This Take Ten to Write story was submitted by 12-year-old Mary. Happy reading!

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Prompt: Write a story titled “Singing at Twilight”.

The Story

A Sweet Melody
SEPTEMBER 2019

It was the day that school started up again for humans and the Fieldflower bird family were just settling back from their vacation. Melody was a happy song bird. She was the youngest of the Fieldflowers, and she happily loved to fly and dance, but most especially sing. A few humans came to photograph the area, and they noticed Melody in her nest. “Look,” a songbird,” one of them said. “Let’s see if it will sing a song for us.” “Okay,” the other one agreed. Melody got a glimpse of a book one of them was holding, with facts on songbirds. “I know all that,” Melody said, reading the page.

A Sweet Harmony
SEPTEMBER 2019

Melody learned about a singing competition that would be happening next Friday at twilight. “I must go,” she told her twin sister, Harmony. “You must go,” Harmony agreed. “I will practice right away!” Melody said. “I will help you practice right away,” Harmony said. Melody and Harmony always copied each other, but they didn’t mind. Melody practiced and practiced. Harmony helped her come up with a song. Overnight, a green orb floated into Melody’s bedroom while she slept. She didn’t know what was happening, because she was asleep…

Losing Her Voice
SEPTEMBER 2019

“Yeah!” said Cailey the canary. She used the controller to move the orb over Melody. She heard Harmony yawn and stretch and flew off. Luckily, Harmony didn’t wake up. The next morning, Harmony woke up. Melody woke up soon after. “Are you ready to practice the song we made yesterday?” asked Harmony. She grabbed a baton and waved it in front of Melody, like a conductor. “Sure,” Melody said, in a hoarse voice. She then got out of bed and got ready. “La, la, la, la, la,” Melody sang. “Oh, Melody, I think you may have lost your voice.” “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Melody screamed hoarsely. “It is the competition in 4 days, and I have to lose my voice now?” Melody said.

Meeting Cailey
SEPTEMBER 2015

Melody and Harmony went all over town, looking for anyone who knew how her voice had become lost very quickly. They then met up with Cailey the Canary. “Hi, Cailey, what’s that remote control you have?” “Oh, it powers a green orb that can make birds lose their voices,” Cailey said. She covered her beak as she noticed Melody. “Do you happen to know how my sister lost her voice?” Harmony asked. “Ummm, no,” Caily said. “Do you know how to use that remote and reverse it to get birds’ voices back?” Harmony asked. “Yeah,” Cailey said. “I can get your sister’s voice back no problem. She reversed the remote and hovered the new blue orb over Melody’s head. Her voice came back!

The Singing Competition
SEPTEMBER 2019

Melody and Harmony practiced in the remaining days before the competition. Melody wasn’t at all nervous at the singing competition. She sang the tune she and Harmony had practiced. “And the winner goes to… Melody Fieldflower!” the judge said. “Hooray!” cheered Harmony, Melody’s parents and Melody’s friends in the crowd. Cailey groaned. Then she cried. “It wasn’t a good idea to make Melody lose her voice right before the competition!” Harmony said.

Epilogue

After the Competition

Melody was happy to have her voice back and started doing singing performances on her own street… at twilight!