And Then The Music Stopped
by Greg McElhatton
 
The seven children walked in a circle, the music singing merrily about them. ?gTra la la,?h the music warbled. ?gTra la la la.?h Carrie wiped her eyes. She?fd just turned nine last week. She could still remember eating cake, opening presents. Carrie glanced at Gina, who was still trying to look tough. Carrie knew better. She?fd seen Gina cry over a skinned knee. Carrie was as tough as Gina. Tougher. And Carrie kept crying.
And then the music stopped.
Carrie jumped into the chair, wrapped her arms around the back. She was safe, she was safe, she was safe! Carrie hugged the chair tightly, looking around with wide eyes. Gina was in one of the other chairs, Paul and Jason in the next two. Don was huddled in the fifth chair, sniffling. Felicity clutched the last chair triumphantly. And Shannon?; Shannon wasn?'t in a chair.
With a shriek, Shannon vanished. The voice began to sing. And the children found themselves marching around five chairs, prisoners to the song that continued on its merry little way.
"I don?ft wanna play,?" Don whimpered. ?"I wanna go home?..."
Felicity glared at Don. ?"He's trying to mess us up! It?'s not gonna work. I?'m not gonna lose!?" Felicity bit her lip, anger on her face, and continued marching in a circle.
?"I want my momma,?" Don sniffled. "I wanna go home. I wanna go play with Shannon and Jon and Chris and?..."
"You can?'t!" Gina snapped. ?"They're- they're gone! Gone like the chairs! Gone like you"re gonna be!?" Gina drew in her breath angrily. ?"Don, will you just be quiet?"
And then the music stopped.
The children scattered for chairs, Gina moving a split second slower than the rest. Gina barely had time to scream before she vanished like so many before her.
"I did it,?" Don whispered. "I-I made Gina go away. It?'s all my fault!"
"It is not," Carrie said, her voice trembling. ?"It's all our fault. We knew not to come here. We knew not to play the games." She shivered, the air suddenly cold. "We knew." She tried to ignore the mindless babble of the song, except that she couldn't, she couldn't. She had to keep listening. Paul and Jason were looking at the faraway doors again. Maybe they were thinking of running for the way out, trying to escape. Carrie remembered what happened to the last one who tried that. Carrie trudged forward.
And then the music stopped.
Another shuffle, another moment of panic. Another scream, this one belonging to Jason. Paul began to cry for the first time since the game began. And there were three chairs left.
"We can do it," Paul finally whispered. "We all run for the door. No one sits in a chair. If no one sits the game can't make us lose."
Don sniffled. "How do you know?"
"It's got to be! If we don't sit down, it's like the music doesn't stop. We just keep running."
Carrie thought Paul sounded like he was making it up as fast as he could talk, but she didn't care. It sounded like a way out. A way they could all win. "Okay," Carrie whispered back.
"Felicity?" Paul asked, the music masking their voices as they trudged around the three chairs. Felicity merely nodded. "Okay-ready, set?-"
And then the music stopped.
"Go!" Paul shouted, running across the old floorboards, Don shaking and running after him. Carrie took a half step, and then froze-as Felicity turned back around and scrambled for a chair.
"Felicity!" Carrie screamed in terror. She looked at Paul and Don, so close to the exit-and Felicity about to sit down. Carrie chose and jumped.
"Just us left," Felicity whispered, Don's and Paul's screams echoing faintly. "Just us left." The two walked around and around the single chair.
"I hate you," Carrie lashed out. ?"I hate you!"
"I-" Felicity looked like she was going to say something, then thought better of it. The two said nothing as the voice sang along.
And then the music stopped.
"I won," she whispered, the other girl fading away. ?"I won." Felicity stood up, the final chair vanishing like all the others had. "I can go now." she took a step toward the door?c
And then the music started.
Felicity looked around in a panic. ?"Where are the chairs??" she whimpered. "Where are the chairs? What do I do?" She looked around frantically. There had to be something! What was she forgetting? Where was the chair? Whom was she playing against?
And then the music stopped.