Saturday Shopping Songs
Your character is shopping (in a mall, marketplace, or wherever they do their shopping) - and they hear a familiar (liked or hated) song played.
1) What is the song?
and
2) What is their reaction to it?
Bonus points:
Write a short piece about the experience.
They Can Also Do The Mario Theme
Note: The inspiration for this short comes from a Ten Facts About Victor post I did a couple of days ago -- specifically, #5:
5. On his first trip to London with his parents, Victor happened to catch a little of a local Touched's demonstration of his singing Tesla coils. Nell pulled him away before he could see more than a minute, but it planted the first germ of the idea that maybe Touched weren't monsters.
Victor's seven in this ficlet. His governess's name, Miss Horrocks, comes from Jane Horrocks, who voiced Black Widow Spider and Mrs. Plum in Corpse Bride. The passage she's reading at the beginning is from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (well, it's technically from a Victorian history book, but we're all familiar with it because of Alice). And the title, which I just thought up, refers to me actually seeing a YouTube video with Tesla coils doing the Mario theme. (They're pretty awesome.)
“‘William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the-’ Victor, are you attending?”
“Yes, Miss Horrocks,” Victor said, not looking up from the ground.
“You must pay attention,” Miss Horrocks scolded. “History is very important.”
“I’m l-listening, Miss Horrocks.”
“Very well. ‘Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him, and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable. . . .’”
Victor sighed a little as his mind wandered away from the dull, droning words. He felt a bit bad about not listening to the lesson, but the book his governess was reading from was so dry that Victor felt that, if you dropped it in a river, not a single page would get wet. Besides, it was hard to pay attention when you were in a city as big and scary as London was. He didn’t understand his Mummy’s fascination with it at all. She’d been going on and on all day about how she had to buy herself a whole new wardrobe, and new jewelry, and new dishes - new everything, it seemed. In fact, she and Daddy were in one of the stores on this street now, shopping for clothes. Mummy hadn’t wanted him underfoot, so he’d been forced to sit on a bench outside with Miss Horrocks, who had decided to use the time for a lesson. Victor wished she’d thought of taking him to the park instead. He was bored and uncomfortable and just wanted to -
His head jerked up as music reached his ears. Music that was at once familiar and unfamiliar. The tune being played was most definitely Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony - Victor knew it inside and out from practicing it diligently at home on his piano (no small feat for a seven-year-old). But the music itself was strange. There was a sort of buzzing crackle to it that he couldn’t place. What sort of instrument is that?
Miss Horrocks had noticed it too, looking up from the book and frowning. “Now where is that racket coming from?”
Victor thought it very unkind of Miss Horrocks to call that a racket. It was very obviously music, no matter how strange it sounded. And it seemed to be coming from around the corner. Curiosity triumphed over his usual nervous nature, and he slid off the bench and hurried down the street. “Victor!” Miss Horrocks cried, getting to her feet. “Come back here!”
“This is w-where the music’s coming from! Y-you wanted to know!” Victor called back, then rounded the corner. The sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. There was a large crowd there, all staring up at a gigantic stage set up in the middle of the street. It was big enough that even tiny Victor, if he tilted his head way up, could see what was on it. There was a man there, with goggles on and a funny white coat. There were also two big metal things shaped a bit like mushrooms, from which sparks of electricity were issuing. With a jolt, Victor realized that they were somehow causing the music - the sparks they shared seemed to produce the notes. He stared, enthralled as the buzzing tune filled his ears. “Wow. . . .”
“Victor Van Dort!”
He nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand fastened itself around his wrist. He looked up into the scowling face of his mother. “We leave you alone for five minutes, and already you’re getting into trouble!” she snapped. “Come along, we have more shopping to do!”
“B-but the m-music?” Victor said, pointing to the magical machines and the man operating them.
Mummy looked, then just scowled harder. “That’s a Touched, Victor,” she said, pulling him away. “You want nothing to do with them. They’re monsters, all of them.”
A Touched? Victor had heard about Touched. People at home were always saying how they took people away and cut them open and did all sorts of nasty things to them, or else were making terrible monsters that chased people and ate them or smushed them under their feet. Touched were bad people, and you didn’t want to be anywhere near them. He shuddered and obediently let Mummy take him over to where Miss Horrocks and Daddy (the latter laden with bags) were waiting. He didn’t want the Touched to notice him or turn him into an experiment - or, worse, risk more of Mummy’s wrath.
But he could still hear the music, even as they walked away to find the most fashionable hatter in town. And as it swirled around him, crackling in his ears, he couldn’t help entertaining a most treacherous thought for a moment: Could anyone who can make music like that really be that bad?
1) What is the song?
and
2) What is their reaction to it?
Bonus points:
Write a short piece about the experience.
They Can Also Do The Mario Theme
Note: The inspiration for this short comes from a Ten Facts About Victor post I did a couple of days ago -- specifically, #5:
5. On his first trip to London with his parents, Victor happened to catch a little of a local Touched's demonstration of his singing Tesla coils. Nell pulled him away before he could see more than a minute, but it planted the first germ of the idea that maybe Touched weren't monsters.
Victor's seven in this ficlet. His governess's name, Miss Horrocks, comes from Jane Horrocks, who voiced Black Widow Spider and Mrs. Plum in Corpse Bride. The passage she's reading at the beginning is from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (well, it's technically from a Victorian history book, but we're all familiar with it because of Alice). And the title, which I just thought up, refers to me actually seeing a YouTube video with Tesla coils doing the Mario theme. (They're pretty awesome.)
“‘William the Conqueror, whose cause was favoured by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the-’ Victor, are you attending?”
“Yes, Miss Horrocks,” Victor said, not looking up from the ground.
“You must pay attention,” Miss Horrocks scolded. “History is very important.”
“I’m l-listening, Miss Horrocks.”
“Very well. ‘Edwin and Morcar, the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him, and even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable. . . .’”
Victor sighed a little as his mind wandered away from the dull, droning words. He felt a bit bad about not listening to the lesson, but the book his governess was reading from was so dry that Victor felt that, if you dropped it in a river, not a single page would get wet. Besides, it was hard to pay attention when you were in a city as big and scary as London was. He didn’t understand his Mummy’s fascination with it at all. She’d been going on and on all day about how she had to buy herself a whole new wardrobe, and new jewelry, and new dishes - new everything, it seemed. In fact, she and Daddy were in one of the stores on this street now, shopping for clothes. Mummy hadn’t wanted him underfoot, so he’d been forced to sit on a bench outside with Miss Horrocks, who had decided to use the time for a lesson. Victor wished she’d thought of taking him to the park instead. He was bored and uncomfortable and just wanted to -
His head jerked up as music reached his ears. Music that was at once familiar and unfamiliar. The tune being played was most definitely Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony - Victor knew it inside and out from practicing it diligently at home on his piano (no small feat for a seven-year-old). But the music itself was strange. There was a sort of buzzing crackle to it that he couldn’t place. What sort of instrument is that?
Miss Horrocks had noticed it too, looking up from the book and frowning. “Now where is that racket coming from?”
Victor thought it very unkind of Miss Horrocks to call that a racket. It was very obviously music, no matter how strange it sounded. And it seemed to be coming from around the corner. Curiosity triumphed over his usual nervous nature, and he slid off the bench and hurried down the street. “Victor!” Miss Horrocks cried, getting to her feet. “Come back here!”
“This is w-where the music’s coming from! Y-you wanted to know!” Victor called back, then rounded the corner. The sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. There was a large crowd there, all staring up at a gigantic stage set up in the middle of the street. It was big enough that even tiny Victor, if he tilted his head way up, could see what was on it. There was a man there, with goggles on and a funny white coat. There were also two big metal things shaped a bit like mushrooms, from which sparks of electricity were issuing. With a jolt, Victor realized that they were somehow causing the music - the sparks they shared seemed to produce the notes. He stared, enthralled as the buzzing tune filled his ears. “Wow. . . .”
“Victor Van Dort!”
He nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand fastened itself around his wrist. He looked up into the scowling face of his mother. “We leave you alone for five minutes, and already you’re getting into trouble!” she snapped. “Come along, we have more shopping to do!”
“B-but the m-music?” Victor said, pointing to the magical machines and the man operating them.
Mummy looked, then just scowled harder. “That’s a Touched, Victor,” she said, pulling him away. “You want nothing to do with them. They’re monsters, all of them.”
A Touched? Victor had heard about Touched. People at home were always saying how they took people away and cut them open and did all sorts of nasty things to them, or else were making terrible monsters that chased people and ate them or smushed them under their feet. Touched were bad people, and you didn’t want to be anywhere near them. He shuddered and obediently let Mummy take him over to where Miss Horrocks and Daddy (the latter laden with bags) were waiting. He didn’t want the Touched to notice him or turn him into an experiment - or, worse, risk more of Mummy’s wrath.
But he could still hear the music, even as they walked away to find the most fashionable hatter in town. And as it swirled around him, crackling in his ears, he couldn’t help entertaining a most treacherous thought for a moment: Could anyone who can make music like that really be that bad?