The Journey to Cadenza (October 2016 Special Edition)

Chapter 1 (The Land of Motive)

It is seven o'clock in the morning. The sky above the tall glass-reflecting buildings of Motive is grey as snow slush. The air has a scent of chamomile and dark chocolate mixed together. Every paved road in Motive is flat as paper.

The jolly Boy Scouts, formally dressed in tan all around, all wake up for their morning march on the streets behind The Owl's Nest decorated with wreaths made of green pine leaves and red tied ribbons. Yes, the main palace is called The Owl's Nest because the campers often address their leader, Yo-Hawn Bock, as 'Hooter Yo-Hawn'. He hoots his announcements every morning outside of his palace and gives orders to every camper in site. Yo-Hawn Bock and Counselor Sequence slip out of the palace to see the awakening campers march their way toward them. Three members (Davis, Brutus, and Curtis), march in front of the whole band while John Philip Sousa's "Boy Scouts of America" is instrumentally performed. As they march, the neighbors all peak their heads out of their windows to hear the music.

The campers in Motive like marching very much, but some have other jobs and do not always participate. One hard working pianist, who lives very close to the Boy Scouts campground, does not march in the mornings because he is just a pianist who serenades the campers and accompanies them in chorales. It is Richard Ferguson, and he is a Catholic man who always looks towards Jesus as his savior. Richard has hazel eyes, orange hair on just the sides of his head, baldness on top, round-framed glasses on his face, and a cross-fish necklace around his neck. Dressed in blue and white all around, he sits at the table near the kitchenette and drinks his liter of Earl Grey in a Pyrex without any sugar or milk. Richard lives in a quiet house covered with reflecting mirrors, and black solar panels with blue horizontal and vertical lines on the concrete rooftop. His house only contains one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchenette, and a small corner for a grand piano. Beside the piano settles a two-person couch. No plasma screen televisions are kept anywhere in the house. However, a tablet with excellent Wi-Fi connection sits on the piano stand. The one and only sliding window, over the kitchenette sink, has a reflecting mirror behind it. The house has no windows except for the one that was previously described.

It is his last day to settle in Motive before he leaves for Cadenza. He has worked with the Boy Scouts for three months. Long before he started his work in Motive, he has been dating one of his dear friends from Concerto University (in Concerto County, Cadenza) for seven years. Her name is Sherry Nelson, and she majored in choral conducting. They were engaged for a year before Yo-Hawn and Sequence drafted Richard into their Boy Scouts program for just three months. Sherry felt okay that her fiancée needed to help out in the program before they become bonded in the sacrament of marriage. The wedding was scheduled to take place a few days before Christmas. Richard hopes he will make the wedding once he departs from Motive. Ever since his first day of accompanying the musically talented boy scouts on piano, he has focused on all his necessary tasks; accompanying the orchestra, picking up non-verbal cues from the conductor during band rehearsals, moving shells and platforms on and off the stages, and tutoring the three marching leaders (Davis, Brutus, and Curtis) so they can be prepared for their piano proficiency exams. The major things Richard wants to do when he goes to Cadenza include; accompanying for masterworks chorales (as a placeholder for when no orchestra is present), singing with masterworks chorales, and accompanying soloists along with many other groups of singers. He loves to hear people sing. He breathes it all in.

The old mayor and maiden, who used to settle in Motive as camp counselors, are the people he misses very much. Their names are Tim and Teresa Tivoli. Recently, those people were asked to take part in the Cadenzian council house because the residents there needed somebody to watch over their city. Herzen Fugue, the mayor of Cadenza, is at a hospital and is undergoing a diagnosis.

Richard settles in a place where jolly boys sing for joy while they enjoy their Christmas camping. The nearby churches are all reserved for them. Disco palaces, even the piano bars and buffets, are reserved. Of course, because Richard helps out with the Boy Scouts, he too is welcome to enter those places. That morning, however, he just enjoys his Pyrex of Earl Grey tea.

Every Boy Scout camper is taught how to develop leadership skills, and is told to look after one another during group activities and other specially scheduled events. Daily, for instance, they participate in prayer and worship. The campground is preparing a farewell for Richard because he completed his requirements and that is no longer needed.

Richard plans to go toCadenza like Tim and Teresa Tivoli did. After he finishes his last sip of EarlGrey, he puts down the Pyrex, folds his hands toward him, bows his head, andbegins to pray. "Dear Lord," Richard whispers as he starts hisprayer, "Please help me find Cadenza. Please help me be safe on my blusteryjourney on foot. It may take me a day or two to arrive." Afterwards, hetakes his right hand and makes a sign of the cross (in the name of the Father,the Son, and the Holy Spirit) and says, "Amen."