Chapter 5: A Serene Bar

A sound as sweet as a candy apple

Chapter 5: A Serene Bar

Marty continued serving his patrons, but slowly he felt the life from his bar settle, new found friends left, robots entered and finally he found the longing in the air, where once long forgotten notes danced and swayed, only stillness remained. He still hummed the tunes in his head but he could as the words took longer and longer to bounce between the walls of his mind.

Marty served and the whispers of a strange cowboy circulated, spread even and soon enough another strange character arrived, she carried herself straight and true, a suit and top hat her clothing carrying a small black violin case, the suit however was different to that of the corporate waltz, it was strange and old, an odd purple fabric lining the outside, what was truly odd however was the hat.

 

This hat had eyes, little rough slits in the fabric and although underneath was blackness, it felt like it was watching, staring. The hat glared and the woman underneath said hat was beautiful with sharp features, although young her stance and form held true authority, she was in charge of the room and she glided through the tension true and strong. This was her domain now and everyone, even drunkards practically bowed their head waiting eagerly for her words.

She reached the counter. Her words came out strong, sure and above all else, authoritative.

“Do you know your cocktails?” she said to Marty

Marty found his feet again and walked over to the woman, making sure to not step to close, the eyes of this hat glared at him, he was sure he saw them shift, they were hungry.

“Yes Ma’am”

“Delightful, I’ll take a Blackberry Bramble”

Marty was caught off-guard, such a fresh summer drink was not what he expected but he was quickly snapped back to reality when her eyes met his, they were almost black, he could not tell where her pupil and iris met but they told him to move and get the lady her drink.

She placed her case on the counter and popped it open revealing a jet-black fiddle within, small carvings of red donned the trim, it was a stark contrast to her clothes, it was immaculate, seemingly brand new, her delicate hands lifted the instrument from the case as if it weighed nothing, she grabbed the cloth tucked into her breast pocket and caressed the instrument as if it was the body of a sleeping angel.

When Marty returned with the drink he still kept his distance, however he saw so much more in the woman, as she polished the instrument an immense warmth emanated from her, looking at her was like remembering an old, pleasant memory, she was pure and innocent and filled Marty with warmth, a slight smile creeped over her lips and Marty had to keep himself from melting at the innocence.

“Do you mind if I pay you with a song?” the woman asked the smile never leaving her lips, her eyes focused entirely on her instrument.

Marty had regained some of his composure

“Well, I’ve had the weirdest day when it comes to music, so I don’t see why not”

The woman stopped caressing the instrument and turned towards Marty, her eyes and warmth dissipated.

“Elaborate” her voice was sharp, no-nonsense, the coldness blanketed the entire room. Marty gulped.

“Earlier today, a cowboy came in, he sang songs of different times, he brought us something familiar yet alien to our wor- “

“Shush” the woman said, a Cheshire grin on her lips, the hat grinned with her, filling Marty with Dread. She reached for her instrument and as she pulled it to her chin, she drew the bow across, slowly, methodically, drawing out the note, pulling everyone by their chin, up and up before dropping them down at the end of it.

Suddenly from the entrance of the bar, five people walked in, their faces were blank to everyone, as if they weren’t even there. They wore the same hat and held instruments of the same colour and as she started Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, 3^rd Movement they all raised their instruments and played along.

 

The room was entranced as the song went from high to lows, the entire world around them being transformed and shifted, blackness and velvet enveloped them all, the hats eyes grew brighter as the woman’s grin did, climbing higher and higher, yet going deeper and deeper into her world and just before the conclusion, they breathed.

 

“Kusti, how good to see you…” the woman said, her and her band had stopped playing, Kusti standing in the doorway.

“Annabelle Brook, notorious for your ability to capture an audience…. heart and soul” Annabelle giggled, her entire band vanished, disappearing behind Kusti as he walked down the steps. “Well, you know me, Kusti always looking to- “She was interrupted as a small woman tackled her to the ground, A pink dress filled Brook’s vision.

 

“Anna!” the pink ball screamed, Brook rested her sore head against the stone, reaching up and adjusting her hat to sit over her eyes as she sighed “Hello, Ruth” she said, already exhausted by her cheery nature “Anna!” was all the girl could say as she was slowly picked up by Kusti, the others entered behind Kusti, Leigen having trouble fitting his huge frame through the…frame.

As Kusti threw Ruthanne over his shoulder he pointed to jukebox in the corner and said “Set up around that” Ruthanne followed his finger and pounced from his grip, running towards the jukebox, bouncing around it enthusiastically. “Hello their little guys! My name is Ruth! You’re gonna be our new friends!” The band inside continued to play not looking at her, apart from one.

A single robot, walked to her, no instrument in hand, it placed its brass hands on the glass looking up at her. It was no bigger than her hand and had a strange head, it was larger than the others and it seemed to have teeth, square and locked together. Ruthanne stared at the creature and smiled.

“What do you play?” she asked looking happily at the little creature.

The brass robot tilted its head as it stared at the girl. His clamp moved up and imitated him scratching his head. Something he picked up from the humans around him seemingly.

 

The other band members moved in around the jukebox, setting up their instruments as Kusti moved over to the jukebox, he strummed a single note and then suddenly one of the creature’s teeth opened up and a pleasant note came out.

“Harmonica!” Ruthanne gleefully said, her entire body shook as she bounced up and down.

The robot was surprised by this moment and retreated behind the static band that still played. Ruthanne pouted at Kusti.

“He doesn’t like me!” she said obviously upset with the robot

“I’m sure that’s not it Ruth, I’m sure he’s just a little nervous, you are the first person to talk to him after all.”

Ruthanne kept her arms crossed and moved to a seat in the front row. Crossing her arms as she sat clearly unamused.

All the band members were set, Leigen had his drum and a chair, Mono had his Asalato, Karra had her treasured Firebird plugged into a small amp she had carried with her and finally, Annabelle snapped her fingers and watched as her similar hatted zombies carried a black grand piano into the building, laying it down beside the others.

Kusti took lead centre stage, he removed his coat, picked up his guitar and played.

What ensured was an absolute disaster. The music clashed unceremoniously, people couldn’t follow a single note, the song and instruments clashed in a tsunami of noise, nothing worked, nothing stuck. The Melancholy strangled the fun. The fun kicked and bit the rock and everything didn’t meld, finally Ruthanne stood and shouted.

“NO”

Everything in the bar went silent, everyone took a sigh of relief enjoying the peace they gathered.

 

“You remember nothing of what we were!” she said, stomping her feet.

“I guess I’ll need to remind you” she boasted as she stood up in front of everyone.

 

Everyone watched, her hands, her feet, all of them became still and poised, she took a deep breath, then moved. Her hands stretched out reaching into everyone’s minds pulling them to her centre and slowly but surely at every step she took, at every eye that moved to her, instruments entered and grew. Noise turned to melody.

 

A grand field all around the wind and sun dancing across every blade of grass. Flowers blow past, red and green and blues, the scent of summer is in the air. Spinning, round you go, the cold wind and the warm sun across your skin, you move forwards elegantly gliding across the ground beneath you and fall. The grass meets your back and you clumsily roll amongst it, the smile on your face wide, the time endless.

You close your eyes for the briefest of moments as the chill increases and night falls. The moon is the only thing in the sky. Panic. The cold bites at you, the night grows darker, the moon goes from a welcoming guest to a taunting figure. You crawl into yourself, looking, reaching for something to call back to.

“Wake up”

The song had ended.

Ruthanne was exhausted she stood, her head bowed, panting, heaving, her entire essence pulled out of her in one singular moment. Kusti, Annabelle, Leigen, Mono and Karra all bowed as well, their hands pointed in front, towards Ruthanne. They stood up and clapped, slowly but surely everyone joined in as Ruthanne stood there, still bowing, still thankful for the second chance these patrons gave them.

 

“Thank you” She said over and over in her head. Grateful for this moment.