The next morning Grandma had a big breakfast waiting for me. Bacon, two eggs, toast, hash browns, a glass of milk, and half a grapefruit. I wanted to tell her about my new friend, but I decided not too. She might think I was crazy. I gobbled up my breakfast, kissed Grandma on the cheek, and headed off for school, dragging Cleo behind me. Everything seemed clearer today, a little brighter. The dew glistened like diamonds on the freshly trimmed lawns. I looked up at the ocean blue sky, and wondered where Zephyr was. It was a beautiful morning. I listened to the birds chirping away in the trees, and their sounds had new meaning to me. I saw an earthworm on the sidewalk, and instead of squashing it flat, I picked it up and put it back on the grass. I had to spread more joy and love in this world.
I felt sure of myself for once, and when I got to school I didn't wait for the other kids to notice me first. "Hey Louie! What's up?" I shouted when I spotted him. "Good morning, Mr. Reynolds!" I said as I passed by the principal's office. "Hey Larry," I said smiling to my marble partner. Suddenly I didn't feel shy anymore. During my music class, I decided to participate. I was tired of sitting there like a dummy. No one knew it but I had a magic saxophone! When Mr. Leonard counted to four, I jumped right in, playing my part with confidence. I was part of the team. It felt great. The music notes in front of me took on a new meaning. Each black dot represented a person, and my job was to get to know each person better.
Over the next few weeks, school just breezed along. I spent extra every second I had up in the band room practicing with Cleo. I knew Zephyr was up in the clouds watching me, so I was going to improve myself like she said. I learned what "accelerando" meant, and "adagio" and "ritardando" and "fortissimo." I practiced marches and waltzes and duets and solos.
One day, Mr. Leonard stopped me after class. "Junior, could I talk to you?"
"Sure Mr. Leonard, what is it?"
"I've noticed you are quite serious about your music."
"I can't think of anything I'd rather do," I told him.
He handed me a brochure and said, "Well, the Statewide Orchestra is having a music contest next month up in the mountains. They have asked me to select someone to represent the school. Would you like to go?"
"That would be incredible!" I said flabbergasted.
"I could help you fill out the forms, and send them off with my recommendation," he said.
"Can you? Oh I would love to go! Gee thanks, Mr. Leonard!"
Everyday after school, I went to the band room and practiced for the contest, and Mr. Leonard would work with me on the music. It was so much fun. Cleo and I learned so fast. After a month, the big day came. I had to board a bus with thirty other students from all the other schools. We were going for a three day trip up to the mountains. The Statewide Orchestra had a place in the woods where we could play music and camp. I had never been camping before, so I was a little scared. But I had Cleo with me. Grandma made me wear boots, wool socks, a scarf, and a hunting cap to protect my ears. It had funny flaps that hung down over my ears.
"Do I really have to wear this?" I protested, playing with the funny flaps.
"Of course you do!" barked Grandma. "There's diseased ticks up in the mountains, and they'll crawl into your ears if you're not careful. I guess you never have heard about Rocky Mountain Fever?"
I had never heard about Rocky Mountain Fever before, so I kept my mouth shut, and agreed to everything else she said. I took mosquito repellent, a first-aid kit, a canteen, and my Swiss Army knife. She packed me a big lunch filled with two egg salad sandwiches, tapioca pudding, an apple, and some M&M's. We were off! Mr. Leonard, Grandpa, Grandma, and Mr. Reynolds were all out in front of the school waving as we drove away. I watched until I couldn't see the flag pole any longer.
This was exciting. I hadn't been away on my own since I came to the States. I sat on that bus with all those other kids and ate my M&M's. I shared some with the person next to me. We sang songs and we played games. The teacher in charge told a story. Pretty soon we got on to the highway and were headed West. I had never been to the mountains before, and they loomed larger than life as we got nearer. As we wound up the curvy mountain roads, we were surrounded by tall trees and boulders the size of my house. I saw little houses along the road that looked like gingerbread houses. Most of the other kids fell asleep, but I didn't want to miss anything. I wanted to see the world around me. I looked up in the sky at Zephyr and grinned. She was going to be proud of me. I had practiced a piece of music written by a man named Vivaldi, and there were notes all over the page. I practiced and practiced until I knew all the notes by heart. I knew all their names by now, so I didn't even look anymore. Mr. Leonard said he was proud of me, and that I would do well. My first music competition.
We arrived at the camp late in the afternoon, and everyone got off the bus to take a look around. We were all shown to our cabins, and I put Cleo away under my bunk. The cabin looked like something out of an Abraham Lincoln book, and had a small stove in the corner. I felt like a pioneer. The teachers showed us around the area, and said that tonight after dinner we would sing songs by the fire. Tomorrow we would start to work.
That night for dinner we had beans and hot-dogs. They scooped it out of a big kettle that hung over the fire. Then we roasted marshmallows on sticks as the logs began to glow. The marshmallows sometimes caught on fire and made a funny roaring sound like a jet engine. We sang songs like "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain," "99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall," and "Row Row Row Your Boat." It was one of the best times I ever had. Zephyr was right, life was like a dream.
By now it was getting dark, and the stars were coming out. The teachers hustled us off to bed, and I made sure that my ears were covered. My bunkmates and I giggled and farted in the dark, listening to the sounds of the camp dwindling down outside. One by one, they all fell asleep, but I couldn't. I was too excited about the competition tomorrow. I kept thinking about all those notes. I just wanted to practice them one more time so I wouldn't forget. So I quietly got out of bed, and pulled Cleo out from underneath. I put on my boots, and stepped outside. The night air was cold and crisp, and I could see my breath. There was a full moon out making it almost as bright as day.
I walked through the picnic ground and past the campfire. I needed to find a place where I wouldn't bother anyone. I walked around a while listening to the sounds of the forest. I heard water running, and soon found a little stream with a log next to it. I put Cleo down and rested on that log. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. I was representing my entire school. I put Cleo together, and thought about how many hands she had passed through. Now that she was with me, I wouldn't let her get lost again. I sat there listening to the stream. What a peaceful setting. The stream gurgled past, the trees swayed back and forth, and I felt like there was no one in the world but me. Then I realized that I needed to pee, so I got up and found a good spot. Above me the night sky was filled with millions of stars unlike I had ever seen before. I picked out the Milky Way, and looked around for Orion, but couldn't find it. There were just too many stars! It was like a million little people turning on flashlights up there. They were all one family, living together. Brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and nephews and nieces and fathers and mothers. Everyone was related to each other up there in the sky. It was a whole world of shiny people looking down on me. Still they were so far away. I could see them but I could never touch them. If I yelled they probably couldn't hear me. What kind of family was that? It was just like my own family. My father and mother might as well be one of those stars up there, they were so far away. I wondered if those stars had a name, like people. I had a name, Junior. It was a strange name given to me by my grandfather. He couldn't pronounce my Japanese name, Junichi, so he just called me Junior instead. I didn't mind. It was still me.
Just then I heard a funny sound behind me. The stirring of leaves. Then I heard what sounded like a sniffle. Must be another one of the campers, I thought, walking over to see who it was. I walked around a tree and suddenly I'm facing a giant bear! The bear turns his head towards me, surprised, and I let out a shriek, and start running for my life. I look back, and see that the bear is chasing me, snorting and wheezing like a horse. He wants to eat me! His huge broad shoulders ripple with every step. He is right on my heels! What am I supposed to do? I'm too far from the camp. I'll never make it back. Then I am struck with an idea. I dash to the stream and pick up my saxophone.
"What was the magic code?" I try a few notes, fumbling my fingers. I am terrified, shaking, too panicked to think straight. "What was it?!" I play a few more notes. "Oh no, I can't remember!" I hear the bear crashing through the forest. He is growling and hungry. "A.A. Grundman Corporation, Bakersfield, CA." I remember. I try and play the notes, but nothing comes out. Just then the bear spots me. He rears up on his hind legs and lets out a tremendous roar. I try the notes again, blowing as hard as I can. "A.A. Grundman Corporation, Bakersfield, CA."
There is a brilliant flash, and Zephyr appears, stretching her arms and yawning. "What's wrong, Junior? Do you know what time it is?"
"It's a bear! It's a bear!" I scream. "He's going to eat me!" I run to her side. "Do something," I say.
"I don't see any bear," she says, looking the wrong way.
I pull her robe, turning her around. "There!" I point. The bear lets out a terrible roar.
"Oh there!" says Zephyr. "Yes, that looks like a bear."
"Do something," I beg, "Before he gets us!"
Zephyr walks over to the bear and grabs it by the scruff of the neck. She taps him on the nose and says, "You big puppy dog! What are you doing up so late?" The bear lets out a little groan and rolls over on his back. Zephyr scratches his stomach all over like a dog. She looks at me hiding behind a tree and says, "You see, there's nothing to worry about. He just wants to play."
"He was going to eat me!" I shudder.
"Oh no, don't exaggerate," she said. "This bear wouldn't hurt anyone. Animals like this don't have a mean bone in their body." She pats the bear affectionately on the head. He growls, showing his terrible teeth. "See, he's smiling." She whispers something in the bears ear, and the bear rambles off, leaving Zephyr and I alone. "So tomorrow is your big day," she said. "Are you nervous?"
"Yup, a little." I say, keeping an eye on the bear. "There's so many people competing."
"Isn't it exciting?" she said.
"Yes, very exciting. I just hope I can win for my school."
"You're doing this just to win?" she asked.
"No. It doesn't really matter to me. I'm just happy to be up here in the mountains," I replied.
"Good," she said relieved. "Music is not about winning an award. You're supposed to enjoy yourself and make new friends. Do you want me to help you tomorrow?" she asked.
"No, I don't think so," I told her. "I'm going to do it all by myself."
She glowed all over. "I'm so proud of you!" Then she slowly disappeared into the thin night air.
"Thanks Zephyr," I told her. "Thanks a million million times."
I woke up in the morning to my first mountain sunrise. First there was a gentle rustling of the trees, which woke the birds up. They began chattering away, making quite a fuss. As the sky began to get lighter and lighter, the mountain tops appeared around us. Then the sun finally peeked out, spreading across the ridge behind us. I watched this from the little window in our cabin. I heard the teachers rattling around coffee cups and breakfast pans, starting up a fire. It was just like the music we learned in orchestra. Everyone had a part to play.
After our breakfast of oatmeal and toast, we were shown to the classrooms, and divided into groups of four. We would first perform in small groups, then compete individually. I was excited to make music with all these other musicians. Our teacher told us that we would have to create a piece of music by ourselves as a group. What fun! The other three in my group groaned when they heard this.
"Oh c'mon, we can do this," I encouraged them.
"Oh yeah, what do you think we can do?" they whined.
"We can pretend we're a mountain orchestra!"
"What's that?" they asked.
"We can make music like the mountains do."
"I don't get it," said one of the boys. "Mountains don't make music. You're crazy."
"Yeah," piped in another boy, "You're weird."
There was a girl in our group, and she said, "Well, maybe we can try. How should we start?"
"Everyone has to represent something in the mountains," I told them. "You have to pick something you want to be."
"I want to be a wolf," said the first boy.
"I want to be a river," said the other.
"I want to be a bird," said the girl.
"Okay, I want to be a cloud," I chipped in, thinking of Zephyr. "Now we all need to imagine how these things sound, right?"
They nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to howl at the moon," said the wolf boy, and he picked up his trumpet and tried to make howling noises.
"And I'll swoosh down the waterfall," said the river boy, as he picked up his trombone and swooshed.
"And I'll flutter through the trees," said the bird girl, picking up her flute and fluttering.
I conducted for a while, then picked up Cleo and joined in, making big balloon noises like a cloud.
We did this for about ten minutes, and the teacher came back. "You mean you've already figured something out?" she asked.
"Yes, maam. We're the mountain orchestra," I explained. "She's a bird, he's a river, I'm a cloud, and he's a wolf. This song is called Mountain Sonata."
"Well I'll be!" proclaimed the teacher, sitting down to listen to our noisy concoction. "I've never heard anything like it."
We played our Mountain Sonata many times that day for the other groups, and each time it was different. Each time the teachers would say, "I've never heard anything like it." That night, around the campfire, we all howled at the moon.
The next day, we were assigned individual practice rooms, and told to work on our solo pieces. I played all the notes by memory, first slowly, then faster. I played soft, then loud. I tried to make the little black notes tell their story. Cleo played effortlessly, and I wondered in the back of my mind if Zephyr wasn't helping me.
At the end of the day, we were all taken to the auditorium for the competition. We sat patiently in our seats as each student was called to the stage to perform. Everyone was so nervous, including me. When it was my turn. I picked up Cleo and took my place on the stage. I introduced myself and the name of my school. Then I bowed like Mr. Leonard had showed me, and I played. Nothing came out! Not a single note. I blew again. People started to laugh. I was so nervous. Then I blew again. Still nothing. I didn't know what to do, and I began to tremble, humiliated once again. I stood there for a while, and looked hopelessly over at the judges. Finally I walked off the stage. Everyone was laughing. I put Cleo away, angry for being so stupid, and discovered that someone had stuffed a sock down the bell! They had tricked me! Those jerks. No wonder nothing came out when I played. I thought about calling Zephyr, but I was too late. It didn't matter anymore. I had blown my chance.
On the final day, we all took pictures, and gathered around the picnic area. They were giving out awards. Everyone waited anxiously to see who had won the competition. I started rubbing my toe in the dirt, making circles and squares. I knew I wouldn't win anything. There was nothing for me to take back to school. They called out the winner of the music competition, a violin player, and we whistled and cheered. I felt happy for her. She deserved it. No one stuck a sock down her violin. Then they announced a special award that was new this year. "This award goes to Junior Okabayashi," the teacher said., "For his beautiful and original composition, Mountain Sonata." I was stunned. The wolf boy patted me on the back, and the bird girl kept smiling at me. I had won something! The first time ever. I was so thrilled. I stood up to accept the award, and all the students howled like wolves.
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