AMC Meeting: Find What Speaks to You

Following the rule book wasn't something Ruby usually did, she liked to think outside of the box to come up with ideas for the AMC Meetings. She liked coming up with ideas that would keep members on their toes. She smiled as each member came in. "Hello, hello, hello," she greeted as she waved. Last meeting was about art so this time she wanting the meeting to be about both music and art. Once everyone was inside the room, she took her spot at the front of the room. "Hello everyone! Looks like we have some new people this year. Nice to see some new and old faces."

She paused to look over the small group. "Last year we talked about art, this meeting we're going to talk about art and music. We're going to find what speaks to you." She lifted a sheet off of a table to show different art and music supplies. She then pulled more sheets off of items beside the table to show more musical and art items. "When looking at these items, find what speaks to you. I'll go first to show you what to do."

She looked around the room and picked up a harmonica. "Once everyone has picked something, they're going to show off their item by using it."

Malachi was used to an independent study method when it came to art. He learned his techniques from books and his family and made his artwork in his room-cum-studio and then only showed his family and that was that. He always found pleasure in the creation of a piece and never found any need to show it off. To him, his work was private.

Though joining a club dedicated to the arts would mean he'd have to come out of his private hiding hole of a creation space and interact with others, he did it because he knew that the club would provide supplies. His assumption was proved correct nearly immediately as the club leader bared a table of art supplies and instruments. He was glad to see familiarity in the club leader, the nice girl with the odd colored hair that he had met the year prior in the Owlrey. He felt a bit comfortable knowing that their leader was at least someone who was decent.

When they were released to choose an item of choice, Malachi paused. How was he to choose just one? His eyes panned between the acrylics to the charcoals to the oil pastels. He ran a hand nervously through his red hair as he then considered taking a musical instrument as well. He spotted a ukulele that was calling his name, but he had only ever performed in front of Rosalie and was nervous to do so again in front of a crowd. In the end, he decided to go with the latter and picked up the small wooden instrument and held it timidly as he waited for further instructions.

Every time the leader talked, the thought of her being crazy was a little bit more believable. She was always talking nonsense and 'what speak to you'. He faked coughed then muttered, "Crazy." Then cleared his throat. Maybe he wasn't the nicest person around, but he was sure others probably thought she was a bit crazy. He listened to her go on and on about finding something that spoke to them. He didn't quite understand what she meant but he would go along with whatever she had in mind. Of course he wouldn't be the first one to pick something out, well besides the leader. He watched the red head he had met go up and grab a ukulele, it took him a while to actually pick it out of the different items.

He looked around, it looked like no one else wanted to go next. He sighed and stood up then walked over to the table. He spotted an old guitar beside the table and grabbed the guitar. There was no competition to what he loved more, playing guitar was his favorite thing to do. He sat back down and waited for others to finish.

Art had not been Stephanie's favourite activity and she was relieved to hear this year there would only be art if it 'spoke' to you. There was one small issue. No piano could possibly be included in amongst the items and and she had little hope sheet music would be there either. They were the only two items which would speak to Stephanie and she would be able to demonstrate with at the same time.

She moved over to the table and her eyes scanned what was available. No. Nothing. Then she stopped and stared at something. A book. Could it be...? Yes. Stephanie picked it up and flicked the pages of music complete with lyrics. A song which she remembered learning when her mother was still alive. This was not something Stephanie expected to find here in this room. She thought maybe songs they'd learnt in Melodic Studies but not anything muggle.

With the book held close to her chest Stephanie sat back down in her seat knowing exactly how she could use what she'd just found.

Ruby watched as member by member walked up to the table and picked an item. A smile was plastered on her face, people actually understand what she was talking about. Once everyone was finished, she stood back up and went to the front of the room. "Okay, everyone has an item now. So, I'll demonstrate my little buddy." She held up the harmonica, making sure everyone could see it. She liked how small it was and that she could fit it in her pocket or her bag. "As you can tell, I picked a harmonica." She had never played the instrument before, but it couldn't be too hard. "In all honesty, I've never even held a harmonica before today. But it spoke to me." She shrugged.

She put the metal instrument to her lips and blew. It made a squeaky sound as she blew out a random tune. She liked the way it sounded, it was actually a very pretty instrument. "Who wants to go next?"

Ryan tapped his foot as he waited for the other members to pick whatever they wanted. He didn't see the point in doing this at all, but no one else seemed to be complaining. So he kept his mouth shut as Ruby talked about her instrument. He wasn't into listening to the squeaky instrument, he looked anywhere but at the older girl.

When she was done, Ryan shrugged then took the front of the room. "I taught myself how to play," he explained. He began to strum out a slow beat, humming along as he did. "How can you truly be free if you've never learned to fly," he sang smoothly. He bowed before taking a seat.

Stephanie winced at the sounds Ruby made with her harmonica. It was not a very nice instrument at all but she couldn't say that to the excitable girl. The next one a boy she didn't know played a passable song and he could sing. It was preferable to Ruby's harmonica playing because at least he had some idea of what he was doing. She let other members go before finally Stephanie stood with the book of music.

"Today I'm going to sing without the aid of any musical instrument." She paused as she looked around the room. This felt like a very private and important part of her. Thus she was rather nervous about sharing with everyone else but she just knew she had to do it. "This song is special because it ... because it's the last song my mother taught me before she died." She swallowed once before opening up to the page and then deciding she didn't need. The words and melody were etched in her brain. Thus she opened her mouth and sang from her heart, her eyes beginning to mist before she'd finished singing the last note.

With the song now over the red-faced fifth year was quick to return to her seat and duck her head down as she rubbed at her face. Was it always going to be hard?

Malachi was too nervous to preform first and even after their leader Ruby went, his heart was pounding too fiercely in his chest for him to feel comfortable volunteering to go next. Instead, he clutched the ukulele to his chest as he watched the other member's go up.

He was surrounded by such talented people, he was sure, yet didn't know if he belonged in this group. The guy with the guitar played admirably with a song that he found inspiring and catchy and the girl that went up afterwards to sing a song truly conveyed a deep, heart-felt attachment to it with her voice. It made him feel inspired, yet intimidated at the same time.

The German watched as the girl returned to her seat, looking a bit distressed and maybe like she was going to cry. Malachi wanted to say something to her, but felt like it wasn't his place. But maybe, he thought, looking down at the instrument he had been clutching all this time, a tune on the uke would bring a smile to her face.

With that in mind, the boy stood up, his knees wobbling and his hands shaking as he placed his fingers on the frets of the instrument. "Allow me to go next," Malachi spoke up, his voice quavering. He wasn't used to playing in front of strangers and found himself incapable of introducing the song. It was a simple tune, but one that sounded rather cheerful and one he knew since childhood, which, of course, meant it was entirely in German. He started off roughly, choking on a few of the words, but then realized it wasn't that bad and grew more confident. When he finished, he offered a sheepish grin and returned to his seat.