Cantrell: The Middle Years, Part Two

SemiDemiQuaver 2287, a Cantrell: The Middle Years, Update-9

Erik wished he could say the day started out like any other — except that it didn’t.  All six of his children were up and about at the crack of dawn. This was the weekend, so this was not normal, to be sure.  

He threw the bed covers off, went to wash up and as soon as he emerged his eldest daughter, Melodie came right over to him. Erik found himself chatting with her. The girl was a bit of a chatterbox, but he was okay with it. Better they chat than she keep things all to herself, letting whatever it was fester.  As she chatted away, he was busy gazing at her. Within a few seconds, he became greatly disturbed by what he saw. Her slender small hands, gesticulating wildly as usual, were a light shade of yellow.  At first, he thought she was wearing rubber gloves of some sort. But her bare feet were also the same shade of yellow.  

Looking more closely at her neck, while it wasn’t yellow, so much, he distinctly saw pink lines going upward. Her sweet face was also flushed. “Melodie, sweetheart, this is all very interesting, and I promise we’ll talk more about this. But right now I need you to go get dressed. You’re going with me.”
“Where?”
“We are going to visit a friend of mine, who lives in Innisgreen.”

“But I’m not Harmony — I’m not into Fairies, like she is.”
“No, and I understand that, but you need one, in this case. You have come down with an Ailment, my dear.”

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Once they arrived, Erik walked with a sense of purpose. Melodie found herself almost running to keep up with him. She knew they had a full schedule today. First church and then her father had the Starlight Accolades to attend. He must be nervous about it. Was her guess as she looked up at him.  

Locating his friend, he grabbed Melodie by the hand and marched her over to a very pale, platinum haired lady. She was dressed in a dark suit. All business was Melodie’s assessment.
“Care Renn,” Erik said, “this is my eldest daughter, Melodie.  Melodie, this is Care Renn. The Liaison to the Council, and my personal friend.” Turning back to Care Renn, Erik said, “As you can see, she has managed to come down with an Ailment. Go ahead, Melodie, ask.”

“Oh, my, yes, you do. From the look of it, too, I would say Burning Passion. How old are you my dear?”
“Fourteen, just.”
“You cough up fire?”
“Why, yes, how did you know?”
“I will be most happy to help you. Erik, how many children do you have, now?”

Gasping, Melodie glanced about here, “where did she go?”
Erik pointed to above her head. “Stand still, she has shrunk herself down in size in order to circle your head.”
“Oh, my, are we in Oz, or something?

That quickly the fairy returned to her previous size and stood before the girl.
“How do you feel,” Care Renn asked. Melodie was busy looking a her long legs that were no longer pink in shade.
“Great. I feel great. May I give you a High Five as a way of saying thanks?”

By the time the two arrived back home again, they changed quickly and went off to church. Upon their return the weather, which had been cloudy all morning finally burst into rain.

Before too long, Erik and Kayleigh were dressed in their finery and off to Del Sol Valley. “There’s pizza all ready for you in the pizza oven. And after the barbeque grilled itself, please be content with the pizza. Oh, and there’s ice cream in the freezer,” Kayleigh said, as Erik tugged on her hand.

Sitting in chairs awaiting the moment, Erik seemed a tad uncomfortable. Bothered at his apparent mood, Kayleigh turned to speak to him. She most certainly regretted it a moment later.

“Bark, bark to you, too,” she whispered. Glad when the moment came and the host, Genevieve Mansouri, introduced the night.

“The following artists have been duly nominated for the Record of the Year 2287. Does anyone else feel as if this years is just zipping by at Warp speed, or is it just me?  At any rate, let’s give a hand to the following: Jarek Bookings for his Rendering in Glass; Margarete Samson for her Splendor in the Graveyard; Nicholas **bleep** for his Lost Letters; Sally McKnight for her Reckless Love; and finally, Erik Cantrell for his Spring Rainfall.  And the winner is . . .” she went to remove the heavy cardstock from the pre-slit envelope, yelped a bit and brought the injured finger to her mouth. “Ouch. Sorry, paper cut,” Removing her finger from her mouth she did her best to recover the moment. “Let’s try that again, shall we? And the winner is . . . Erik Cantrell, for his Spring Rainfall! Well done. Come on up here, Erik. you deserve this. Come on.”

When the camera panned over, Erik was busy kissing his wife. Breaking away he made it to the stage and stood there silently for only a moment, as was his custom.

Glory to Thee, O Lord

“This has been one crazy year,” he began and then turned to glance at 
Genevieve, “and yes it has been whizzing by.  I would like to take this moment to 
thank those who help me with my music. A record just doesn’t happen on its own. I do the writing and the performing of it, but Team Erik down at Taygeta Studios do the recording and the mixing of it. Blending the instruments into the sound I hear in my head.  Ryan Ricks, my Producer; Toby Gleason the recording engineer; Michael Perry and Richard Freman both masters of sound mixing engineering. Without these four gentlemen I would likely be teaching music theory somewhere.”

“I would like to thank my dear, sweet wife of sixteen years, and our children for putting up with that guy in the corner, as they refer to me upon occasion. My parents, my many siblings. Most of all my fans for enduring my sometimes roller coaster career. You’ve stuck with me during the good times, but most of all you held me up during the bad times. Thank you. My heart is yours.”

“Thank you to the Starlight Academy for nominating Spring Rainfall. And to the Committee for their votes.”

“And now, if I am to take my wife to the dinner I promised her, I must bid you adieu. Good night, all”

Later at the restaurant, the couple were shown to a table for two on the second level. Inside, rather than on the balcony. The night air had grown a bit chilly. “Here you go,” the Host said. “I hope this table suits you.”
“Thank you, it’s lovely,” Kayleigh said, leaning toward her husband, she whispered, “And, just what is eating you?”

“Come here a second,” Erik said, drawing her to her feet. “I believe we simply need to Reconnect.”

All for now, thanks for reading!