Chapter 5 - Never Ordered This Instrument of Destruction. Refund, Please?

Chapter 5 Never Ordered This Instrument of Destruction. Refund, Please?

Sydney’s heart pounded in her chest. She had already begun rehearsing what she would say to both talking Foods once she entered the room. Should she chastise them for making so much noise? Or should she apologise for forgetting to bring them sugar cubes and also running out of it? She was leaning heavily towards the second option, but when she flung the door to her room open, Sydney threw both options out the window and resorted to option three: complete, utter shock.

Sydney Cohen stood there, staring at the wreckage that was once called her room. Her bed was messed up, the covers, blankets, and plushies scattered all around the floor. She could see Ellie the elephant’s legs poking out of her closet, and Peppa Pig was buried under a pile of notebooks. Her bookshelf wasn’t even a bookshelf anymore. All the books were either on the floor, or on top of Yek the yak. It was not a pleasant sight.

“What did you guys do?” Sydney fumed, glaring accusingly at the two Foods. Krale was on her desk, pointing his fork defensively at something black on her tote bag. Ruthantasis, on the other hand, was still sitting on her bed, nibbling on a cube of…wait. Were those sugar cubes?

“Where did you get that from?” Sydney demanded, and Ruthantasis looked up at her, then down at the jar of sugar in between his jelly legs. He shrugged.

“I don’t know. They just…pop! appeared out of thin air.”

“What?”

“I like to think of it as fate,” Ruthantasis marveled at the memory and took another bite from his sugar cube. Sugar spilled everywhere on her covers…or what was left of her covers. “Separating me and my sugar cubes surely was a crime against all Foods.”

“What?” Sydney asked again, then shook her head. “Actually, you know what, never mind. I don’t want to know.” Then, she wheeled on Krale, glaring as she asked, “What happened?”

“I�"!” Krale started to say. He might as well be standing in the middle of a crime scene. A crime scene he himself had committed.

“For the record, I tried to stop the old leaf, but, being an old leaf, you know, bad ears,” Ruthantasis twirled a finger at the side of his head. Krale looked ready to throw his fork cane at the sandwich. When Krale realised how angry Sydney was, he pointed to a black instrument perched atop Sydney’s tote bag. Sydney walked in to take a closer look.

It was an ash black maraca with fiery zig-zag designs around the bulb. The instrument looked as hard as a rock, and was rough and bumpy like one. When Sydney inspected it closer, she saw that the fiery designs around it were actually clear, and it was the reddish, orange liquid inside that stirred and gave it its glow. Heat radiated off of it and Sydney’s face started to sweat.

“What is that?” Sydney asked, tapping its black exterior. Her eyes widened. The instrument was really hard. Like, even Bruce Lee couldn’t crack it open with his nunchucks hard. She doubted the musician could play it without breaking their own wrists first.

“That thing appeared out of nowhere.” Krale warily waved his fork at the instrument.

Sydney raised her eyebrows. “Like Ruth’s sugar cubes?”

“Exactly!”

Granted, Sydney found that hard to believe. Things appearing out of thin air? This wasn’t some fantasy book, and she doubted Ruth and Krale were magicians. “You’re telling me those two things just spawned out of nowhere like a bunch of hilichurls?”

“Yes!” Both Ruth and Krale said, then Ruth looked up from his sugar jar. “Wait, what’s a hilichurl?”

Sydney shrugged. “They’re from a video game, but whatever.” She picked the maraca up and scrutinised it under the sunlight that streamed in from her windows. “I’m no musical genius, but don’t maracas usually come in pairs? Why is there only one?”

Krale nodded. “That’s right, and there’s also something about that instrument that makes me nervous. I think it’s best if we don’t�"”

Sydney gave the maraca a little shake.

“�"If we don’t SHAKE IT!” Krale finished his sentence, spooking Sydney so she accidentally dropped the maraca back down onto her tote.

“Why not?” she asked, confused. “Isn’t it just an instrument?”

Krale squinted his eyes, wrinkling his leaves. “The aura coming off of that thing…I don’t like it.” He inched farther away from the maraca. “It’s hungry for power. It seems angry…frustrated even.”

Sydney blinked, then pointed to the seemingly harmless instrument. “It’s a maraca.”

Krale ignored her. “No matter. A fiery, incomplete instrument appearing in your room is never a good omen.”

“Plus, it reeks of volcanic ash. The burnt kind,” Ruthantasis added.

“Burnt volcanic ash?” Sydney couldn’t believe all the nonsense coming out of everyone’s mouths (her poor ears), but then again…she was talking to Food. Ruthantasis nodded like burnt volcanic ash was the most normal smell in the whole entire world. Sydney decided not to ask about it further. She stared at the maraca. Something didn’t sit right with her, and she knew she would never know unless she had the maraca in her hands. Sydney looked at Ruthantasis and Krale, then said, “I’m going to pick it up again.” 

“What? No!” Krale immediately started to protest. “Are you crazy? That’s�"”

“I won’t shake it! I promise,” Sydney assured him, then looked at Ruthantasis. The sandwich shrugged.

“Do whatever you want. You gave me the sugar cubes,” Ruth said as he took another sugary bite. “Besides, if the world suddenly ends, all I’d be disappointed about is the lack of sugar cubes in Death’s realm. I honestly don’t mind the world domination aaahh! part.”

Sydney scrunched up her nose. Still, she gingerly picked the instrument up. The maraca willed her hand to close over its handle, for her to lift it up to her face. Her eyes stared unwillingly at the sloshing liquid inside its bulb. Sydney tried looking away, but it was like her body couldn’t get enough of it, and she kept staring, long and hard. Deep in her soul, Sydney felt something click…then it ignited into flames. She dropped the maraca.

A part of her burned, as if someone had put a searing hot metal plate on her chest. For some reason, she knew it was only a small part of her soul that had burst into flames, and not her heart that was on fire. Sydney looked up from her hands. Ruthantasis had actually abandoned his jar of sugar cubes to check on her. When he caught himself, he cursed under his breath. His worried face was quickly masked by nonchalance once more. It made Sydney wonder if she had imagined the whole thing. Krale angrily hit the maraca with his fork, then turned to Sydney.

“Are you o�"” He furrowed his eyebrows, then switched to scolding instead. “What did I tell you? That thing is dangerous! You shouldn’t have picked it up in the first place.”

“I…” Sydney didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to feel. The burn had hurt, yeah, but instead of being scared, she felt…alive? Sydney shook her head as if it would shake off the feeling. Hurriedly, Krale kicked the instrument into her tote bag, making Sydney yelp.

“What are you doing? Don’t put that thing in there!” She said, but she didn’t dare touch the instrument again.

“If we can’t see it, we can pretend it’s not there,” Krale answered.

“What are you, a baby leaf?” Ruthantasis scoffed. Then the sandwich muttered under his breath. “No logic whatsoever…object permanence is a thing!”

Krale bonked him on the head with his fork.

“Ow!”

Before anyone could say anything more, a faint glow emitted through the white cloth and smoke filled the air. The burning, red-black maraca seared through the tote like paper as flames took to the air and consumed the tote bag whole. It spit out only ashes as the flames sputtered and died down. The only object left un-charred was the pitch black instrument, sitting on her desk as peaceful as a water lily. The orange glow dimmed and dulled, until nothing else but the streaks of fire along the maraca’s round bulb was left glowing. Sydney blinked. She stared at the remains of all her school notes, then turned to Ruthantasis and Krale. Their mouths were agape, and they looked just as surprised as she felt. With wide eyes, Sydney fumbled for her words.

“Oh my god,” she said. “That was my favourite tote bag.”

Author's Note

written: Dec 2024