Playing From the Heart

Playing From the Heart

By Thad Sawyer

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I dedicate this book to Grammy Sawyer, one of the best grandmothers in the whole world.

Maple Leaf Book Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2016

Thursday, November 8

I’m just sitting there. Sweat rolling down my face. The whole crowd staring right at me. Then I start, start drumming. The crowd starts cheering,and I keep going. The crowd is shouting Timmy Huffle, Timmy Huffle, Timmy Huffle, Timmy Huffle.

Then, right as it’s getting good I wake up and realize that the people, the person, saying my name is the teacher. Just like that I get detention Friday after school. “But I need to practice drumming”, I say.

”No you need to practice algebra”, says Mrs. Tinker. I’m in eighth period algebra class with Mrs.Tinker, the most boring teacher at the most boring school in the universe: Bristolville Junior High.

Here there’s only one teacher who gets me, and that’s the band teacher. His name is Mr.Gordon. I play drums in band and I’m pretty good if I do say so myself. The only thing I don’t get is what playing from the heart means. Mr. Gordon tells the band to play from our hearts, but I don’t get it. My best friend Zach plays drums too. We’ve been friends since we were kids.

We have a big concert coming up and getting detention on Friday really sets me back on practicing. I mean a whole two hours, it’s just cruel. So yeah, I can’t change it so now I’m stuck with it, and it really stinks. Now when the bell rings on Friday I get to report to Mr.Timon and sit there writing about what I did wrong and what I will do different next time.

The bell rings and schools over, Finally I can go home and practice my drumming, for today. But tomorrow after school I’ll be stuck in detention for two hours with Mr.Tamon, so basically torture.

Wait hold it, I’m late for the bus! Two minutes to get there and it’s on the other side of school. RUN! I’m going faster than I can run, and I don’t stop. Not at my locker. Not at the bathroom.

Not at the bandroom! Finally get to the bus to see it hasn’t left yet! So I get on in the nick of time and the bus rolls away, and as it’s leaves the the school yard I start to feel like I forgot something.

Then I remember. My drumsticks. I ran right by the band room and forgot about my drumsticks. When I get home I try using pencils, but it just sounds weird. So no practicing today or tomorrow. This is not good.

After I get off the bus my mom hands me a sponge and tells me to wash the dishes. I say, ”I’ll do it for a buck”.

She says, “If you really want a deer’. By the way my mom makes all these corny jokes so yeah, sorry.

“I meant a dollar, Mom”.

“I won’t give you dollar, but I’ll take away your phone if you don’t”. So I do it and don’t enjoy it. Just I’m finishing my dad walks in.

He works at the high school as a science teacher. He is very good at his job and even built my phone. He’s awesome! He says he needs my help in his workshop and when I get down there it’s a mess. He says there was an experiment gone wrong.

He says that but it looks like there was a small explosion down there. He says he needs my help to clean it up. So now instead of drumming i’m cleaning. Funny how things change.

Then I ask him how this happened, and he says he was working with some chemical and it exploded. So I guessed right. It takes us 3 hours but we do it. We clean the the whole room. After that i’m pretty tired so I just go to sleep. This was an interesting day.

Friday,November 9

RING! RING! I look at the clock right as the alarm clock rings. OH NO! 8:55, i’m late for school. This is bad! I was supposed to be at school twentyfive minutes ago.

I don’t remember hitting the snooze button once. I already have detention today, so I don’t need it tomorrow too. Okay, the rule is that if you’re forty minutes late you get detention. So I should get going.

I could, I would, I should but I have no way to get there. My dad and mom are already at work. So I need to start running. I get dressed, brush my teeth, and grab an energy bar. But right as I leave I notice what time it is 9:01.

Thirty one minutes late. Nine minutes to get there. I start running. I start running too fast and I trip right over a root in the sidewalk.

I go flying and land right in the duck pond in the community park.

A couple of people come over and help me out. One of them calls my parents to come pick me up. And just like that my mom is mad at me.

I try to tell her it wasn’t my fault, but she doesn’t want to hear it So I get new clothes on, and when mom is driving me to school she tells me my punishment. For the first hour I get home from school for a week I’m not allowed to drum.

I get to school in time for band. My mom explained the situation to Mr.Richard-the principal, and I don’t get detention, so only for today. That’s good because I’m already planning to practice all of this weekend.

When I get to band Mr.Gordon announces that there’s a solo snare drum piece available for tryouts next Friday. I guess that’s the downside of my punishment from mom. In band we practice the concert songs, and when the the bell rings I run into Zach. When he asks me why I was late I tell him the story and that gets a good chuckle out of him.

The thing about Zach is he’ll laugh at anything, and I mean anything. He laughs when someone says what they had for breakfast.

When the last bell of the day rings I go to detention. I sit down grab a piece of paper, but right before I start writing I notice that I’m the only one in here. I go look outside the door and I see a sign.

The sign reads: Detention being held in the library with Ms.Sanders due to the absence of Mr.Timon.

So I walk to the library, and when I get there Ms.Sanders tells me to get a piece of paper and start writing about what I did wrong and what I’ll do better next time and all that kind of stuff. So I finish writing and as detention is ending I noticed a flyer for drum lessons in the hallway. I snap a picture of it with my phone and head out of the school.

I get in the car and show Mom my picture of the flyer.

She says no because I’ve been getting in trouble so much, which stinks. When we get home it’s 4:03 so Mom starts cooking dinner and I go into the drum room. I drum for ten minutes(so more than I thought I could), and then I look at the solo piece for the concert. I recognized the music.

It’s a solo we played in class once. I was good at it, but I need to be great. But now it was dinner time.

Dad is home when I sit down. He asks me how my day was and I say “good”, even though my day stunk. For dinner we have meatloaf with mashed potatoes and peas. It’s very good. My mom works at a diner as a cook, so she is good at cooking. After dinner I do my homework, brush my teeth and go to bed. This was an interesting day.

Friday, November 16

After a week of practicing I feel ready for tryouts. I go third and I do my best. I think I did good but did I do solo good ? I guess I’ll find out on Monday.The day goes on and it’s fine till it’s time for algebra.

I just remembered. I’ve been so busy drumming that I didn’t study for the test. This test is for 25 percent of my grade, so I needed to ace this test. This is not good. I’m already failing social studies, so I don’t to fail this class to. When I get the test, I try my hardest (but know I’m doing bad).

The bell rings and the day is over. So I get on the bus to go home but halfway through the bus ride the bus breaks down. This has not been a good day.

Monday,November 19

I’ve been so busy lately that I forgot that today is my birthday! When I get down stairs my mom and dad have laid down my presents for me on the table, and my mom made pancakes for me. When I open my first gift it’s tickets for a drumming show in New York City. It sounds really cool. They tell me we are going to see it in two weeks.

So I eat my awesome tasting pancakes, and head off to school. When I get there I read the sign posted outside the band room.

YES! I got the solo on the snare drum part. When algebra comes Mrs. Tinker tells me to come over to my desk. I thought I was going to get in trouble but it was actually to tell me that I got a B+ on my test. This day is actually going good for a change. When I get home my mom tells me that we are going to dinner at The House of Pizza. We get half pepperoni half cheese. It’s the best pizza I had ever had. When I get home I go to bed. This was a great day.

Friday, November 23

At band today Mr.Gordon reminds us that the concert is next Friday night. He tells us we have to do extra practice. I have the solo and the normal music so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. When I got home I call Zach and he comes over to practice drumming.

We practice Ode to Joy and a couple of other songs. I play him my solo and he says it is pretty good but I could improve on my rolls. He also tells me to play from my heart, but I still don’t get what that means. So once Zach goes home I practice my rolls, but I can not get them right. Then it is time for dinner.

We have Burritos with a side of corn. It is amazing, but I can not stop worrying about my solo. It has to be perfect. Later when i’m try to go to sleep all I can think about is my solo. This is not good.

Friday, November 30

Tonight is the concert. I’m really worried but still excited. We have a dress rehearsal today in band. I do okay on my solo, but I know I could better.

When I get home I practiced so much that I feel like my hands might fall off. I feel like I’m ready, but was I ready? That’s the real question. I practice a little more, take a shower, get on some nice clothes and head off to the concert. When I get there the stage is set up for the show.

I find Mr.Gordon, and he tells me that the concert will start in 7 minutes at 6:30. I take my position behind the snare drum and wait for the curtain to open. When the curtains open we get introduced by Mr.Gordon. Then we play Ode to Joy. It’s great, but I could not help but feel nervous. After that it’s time for my solo.

I start to play. At least I try to, but instead I just stand there frozen. With everyone staring, I just can’t do it. I basically just forget the music.

Mr. Gordon looks up at me says,”Just close your eyes and play”.

Suddenly my mind loses all control. My heart takes over. I close my eyes and start playing the solo. But instead of just playing the music, I start to change the tempo. I go a bit slower and then accelerate. That is when I found out you can’t just play from the heart, you have to feel the music.

I know what Mr. Gordon means now. Playing from the heart isn’t a thing, it’s an emotion. I finally know. After the concert everyone in band goes into the band room and start chanting Timmy Huffle, Timmy Huffle, Timmy Huffle.

The End!