The Debut of Fiction Friday
This is the first of a new Friday series - Fiction Friday!! I have a bit of fun writing stories, so I thought that this would be something that I could share. So, let's start at the beginning...
CHAPTER
ONE
"Number
2427," Persephone whispered to herself as she walked through the masses of
people and the hallways towards her designated entrance.
It
was orientation week, and she was trying to find her seat in the auditorium. To
do that, she had to find the hall that linked to her section and row - she was
number 2427, and that meant heading up about halfway up and a bit over halfway
across the great building.
There
were so many people. Persephone had never been in a class with more than her
sibling before. This felt like a small city full of people. Some were playing
instruments. Others were singing in groups. Still others looked scared and
skittered around the edges of the groups to get to their designated seats.
That's how Persephone felt.
After
finally finding her hallway, she walked into the auditorium and gasped. It was
huge. Her section was a bit to the right of center. Each desk was labelled with
a number, and she followed the numbers until she found hers. Sitting down, she
took out her styluses and her water bottle and watched the screen ask for her
number.
2427.
Name
Persephone
Clarkson
ID
Number
She
typed it into the desktop screen.
Signature
Here.
She
signed her name.
Right
Index Print Here.
She
pressed her right index finger onto the surface in the box indicated.
"Welcome
to The Continuum of Music and Humanity. Dr. Licar will begin shortly."
Persephone
tried to achieve invisibility as her peers entered the auditorium and found
their own seats.
She
was nervous.
Her
journey to this prestigious music therapy academy had been pretty typical -
music instrument and vocal performance opportunities as a young child,
participation in recording sessions with others through online learning,
lessons and theory coursework in college, initial degree in music and
psychology, and then auditions and interviews for the four music therapy
academies in the world. She had not been accepted to the academy that she had
hoped for, but being accepted to one of four international programs was not a
bad thing, was it?
According
to her reading (yep, Persephone was one of THOSE students - one who had already
read some of her texts before school had actually started), at one time there
were many different universities that offered music therapy studies. Not all of
the United States’ programs had offered the course as a major, but there were
over 70 programs where you could study in that country alone. Now there were
four. In the entire world.
Many
universities had closed in the early 2030's due to the prevalence of online
coursework and programs and the difficulty finding monies required for
maintaining old school buildings. As this process happened, the programs that
had survived consolidated to preserve resources and to employ teaching
professionals. Graduate courses were the only ones that included synchronous
(in real time) and in-person coursework exclusively. For a helping profession,
such as music therapy, there had to be a real-time and live component to the
education. After all, how could you work with people if you never actually saw
people?
The
current educational model seemed to promote the concept of large lectures with
smaller cohorts of students in learning laboratories.
Tap,
tap, tap.
She
startled, not expecting the sound on the back of her chair and turned to see
what was occurring behind her.
"Do
you have a stylus I can borrow," a voice from behind her asked in her ear.
Persephone
shook her head just as the lights in the auditorium dimmed.
"My
name is Dr. Licar, and welcome to The Continuum of Music and Humanity."
The
small woman stepped onto the stage as students found their seats and logged in
on their carells.
"You
are the class of 2052, four thousand strong. Welcome to the study of music
therapy."
The
words echoed off the walls of the lecture hall. Persephone felt like cheering
but resisted the urge because no one else cheered. Finally, the time had come
to start learning more about what music therapists did and how they wrought
their magic with people like Gram and with Evander. In fact, Persephone's first
contact with music therapy was with Evander and with Evelyn.
Evelyn
arrived one day when Persephone was about five years old. Evander, Persephone's
older brother, was going to start music therapy in addition to all the other
therapies that he did during the days. Mama always told Persephone to go to her
kindergarten feeds when it was time for Evander to do therapy, but Evelyn asked
for Persephone to join in.
Evelyn
sat down on the floor with Evander and invited Persephone to join them both.
She took out a guitar and started to strum. The three of them sat quietly on
the floor until Evander looked at Evelyn. It took a long time, but he lifted
his head and looked at her.
"Hello,
Evander, my name is Evelyn," Evelyn sang.
Evander
looked at Evelyn and then turned his head to look at Persephone. He looked at
her and then turned his head back to Evelyn.
"Hello,
Persephone, my name is Evelyn."
"Nice
to meet you." Persephone sang back to Evelyn. This was pretty fun. Everybody
sang at home when there was music on, but not just about any old thing. This
woman seemed to do it without thinking about it.
Evander
nodded his head. It was a slight movement, but it seemed to be an
acknowledgement of both other people in the room.
"It's
time to greet one another, saying 'hello.' " Evelyn's music continued.
Evander got his holotablet and turned it on.
Persephone
leaned closer. She used the family computer when she was in her school, but
Evander had his own computer that he got to take with him everywhere. He used
it for school and for talking to her when he wanted something. She was not sure
why Evander used his computer to talk when she had to use sounds from her body,
but that was just how Evander was.
The
music continued. Evelyn seemed to be waiting for something. Persephone kept
humming and singing to the guitar strum while Evander went through his routine
of turning on his holotablet and getting to his word bank.
"Hello."
Evander's
voice box suddenly spoke. Evelyn smiled at Evander and changed her music. She
started singing questions to Evander, and he used his voice box to answer. They
talked to each other for a bit, and then Evelyn sang a question to Persephone.
"What
is your favorite color?"
Persephone
sang her answer back to Evelyn.
"Pink."
Evelyn
sang an invitation to Evander to ask questions about both of the other people
in the room. He looked at his voice box and then,
"Phone,
do you want your pickle?"
Persephone
started giggling. Evander knew that she did NOT like pickles! He always ate the
pickles that she took off her sandwiches and that came with her plates when
they went out to eat. Sometimes he would wait until she begged him to take the
pickles off her plate. There was nothing that she liked about them. She did not
like the smell, the way they looked, or the way the juice soaked into the bread
and then left bad tastes on her sandwiches.
Evelyn's
music continued as Persephone giggled. She finally sang "No!!"
Evander smiled and looked back at Evelyn. "She hates pickles," his
voice box stated.
Evelyn
sang back, "That sounds like the name of a song. Let's sing something
about Persephone and pickles."
For
the rest of the time, Evander and Evelyn worked on writing a song about
Persephone and her aversion to pickles. Evander would make suggestions and then
Evelyn would make suggestions, and by the time Evelyn had to leave, the “Persephone
and the Pickles” song was finished.
All
through the week, Evander would play the song on his holotablet every time he
saw Persephone. His little sister giggled and sang with him each time. She
would run to him after school and ask for the song, and they would sing it
together. It was the first time they shared something between the two of them
and that did not include their parents.
That
song was the first time they had really been united as siblings, and they were
able to build their relationship on a mutual interest in music from that day
on.
Dr.
Licar stood in the center of the lecture platform.
"The
profession of music therapy is one that is often misunderstood. The name is
taken by every person who turns on a stereo or makes a playlist. Everyone feels
that they can do music therapy because they recognize the effect that music has
on their emotions, motivation, physical presence, and relaxation. We know that
there is more power to music than what can be accessed via a playlist. We know
that a subtle change in tempo can make the difference between someone speaking
or singing and sitting in silence. We know that the ability to hit a drum with
great strength for sustained amounts of time can lead the brain into processing
traumatic experiences in a way that allows for emotional and physical
catharsis. We know that children who cannot speak can sometimes sing, and we
know how to make the music so that singing is elicited.
Today
is the first day of your journey towards becoming a world certified music
therapist.
It
will not be easy. You will be challenged through coursework, clinical
experientials, laboratory assignments, rigorous clinical musicianship
auditions, and your year-long clinical internship during your last year as a
student.
These
requirements are global and ensure that all music therapists entering the field
have some common skills, information, learning, and technique.
You
have been assigned to a cohort of fellow students. Your identification number
and location in this hall today indicates the people that you will be learning
with for the remainder of your matriculation. Your coursework reflects your
competence in various areas and will be somewhat individualized during your
time here. As you get to know your fellow students, you will see that there are
differences in your class assignments, your course objectives, and your
assignments. These variations are due to your personal performance on the list
of competencies for entry into this professional degree program.
This
course is arranged as follows: the first hour per day is a lecture to be held
in this hallway. You are required to sign in at your desk and complete the
daily reviews at your desk. The second and third hours will be with your cohort and
will include laboratory learning in your cohort location. The fourth hour will
alternate between a meeting with your third-year mentor and a small group
meeting based on your personal areas of focus and professional goals.
Today,
we will discuss the course syllabus and start with our discussion about music and
humanity and the intersection between the two through a historical perspective.
Please access the file entitled "course syllabus," and we will
begin."
Persephone
opened the file on her desk and picked up her stylus. Her journey had begun.
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