30 Days Later. 11:11 PM. Salem, Oregon.
The room stretched again.
4 tables now.
The Authors - our table, 5 chairs
The Musicians - 4 shadows. One with a violin, one with drums, one with a piano, one with a mic.
The Photographers
The Artists
The Hunger floated in the center.
_"Round 2. The Musicians vs The Authors.
Topic: Grief.
10 minutes.
Best song-story wins."_
The Musicians didn’t wait.
Drum hit.
Violin cried.
Piano wept.
The singer opened her mouth and no sound came out.
Just... absence.
It hurt to hear. Because there was nothing.
Fritz: whispering "Okay that’s unfair. That actually hurts."
Alex: holding his guitar "They’re playing grief as silence."
Miri: eyes closed "We can’t beat silence with noise."
Umi: looking at the Pen of the Writers "We beat it with a story they can sing."
Timer: 10:00
Minute 1-2: They freeze
How do you write grief in 10 minutes?
Minute 3: Umi grabs the Pen
The second she touched it, pain.
Memories that weren’t hers. 4 writers losing their mom. All at once.
She gasped.
Umi: "I feel them. Use it."
Minute 4-7: They write + play
Umi writes, voice shaking: We lost someone.
Miri sings: And the house got quiet.
Alex plays: _But quiet isn’t empty.
It’s full of everything they used to say._
Fritz snaps a photo: _Of 4 empty chairs.
And puts it on the table.
So we remember they were here._
Minute 8: The Musicians finish
Their song ended in silence. Perfect, crushing silence.
Minute 9-10: The Hunger judges
The Hunger walked between both tables.
Tasted both.
_"The Musicians gave me grief as a hole.
The Authors gave me grief as a room.
With people still in it."_
The Hunger: "Winner: The Authors."
The Musicians’ table shattered.
4 instruments fell. 4 shadows turned to sheet music and blew away.
A second chair flew to The Authors.
Now 6 chairs.
On the new seat: a violin string. Still vibrating.
The Hunger: smiling _"2 down. 2 to go.
Next month: The Photographers.
Topic: Regret."_
The room shrank. 3 tables left.
After
Miri: hugging Umi "You okay? That pen..."
Umi: "It hurt. But it worked."
Alex: picking up the violin string "We’re collecting them."
Fritz: "Trophies. Or ghosts."
Umi: looked at the book:
_2 Chairs Won. 2 To Go.
Warning: The more chairs you take, the more you feel._
Lila came downstairs. "Did we win again?"
Umi: "Yeah For now."