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Jun 25, 2004 13:41

I watched a child one night, running in my direction
He paused here and there examining various
Boards that made up the docks, occasionally looking up to taste the air
and watch the faeries that lit the night well they fly their little dances.
He slowly made his way closer to me, still stopping and checking,
peering and looking.

When he was finally near enough to me
I asked him "Why my dear boy, are you out so late?"
He looked up with some small surprise on his face
"Forgive me lady" he said “I did not see you there"
I smiled at his politeness and he continued.
"I'm after hope, because I think if I can sneak up on it I can catch
it and keep it for my own!"
Laughing a little I returned "Why dear boy, do you need to catch hope?"
He bowed his head a moment, a quizzical expression on his face.
As he thought on how to reply... after some moments he looked up at me again;
"Why I don't suppose I know really dear lady, but it seems to me that one would
want to catch hope, because without hope one would not want to live"
And with that he waved and darted off the way he had come.
I thought about his parting words and listened to the melody
playing in the back of my mind, it tinkled on as it always
did in the back of my consciousness, so beautiful but so sad
The music has been with me as long as I can remember.
I used to resent it, because sometimes in it's sadness
it made life unbearable... it nearly drove me mad once
Because no matter how hard I tried to block out its notes or run from them
they were always there, never to leave me, always to haunt me.
But I have come to terms with it long ago, and that’s a story
in itself.

I listened to the music play in my mind and thought it strange
that the boy would speak words truer then he would
probably ever know. I suddenly wished that I could do
as he did, and run about trying to catch hope.
But to me and the melody, hope is a lost cause.

The "I" in this is a character I created in my head a long time ago, and if I ever did write a book like I always think I should she would be one of the main characters.
Her name is Tinae, and she has a unique ability to hear the "Melody of Melancholy". although at one time it was not terribly uncommon for people to be able to hear the music.
it's been a lost art for centuries now and she is believed to be the first and only person in many many years who can hear it now.
It's been with her all her life and for the longest time she did not know what it was. It has been a hard thing for her to bear, picture yourself hearing the saddest music you can think of all the time... even in her dreams she hears it. She couldn't come to terms with something she didn't understand, and for a large part of her life she didn’t understand it.
At one point she meet's an old scholar and although for the most part she keeps the melody a secret she felt compelled to tell the scholar of it, it was a good thing that she did.
for he knew what it was and explained that to her. Once she knew she had an easier time with it.

The Melody itself is not just inside her head, it's a melody that plays on a spiritual plane so to speak, not even the gods know why it exists but it has existed since they created the world they watch over. its notes are never the same, always changing and evolving. For those that know how to listen to it properly, it can tell a great many things... for every note in it is a part of life. It tells of everything sad that will happen in the world, from betrayals and lost loves to deaths... it depicts it all. One can imagine how confusing the melody might be, and how sad it can become.
the music plays in advance of when an event will actually occur, depending on it's tempo it can play things as much as a day in advance or sometimes only moments.
Tinae for example who has learned to use it fairly well over her years with it, can use it to know what's about to happen and change it before it occurs. If someone near her was about to die, she would know it and could prevent it. but she is only one person and can only save so many every moment the melody reminds her of all those she can’t help.
She used to consider it a curse, but now that she has come to terms with it she knows it's something she could not live without anymore, and although it may be true she cant save everyone she can at least save some, whom if she were not able to hear the music would be dead.
Still it is not always easy, and her life is a long tale.
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I'm not sure I like this description of the melody; it doesn’t quite fit with Tinae's way of thinking
but it is close anyway.
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