Music Quotes

Without music, life would be a mistake.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
Victor Hugo

Music is love in search of a word.
Sidney Lanier

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.
Gustav Mahler

Being an Extra

I was an extra for High School Musical 3 on Friday and had a blast with Josh and Boston. We enjoyed sitting all day and filming the graduation scene. I did see Troy, Sharpa, and Gabriella. Even though I do not care about High School Musical I still had a lot of fun seeing how a firm was made. I found out about it through Josh but also you can go to utahextras.com.

My story

Below is the first chapter of the story I have been working on for a few years. I edited it and revised this part and am still working on the rest of the story. I will publish the rest as I edit it.

Chapter One: Magic (Halena Story)

In a far off land so far and so distant it is only now told about in legends and myths of long ago. Even now those tales would have almost been forgotten, if not for a girl only seventeen years of age that changed it all.

The room was pitiful. Coming from my father’s manor, to live in the lower attic of my aunt’s castle, was not how I had planned to live my life. The corners of the room were hidden in shadow, and only one candle illuminated the dismal scene. This was the room that my aunt had given me with all the charity in her heart. Looking at her satisfied face I could tell she thought this was exactly what I disserved. Cobwebs filled the rafters and dust blanketed everything. I wondered if anyone before had been privileged to occupy this room. My aunt would call me lucky, but I was thinking of all the sleepless nights I would have to spend on the pallet she had called a nice comfortable bed. It would not have been very hard to find a better room in this castle she lived in. My aunt would not ever try anyway; this room reflected the dark events that led up to this day. The parallel between the two was so stark that I had to suppress a shiver.

“I hope this room is good enough for you. It’s not much but you should be grateful that I was kind enough to let you stay with me after your father died. It’s a pity you are now orphaned. You’ll like it here Halena,” Aunt Rose said with a smirk. I knew she did not mean one word she said; just one glance and I could tell she still did not like me. Ever since she married my father’s brother Carlous, I had heard my father talk about what I horrible match it was. Carlous would be gone for six to ten months at a time trading and it was rumored he did it to get away from his wife.

In was full of dust, bugs, and sounds of other occupants, and they are just a few of its less appealing features. The only window had curtains that looked as if they had been eaten and spit out. Just one piece of furniture filled the room, and was so old and beaten up I had to do a double take to realize it was a wardrobe. In the corner there was a stairway to the attic. At the top was a door under lock and key.

I thought about what had happened in the last month. It had never been in any of my wildest dreams for it to turn out the way it did. The past was filled with of trails and disappointments. My mother, Jayla, died the day after my twin sister Lianna and I were born. I had never known her, but just thinking about her brought pain of longing into my heart. Later as if to tell me that my life was doomed, Lianna died at the age six from a horrible illness. We had been inseparable. I can remember her smiling face as we planed our next trick on our father. We never could fool him but we loved to try. I can remember her face lined with pain as she breathed her last breath. The look on my father’s face as the nurse carried her limp body was more than any six-year-old should have to see.

None of that compared to what happened on my sixteenth birthday. That was the day my dad, my best friend left me forever. After all the tragedy in our lives we had grown closer then any other father and daughter ever had. He always called us the inseparable pair of jokers. Spoiling me at every opportunity, hiding from me the truth of this cruel world, he made sure I would grow safe and secure in his love. Even though he spoiled me, he taught me the importance of hard work and diligence. After a long day of working he would sit on the chair by the fireplace. I would sit cross-legged and listen to the fantastic stories of the legendary knights and their brave steeds, and stories about dragons and unicorns that were hard. When I questioned the truth of these stories he would just look at me as if to say just-because-you-cannot-see-it-does-not-make-it-false. Oh, how I missed him.

On my sixteenth birthday he went to go get a horse he had promised me. When I saw him in the window riding his own mare and leading my horse behind him, I ran out to meet him. The new horse was a gorgeous black stallion with a star on his forehead. His step was regal and he held his head perfectly. As I was admiring my new horse, I saw a black wolf slink out of the woods. It looked almost starved and beaten with a scar under his left eye. Without warning the wolf let out an unrealistic howl. It sounded like a language I could not yet understand. My dad’s mare lost her head and reared back, with hooves flashing as is to protect her ears from the sound. She almost flipped over onto her back in her haste to protect herself. I cried out in fear, too far away to do anything. The outcome was suddenly as plain to me as if it had been written all out on paper before it happened. Quickly my dad, sensing the situation, jumped off the mare to avoid being crushed. Yet in his haste, he did not see how rocky it was on the side of the road. I watched scarcely breathing as he flew though the air, hit his head on a rock, never to wake again.

Immediately the stallion my father had been holding trotted over to me and circled me as if he were protecting me. With his hooves dancing he stood between the wolf and me. While circling around me protectively, he also had created a barrier between my father and me. I just stood there helpless, trying to process what had happened. Finally as if he was shoot out of a cannon the stallion bolted right at the wolf striking at it with his hooves. Ignoring anything else I took the opportunity, and ran straight to my father. Kneeling down I listened for a heartbeat, hoping more than anything else that he would still be alive, but there was nothing. With a sinking heart I knew he was . . . No, I could not say it or even think it. That terrible word had ruined my fantasy of how life should be. It meant I would never see my father again, never sit by the fire and listen to his voice. Dead. That stifling word symbolized the end, and I did not want that in my life. I sat there looking at his still face; too numb and over come with grief to cry.

I felt a light pressure on my shoulder. Looking back I saw the eyes of the stallion. They were comforting and soothing eyes yet mysterious. His face was so sweet yet firm it reminded me of whom I had just lost. It made me fell connected to him in an odd way. I did not know his previous name, but I had one that would fit better then anything else. Aren, would be his name. It had been my father’s name.

Aren was the only thing my aunt allowed me to keep, except my dirtiest cloths that I only used while cleaning the house. Secretly I had kept my most precious gown; which had been my mother’s. While packing up my cloths I packed it at the bottom of my bag, praying that Aunt Rose would not check it. All the rest of my mother’s things had been sold off, and I suspected Rose had bought must of them. The dress was now the only thing I had left of my mothers. I had never worn it for it was too big. It was mostly dark blue, like my eyes and my mother’s also. The bodice was adorned with purple embroidery that repeated itself on the sleeves and around the waistband. I thought it was beautiful enough to wear in front of a prince.

Thinking hard about the past, I did not notice Aunt Rose was asking me a question until she almost had to yell at me. “Do you find this room fitting?”

“I can’t believe you could not find a better one for me in your big castle.” I answered. “Though you never have done any better.” Aunt Rose bit the inside of her cheek. I know I was a stone in her shoe; my tongue was always harsh when I was around her and it infuriated her. The only reason she had taken me in was because her daughter Saga wanted another person around to take care of the castle, and bully. So that was why I was here, to do a servant work, not that there was not hundreds of servants here already.

“You will help our cook. Be down in the kitchen at seven, no later. Breakfast is at eight sharp. One second later and you will find out how nice I can be.” Aunt Rose threatened with a smile and turned to walk out. Before she left, she said one more thing without turning to face me, “Oh and by the way, if you give me too much trouble you’ll wish you were never born. So to break your spirit, which I shall do, I will leave you under lock and key.” she left and quickly shut the door as if I was a snake, and I heard a click.

It was locked.

Once Aunt Rose’s footsteps had faded away, I broke down for the first time since my dad had died. I felt the shameful tears that I had kept at bay for so long, run down my cheeks. I’d lost everything, and now I was living in a nightmare. I sat down on the scratching wool blanket, which was supposed to be my protection from the cold, as my eye’s welled up in tears. It did not comfort me to fell the stone floor underneath the straw in my bad. For the first time my thoughts were not positive as I felt despair close its hands around me. No one cared about me in this retched castle. My troubles came flowing out through my tears.

After I could cry no more, I looked around my room that was now my prison. Out of the corner of my eye something caught my attention that had not been there before. A yellow parchment, all wrinkled from age was right by the candle on the floor. It looked like it was waiting to be read. The letters on the parchment looked like a master in penmanship wrote them. I read it slowly surprised at what it contained. It said:

In this chamber lies your fate.

Few have found it,

But few will try.

Use the strength that is hidden within,

To find the magic in your heart.

Through a door that none have seen

But those that have read these words.

Over to country that is hard to find,

Where the people dream of better days,

And creatures have a voice to raise,

But know not that it is there.

Unicorns and fairies are caged,

While dragons and giants roam free.

Danger lies on this great quest,

That is meant only for the brave at heart.

If you go and venture far,

Legends will unfold before your very eyes.

There you will find the truth,

That only you can uncover.

But a warning to you and all that follow.

For the Paw is strong and watchful.

Do not venture to the castle across the field.

Until you free the lost.

The parchment created its own light, and as I looked at it more carefully I felt the presence of a new empty space inside me. As I thought about the empty place seemed familiar, but I was only know aware of it. I yearned to fill it, and had no explanations for any feelings I was having. It was like I was being guided. The emptiness was new and foreign to me. My unknown guide led my mind, until it hit against something solid. Cracks formed and I felt a force trapped behind the wall. Without stopping I moved back and hit the barrier with a strength I had never used before, or had thought I processed. Dizziness clouded my inner vision for a second, but I stayed on my feet. The cracks had become bigger, but the task was not done. I started smacking the wall like I was mad. A need consumed me that was unexplainable, and I ignored the dizziness in my quest for what I wanted. Suddenly I needle tip hole formed, and I saw a blue drop form around it. As soon as it separated from the wall, the world exploded into blue light. It felt glorious.

After what seemed like a lifetime I opened my physical eyes to find myself lying on the floor. Looking around my room, I saw that everything had a blue tint, almost like a dream. Closing my eyes I looked into myself, and immediately I saw a blue ball revolving in the place that had once been empty. Sparks flew off the living sun as it spun to the quiet beating of my heart. It was strange yet soothing. When I open my eyes again I realized I felt bone tired. Slowly I dragged myself onto my straw bed and was asleep without another thought.

Light touched my face and my eyes fluttered open. Morning rays slipped though the rag curtains. Remembering last night I looked around the room for the parchment I had read. Nothing was there. Maybe it had been a dream. Following my feelings, I used my inner eye to look within myself, and there was the blue sun. It had been real and my life was now changed, but I had no idea how or why. The night was starting to feel so foreign, and unreal.

Slowly I dressed into the first dress I set my hand on. Ready to get on with life I walked to the door and it opened with a tiny click. I walked through without a thought. After ten steps I stopped in my tracks.

The door had been locked.

Thinking I was going crazy I quickly dismissed it. Someone must have already unlocked it. Looking around I saw a clock ahead. Curious about the time, I read it to be six o’clock. Why would someone open my door so early? Why had the door opened if it was still looked? There was only one way to know so I tried opening it again. This time I marked the resistance the handle gave when I opened it. It almost felt for a second as if the door was locked, but then a click sounded and the door opened. I went inside my room and shut the door thinking, did it have anything to do with last nights experience.

I gazed inward at the blue sun within myself I tried to touch it with my mind. Instantly I felt an unknown power consume me. Through the blue haze one word escaped Magic? I knew now what it was, but the questions did not stop flowing. There was magic inside of me now? HOW? My life turned upside down as I felt my body side and I melted to the floor. Right before I hit the ground I heard a click and a door swung upon.

My Life

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. Emily Dickinson This describes my life better than anything else.

Dance Pictures

I preformed in the Wizard of Oz for dance last week. To view the pictures go to this website. http://www.risingrain.com

My Room

I have decided to change the scenery in my room a little bit. I am taking down the red fairy in the picture below and instead drawing something like the fairy laying down in her hammock (above). This will go above my fairy tale puzzle by James C. Christensen (above). I am exited to start on it hopefully next week. I have already drawn a sketch and now just have to work on the real thing.

Lacy is Here

Well I decided to get a new blog, now that I can't access my old one.