The lights dim
The crowd quiets
The conductor’s hands rise
And the symphony begins.
The conductor introduces the trumpet
Brash and boisterous.
To the xylophone
Sharp and sassy.
They shake hands
Ask questions
Get to know each other
As the music swells around them.
The music starts slow
Trumpet and xylophone
Cautious
Until it starts to build.
Becoming more sure of itself
The trumpet begins to flirt
The xylophone backs away
Tentative.
The trumpet pushes and
Pulls the xylophone
Helping it along until
They’re ringing across the orchestra.
The music speeds up
As the trumpet and xylophone
Playing against each other
Only to be pulled unfathomably closer.
It builds intensity
And they begin to argue
Bickering about they key
About who gets to play the melody.
And then it slows
Becoming minor and melancholy
And the xylophone drops out
Leaving the trumpet
To finish
All by itself
And then
It ends.