Unison (The Spheral) Read Free

positioned my trembling fingers on the fingerboard, pleading with them not to betray me. “It only took you eight hands to get one of your pegs further than mine. How about some music to celebrate?”
    That was my cue. I closed my eyes and began to play one of Master Theodore’s pieces of music—a tender ballad with ample emotion I hoped to project onto him. A few measures after the bridge, the door flung open and a stream of cool air grazed my body, but I remained focused and continued playing with my eyes closed. After I finished, Master Theodore glared at Master Franklin and then at me. “You begin this Firstday at sixteen-hundred sharp, and if you’re one-sixteenth of a second late, don’t bother knocking because music is all about perfect timing. Do you understand?”
    I bowed. “Yes, Master Theodore.”
    “Any questions?”
    “No, Master Theodore.”
    “Then you may leave.” He rubbed the palms of his hands and looked at Master Franklin. “I have to show someone he can’t win all the time.”
    “Thank you, Master Theodore.” I bowed and ran out as quickly a possible. I didn’t want to give him any excuse to change his mind.

    The following year I entered a music contest and decided to play the same song from my vision. I practiced in the morning and after school. My technique improved, but I kept fumbling through the same run of sixteenth notes from my vision. Master Theodore tried to persuade me to pick an easier song, but I refused. As the contest neared, I relented and picked an easier piece but continued to practice the more challenging one. After five days of no improvement, I was about to give up when my vision of performing in front of a room of purple sleeves returned. I was able to identify what went wrong: my fingers lost their positioning in the measure leading up to the coda. It was my anticipation over finishing the song, without error, that broke my concentration. When I ran off stage crying, I came out of my vision and found myself in the middle of the difficult passage, still crying and playing my violin! My bow and hand were as one, gliding into the coda without even the slightest hesitation.
    I told nothing to Master Theodore and surprised him when I flawlessly performed the piece that defeated me in my vision. I didn’t win the contest, but second place made the purple sleeves take notice of me.
    My high placing motivated Master Theodore to fight for my entrance into the master’s apprentice school. He set up a meeting between me and the Chosen. The day before the meeting, Master Theodore called me to his office to perform a recital for Master Franklin. I played through all my original compositions and ended with the song that had at one time given me so much trouble.
    Master Franklin stood and clapped. “Very nicely done! If you continue, we’ll soon be calling you Apprentice Damon.”
    All the praise made me momentarily forget I was in the presence of my mentors. “When I show the Chosen I’m the master of everything, they’ll have to accept me.”
    Master Theodore and Master Franklin stared at each other and appeared worried.
    Master Theodore glared at me. “You’re only to play them your violin.”
    “Why? They already know everything I can do.”
    “Not everything,” Master Franklin said. “If we told them about your visions, they’d fear you.”
    “Why would they be afraid of me? I’m not as smart as a Chosen.”
    “The Chosen aren’t smarter…just better connected,” Master Franklin said.
    I lay my violin in its case, trying not to appear disappointed.
    “You must remain silent. If you flaunt all your abilities, the Chosen will see you as a threat to their positions.”
    I loosened my bow. “I’ll tell them not to be afraid of me, and I’ll prove to them that all I want to do is be of service to them and Unity.”
    “A young man once thought as idealistically as you,” Master Franklin said. “He also excelled beyond his genetic profile and wished to