The Silent Musician

by Melody Flame

Before the Silence

Author's Note:

In this chapter, I wanted to share information about Melody, mainly his music passion and his friendship with Autumn Blaze.

Of all the Kirin in the village, there is none that loves making music more than Melody Flame.

When he was a colt, his mother took him to a musical theatre show. At first, he didn’t think he’d like it, but as the show went on, he started to enjoy it. Since then, he’s been interested in music and wanted to start making music himself. He started going to more shows as well as some concerts to get a feel for different styles of music. He even started humming to himself from time to time. A few months after seeing that first show, Melody went to his father with an idea of them making a drum set so he could practice making music, to which he agreed. Once they finished, Melody immediately started playing it and loved how it sounded. He’s played and cherished that drum set for years.

As much as Melody would love to sing or play his drums around the village for all to hear, he’s been too shy to do so. He’s kept to himself for the most part due to his social anxiety. That is, until he met a certain talkative Kirin.

A few years later, Melody started going for walks in the woods, be it to clear his mind, sing a bit to himself, or just to explore around. One day, while on one of his walks, he sat down and started to hum to himself for a bit. While he thought no one could hear him humming, it seemed that someone actually could hear him as he noticed a white-furred Kirin with brown hair in the distance who was walking over to him. “Oh, hi there! I thought I heard someone humming. It sounded nice, by the way,” she said to him. “Oh, uh, hi. Yeah, that was me,” replied Melody a bit shyly.

“You know, I’ve seen you around the village a couple times, but never really talked to you, so allow me to introduce myself,” the Kirin said. “I’m Autumn Blaze. What’s your name?” “M-Melody Flame…” Melody answered, shaking Autumn’s hoof. “Nice to meet you, Melody,” Autumn said. She then noticed him looking a bit nervous. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked, “You seem nervous about something. I didn’t scare you, did I?” “No, no, I’m alright; just a bit… shy… is all,” Melody said, starting to look away a bit. “Ooohh. I see,” Autumn replied. “Wait, so is that why you’re not usually talking to any other Kirin in the village?”

“Mhm. I want to talk to the other Kirin, but I’ve just been too shy,” said Melody. “You’ve probably seen me cover my eyes a bit with my hat, and my shyness would be the reason why.” “Aww, that’s okay. I understand some Kirins can be like that sometimes, and there’s nothing wrong with it. I’m sure you’ll be able to get over your shyness soon. If you want, maybe you can come talk to me sometime if that’ll help,” said Autumn, comforting Melody. Melody looked back at her and said to her, “Thanks, Autumn. I’m glad you understand my shyness. You know, you seem pretty nice. Would you maybe like to be friends with me?” “Sure! I’d love to! I think we could be great friends!” Autumn answered. They then talked for a while continuing their walk, sharing some info about each other, and they’ve been best friends ever since.

Melody was happy to have a great friend, and since then, things have been going better for him. After spending about a month talking to Autumn Blaze, he’s been talking to the other Kirin more, and was happy to share his music passion throughout the village. Little did he know, though, of what was soon to occur…