Before the Chorus

Mara Quenlow · A Whimsy & Wound story · Jonathan Morin · Skirnir Studios.

Page 1 — The line that won’t come

Mara sits at a keyboard in her small, warmly lit room. Her notebook is open beside her. Through an open window, a lantern lights the opposite brick wall.

Mara: “One more time.”

She plays and sings: “We just never let the real thing through…”

In her notebook, beneath the heading CHORUS, two attempts are crossed out.

Mara: “Too pretty.”

A light catches her eye. She stops. Mara: “What…?”

Beyond the window, small rectangles of brick and lamplight seem to hang out of place, glittering silver and amber. Mara raises a hand, staring at something she cannot explain.

Page 2 — What she can keep

Mara reaches toward a fragment of light. Before she can touch it, it vanishes. The wall is whole again. She looks at her empty hand.

Mara: “No. I saw that.”

Back at the table, beneath the crossed-out chorus attempts, she writes: GLITTER STORM.

She returns to the keyboard and sings: “Caught in a glitter storm” / “So pretty we didn’t see the war”.

From the quiet courtyard, we see Mara through the window, still playing in the warm light. She glances toward the darkness.

Mara, singing: “It never rained — it just performed.”