I am a little duck...

Now that we have that established

WOW!!!!! I'm so happy today.  All around, it was a very good day, but I received such a nice little present from Peter that it topped my day off even better.

This morning, I had my second field experience class, although I was about two minutes late.  That went all right.  I got to help out a kid one on one.  He was so cute.  I remember how I was at that age. *sighs in memory*  After that I had Music Theory, which was all right, as well.  We listened to this opera, which was very, very sad, because it was about death, and the music was just so dark, that it made you feel like your soul was dying.  Seriously!  After that, I had Intro to Music Ed.  We didn't do too much in that class, but we have a test Thursday on everyone's names, their hometown, and their instrument.  I'll fail, I'm sure.

So after that class, I had Instrument Lab, and for those who don't know, this is the class in which I'm learning to play violin.  I think I put too much rosin on my bow last time, because it sounded awful today.  But I continued to play, as one does and should.  We had teaching tests today, as well.  I don't do mine until Thursday, though.  Those are things in which you teach a class rhythm or play a song in which you teach students the different fingerings of the stringed instrument.

After that class, I went back to have lunch and then I played on the computer for a bit and went back to rehearse with my horn ensemble.



I really need something else to put in here.

P.S. Jack is weird and likes beans.

And to add more to my journal, here's the latest installment of my story:

Don't read unless you've read the other chapters before hand

Ch. 13: An Unexpected Welcome

All four of us, including Mahler tucked under my arm, jumped. Just as the first drop of water met my skin, I felt like the water had gone twenty degrees colder. My blood froze and my joints became stiff after the first kick of my legs. I figured that the others were just as cold because they put up quite a struggle. Mahler did not like the water at all. She howled and kicked wildly and I felt utterly miserable knowing that she had no control over the situation.
“Right-t-t,” I stuttered. “Th-this way! F-f-follow me! C-c-courage, M-Mahler.”
Then I started kicking as hard as I could. The others started swimming after me and as soon as I thought we were close enough, I went under water. Mahler struggled hopelessly and I tried swimming as fast as I could for her sake.
Thankfully, there was no mistake about the light. It shone plainly and clearly, but how far it was was a different matter. We came to a tunnel and I swam through, feeling as though my legs were now a great weight. I couldn’t even feel them anymore. The only way I knew we were moving was that the light was coming closer, and I could hear the water splashing.
As soon as we were through the tunnel, I returned to the shore and at once, Mahler began sneezing and coughing and wheezing and howling. She was the first to climb out of the water, then myself, and then Tom and Tud. They were white and shivering and seemed to collapse on the ground where we now were. The environment had changed drastically. Instead of returning to darkness, we were now under a black sky. And it was warm, save for a little breeze. The ground was not totally solid, but was made of dirt and the air smelled of horse and dust. Then as I began to look more around me, I could see that we must have been in some kind of deserted city, for buildings surrounded us. Of course, these were not the buildings that you and I are used to; they were old and looked run down. There was one in particular that caught my eye. All it said on it was “Inn”.
I knelt down and tapped Tom on his shoulder.
“L-Look, T-T-Tom,” I said, still shivering. “We might be able t-to spend th-the night here!”
Tom didn’t say anything but rose stiffly to his feet and the four of us began walking sluggishly toward the Inn. It turns out that we walked in to a surprise. There was music playing, people serving ale while others drank, and it smelled of tobacco. Most everyone was sitting around tables with cards and money lay upon them.
But there was also a large table set before us and a man with a dirty apron and a rather unhappy face stood behind it. In his hands were a large mug and a dirty cloth which he wiped the mug with.
I opened my mouth to speak. “Excuse me—"
“What d’you want?” the man snapped angrily.
“Um…May we sleep here for the night?”
“May ye sleep here for...?” the man echoed, trailing off. “Not with that cat and that ugly stork there, you won’t!”
“Stork! I beg your par—" began Tud, but was silenced immediately by Tom’s hand.
“What do you think this is, a motel?” asked the man.
“Well, it says “Inn” back there, don’t it?” asked Tom.
“Perhaps, but for those who can afford it. And by the looks of ya with yer stork and hardly any meat on them bones, I’d say you couldn’t afford nothin’ ‘round these parts!”
“But sir,” I pleaded, now desperate, “we’re nearly starved! We haven’t eaten in three days and we’ve no where else to sleep.”
“And that’s s’posed to be my problem?” The man sighed and leaned forward. “Now look here, little girl, I know ye came from somewhere, and you can turn ‘round and go right back there if yer wantin’ to sleep. This place here ain’t for poor people.”
I sighed. “Let me see if I have anything.”
I dug my hands into my pockets (for I had lost my backpack and the jacket inside it), but only managed to pull out the key that had opened the door to the fireplace. This made me very upset. That couldn’t be it. I continued to hold the key in one hand, while I searched in my back pockets with the other, but even before I could tell the man I had absolutely no money whatsoever, he had opened his mouth first.
“Good gracious me…” he said quietly at first. “M-Miss, I’m so sorry. I didn’t reali—I mean, I didn’t know you was—That is to say… Um… Please make yourselves at home, you and yer friends!”
“But…I don’t have any money,” I said.
“Never mind that now, never mind! It’s on the house! Er…but, I’d ‘preciate it if ya didn’t tell no one else ‘bout that. It’d get me in trouble, no doubt. But let’s not think o’ that right now. You sit yerselves down here and get comfor’ble. We’ll get yer bellies full with some fine food, that’s fer sure. And then I’ll tend to gettin’ ye settled in a comfor’ble room, the best if I can manage it!”
I was so exasperated by this that my mouth hung wide open for quite a while before I remembered to thank the man for his unexpected hospitality.
Tom and I, followed closely by Tud and Mahler did as we were told. We sat down at a table, receiving quite a few stares from most of the people in the room. It seemed that we did not fit in well with the crowd at all. Most of them were men, dressed in long-sleeved shirts and vests, and hats on their heads—cowboy-ish hats, they resembled. The few women who were also there wore long, fancy dresses and looked very prim and proper. But everyone there wore boots of some kind and the room was densely packed of smoke.
Momentarily, the man came around and set down four large flasks of what smelled like ale and four tin plates covered with fresh meat, bread, and corn. Neither Tom nor I wasted time in grabbing hungrily at our plates. Even Mahler nibbled at her own beat hurriedly, but Tud picked it up with his bill and turned it over, as if analyzing it thoroughly.
“Don’t they serve fish or anything of the likes here?” asked Tud disgustedly.
“Be happy you’re getting anything at all,” I reminded him.
Nothing more was said and after we had finished eating and drinking our ale (Tom happily drank Mahler and Tud’s shares), the man showed us to our room.
“There we go,” he said. “I know it ain’t much, but it is nice and cozy if I says so myself. It…will serve the purpose, won’t it?”
“It’s more than what we bargained for,” I said happily. “Thank you so much.”
The man shrugged. “Best I could do, and the least for that matter, especially for a… Well, that doesn’t matter now. I’ll leave ya to tend to yer business now. Goodnight!”
“Goodnight!”
Tom at once went to one of the two beds and hastily crawled into it longingly, not once saying anything to me. Tud followed pursuit and quietly nestled in the corner of the bed in which there now lay a small lump under the blankets. I shifted my gaze to the other bed and Mahler seem to notice this, because she now used the last of her energy to jump onto the vacant bed and sit, staring at me, her tail flicking impatiently.
I yawned. “Don’t worry, Mahler,” I said. “I’m ready for sleep, too.” And I crawled into the bed, but as soon as I shifted over to my side, I winced in pain. I reached down into my jean pocket and pulled out the key that had been there. Now that we had some light, I could look at it more closely. It was a beautiful thing, even if it was a key. It wasn’t all that large, but large enough to be able to see the diamonds that seemed to have been molded into it. They were small diamonds, save for larger one that shone brightly in the middle. Where it came from and who made it, I couldn’t guess, but I supposed its importance must be great.
Mahler had slowly crawled up to where my head lay and she meowed in my ear. I looked up to see her large, blue eyes and she touched my forehead with her nose and nudged me gently. I pet her silky coat and scratched her softly behind the ears, to which she purred with much content.
“We’ll find it, Mahler,” I said softly. “It exists. It has to.”
And then with Mahler’s head resting against mine and her paws in my hair, we both fell asleep.

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