'The Xylophonist’s Tune' by Sherry Morris

She waits for her cue.
Mallets raised. Hands poised. Ready to roll an orchestral zig-zag riff over two rows of hardwood bars.

*But*—

the xylophonist struggles to read sheet music.
She bumbles black holes. Or is it wholes? Stumbles over treble clefs and half-rests.
Fumbles her way through the stemmed and flagged notes rising and falling along the page.
Remains determined to decipher the code these gangs of linked symbols—crowded into bars, crammed between spaces—hold.

*She*—

ignores the page. Listens to the flutes. Almost! plays their part by ear.
With soft mallets, she gentle taps. Wonders if anyone hears her heart pitter-pat to Luke’s snare-drum rat-a-tat.

*Dreams*—

she is musical. Masters the unruly ciphers on the page. Plays correct notes in rhythmic time while wielding multiple mallets. That Luke looks over and smiles. Compliments her style. Asks her to show him her roll technique. And when she places her hands over his, they lean in over the xylophone bars to xxx tender and slow.

*She*—

crashes back to reality. Xylophones cannot be taken seriously. Certainly not by Luke playing precise paradiddles with majestic military flair. He double-strokes three seats away, as unreachable as achieving polyrhythmic technique. She falls into a trance watching his beautiful hands. She can play the Looney Toons theme tune perfectly. Surely that counts for something. Maybe if she started a serious discussion about percussion…

*Succeeds*—

in falling hard off her chair. A stand-alone cymbal crashes to the floor. 
She blinks as his hand offers help.
It’s out of her mouth before she can think, A concussion of percussionists.
She smiles hoping he’ll like her joke.
He’s blank, grave-faced.
She sighs. Drummers keep their own beat.

Then a smile flits across Luke’s face. A concussion of percussionists, he says.
He smiles again. Wide.

---

Originally from America’s Heartland, Sherry writes prize-winning flash fiction and short stories from a farm in the Scottish Highlands where she watches clouds and pets cows. She also presents Sherry's Shorts, a radio programme of short fiction on Highland Hospital Radio. Follow her on Bluesky @Uksherka or visit Uksherka.com

'The Xylophonist's Tune' was first published online with Free Flash Fiction in January 2022.