfectly, but she knew she wasn't cut out for the job. Aya wasn't a natural born musician, she was simply a person tasked with keeping every facet of her culture alive. Even the ones she had no talent in.

The music Jeeg and Aya played together didn't have a name, but the townsfolk called it folk-blues-mysticism; and true to the blues, the lyrics Jeeg sung in his scratchy, aged voice betrayed his experiences:

I hold your hand, strolling through silver sands that shine on this island

We sail through shining seas, catching sparkling shells and each other's glance

The hazy air as you laugh seems so unreal

I reach for your hand again, but your touch I can no longer feel

I awake, turning inside and out, it was just a dream

A dream and nothing more, my mind's hollow scheme

When I finally walk beside your smiling face

I'll realize, I've died and gone to a celestial place

Only Flora Du Bois sat by them. She sat on a stool with her legs crossed and her long flowing white dress draped over it. When the song came to an end, she clapped excitedly. "Oh yay, please do another one Mr. Jeeg. I do love tales of unrequited love."

Jeeg pretended to survey his audience. Everyone else was drinking and standing around Du Bois who was touting the feats of Taylor. "Does the audience have any other requests?" he asked, as he winked to Aya who had tired from blowing into her flute.

Jeeg gave a bitter laugh. "To think in the first year we came to this planet and I played my music, they said it was otherworldly, heartrending and mystical. Now it's the background din at a party."

"Hey it takes the heat off my performance," said Aya with a mischievous grin.

"Back to work, lackey," Jeeg responded while wagging his finger, "We have another tale of unrequited love coming right up."

Planetoid Volume 1: ForestWhere stories live. Discover now