Laotian Rhapsody (Roar 9 Story Excerpt)
This is a preview of my story in Roar 9
Cover art: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/27762011/
Where to buy: https://furplanet.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=991
Laotian Rhapsody (Roar 9 Story Preview)
by Al Song
The pleather-clad dhole stomped his buckle-lined boot on the polished planks of the stage to the heartbeat of the bass drum produced by the water buffalo in the back. The smooth licks of the lead guitar from the punk doe beside him flowed with the warm harmonic chords of the keyboard by the tiger. The elephant's nimble plucking of her bass guitar and the dhole's own rhythmic strumming on his six-string flowed through his veins as he howled a final string of notes from the F major scale and let a final B flat major chord ring into the crowd.
Duncan opened his eyes to a few scattered golf claps and a mostly empty bar. A couple wolves were talking as they ate nachos, and a few vixens pointed to the stage and started giggling.
An arctic fox glowered at the dhole from near the bar and shook his head.
"Woo, Seattle, we love you!" the punk clad dhole shouted into the microphone with a fist stuck up in the air. "We are Southeast Ambrosia!"
A stout badger walked onto the stage with a mic in his paw, and slid in front of the dhole. "Thank you, Ambrosia, that was... interesting. Okay, up next is karaoke so get your song selections ready folks," the emcee said as the curtain closed behind him.
"That was great, guys!" Duncan said, raising his paw for a high five as his bandmates either glared at him or averted their gazes away from the singer.
"What was that?" the arctic fox yelled from behind the dhole.
"What do you mean?" Duncan asked with a genuine smile.
"The first couple of songs you played were good, those cover songs. Then you started laying some hipster indie nonsense on the stage," the fox growled with crossed arms. "I don't pay you to drive away customers. Lenny convinced me to give you a chance, but we no longer need your services. Please leave."
"Okay, we're sorry for letting you down," Duncan said with a grimace.
"Speak for yourself," the spotted deer scolded.
The band quickly stored their instruments in their cases, packed up their equipment, and then left the bar.
"So, finance manager, how much did we make?" the dhole asked the deer.
"Duncan, we really should have stuck with the covers," she said sternly.
"So, how much is that?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
"We can now afford feta in our gyros," she said, her annoyance showing.
"Oh." He stopped in his tracks.
"We don't want to break your heart, but the music you write is... okay," Elizabeth the elephant said as tactfully as she could, resting a hand on the dhole's shoulder. "These past few gigs haven't gone very well, and the rest of us really don't want to burn bridges."
"I thought you guys liked my songs," Duncan said, defeatedly looking at the ground. "They're about immigration, and fighting xenophobia and homophobia."
"Your songs have a lot of important themes," the tiger agreed, "but like Elizabeth and Marie said, it's probably a good idea to stick with the covers."
"The problem is that they're just okay," the deer said with a sigh. "There's no wow factor to them."
The young musicians loaded their equipment and instruments into their van and then hopped aboard. Duncan remained quiet throughout the ride, watching downtown Seattle pass by as they headed up north.
To be continued in Roar 9!
Thank you for reading!