Time for another excerpt!
(If you haven’t read the first one, click here to catch up.)
And remember, Perception launches exclusively on Amazon on August 23, 2017.
"There is something almost sacred about wielding our music to guide and shape living things,” Grandmaster Brightwater continued. “The responsibility of a musician is always a great burden, but even more so when dealing with things whose very existence can be extinguished with carelessness and stupidity.” She stopped and whistled a short, warbling phrase. From a nearby tree, a green and yellow parakeet swooped down and landed on her upturned palm. “Every bird here carries within it that spark of life, and we must do everything we can to protect and nurture it.” Enraptured by the brightly plumed bird, Helaine reached out. But, no sooner had her fingers grazed its chest, than it flapped its wings and disappeared back into the tree from which it had come. The corners of Helaine’s mouth tipped down, and Grandmaster Brightwater moved on. Flustered, Helaine skipped to catch up. “I understand. And I’m more than willing to help out in any way I can.” “Perhaps something in the marine vivarium,” mused the grandmaster. “Oh, not there,” blurted Helaine. Then, catching herself, she added, “What I mean to say, is fish are wonderful. I’m sure. In their own way. But there’s just something . . . I mean, they don’t blink, do they? They just stare at you. On one side. And they can’t help it, I know. It’s just—” And her foot planted itself in the brook, filling her shoe with water and soaking the hem of her skirt. “Oh dear,” she said. Her shoe squelched as she pried her foot from of the clay-bottomed shallow.
