Siri and her song

She had lost her song.

The song she sang to herself as she yawned awake,
The song she hummed as she brushed her teeth.
The song kept her company at night and kept her brave in the dark. The song made her laugh as the words bounced, extending and squishing.
The song made her dance, faster and faster, toe-tapping and twirling, slower and slower.
The song was gone soon after breakfast;

She stood as still as she possibly could, as quiet as she could and listened.

Her ears searched the house reaching up to the roof, silence.
She listened inside her head and to the beat of her heart, empty.

Her song was gone.

She crept to the front door as silently as she could and left the house.

She kicked a pebble, aiming for the puddle in the road. It sploshed and splashed and she gasped, rushing to the waters edge. She peered into the puddle. The water settled. She caught sight of her reflection and growled, the yellow streaks had transformed her.

She hadn't found her song but she had found her tiger.
She prowled along the path reaching the wall where Bertie sat, kicking his heels. She roared!
A wobble betrayed him, but with as much calm as he could muster he spoke,

'What are you supposed to be?’

'I'm a tiger on the hunt for my song'

'Not a very scary tiger, you look more like a bee!'

'If I were a bee I would sting you! I've searched in all the puddles, it's not there, in any of them. I think the rain washed it away, floated it down the river and I think its at the end of the rainbow, it must be! I'm going to get it back, will you help?'

‘Sure Bumble' Bertie hopped off the wall and the pair began the journey to the end of the rainbow.

‘How did you lose your song Siri?’

‘I was turning my hair golden. The magic powder that turns the rice we had for tea from white to sunshine. I wanted to make my hair like the sun, but as I poured it on my head, I heard the tap, the pitta patta, the rain came, oh I love the rain Bertie! I couldnt finish, I shook my head, the yellow sprayed the tiles like pollen from the little blue flowers! But I couldnt stop, I raced downstairs and ran out side, I would have burst otherwise!
I ran and ran and twirled and danced and stretched my arms out, it was so much fun bert! Then the rain stopped and I skipped home for breakfast.
And then it was gone.’

Bertie whistled his tune as they walked along the road to the river bank.

‘Do you remember any of it SiriBee?’

She shook her head

‘It must be pretty quiet in there now.’

He smoothed her hair She nodded her head slowly and sadly

'Quiet can be good you know' she raised her face and met his eyes

'Lonely’

‘ Peaceful’

He took her hand and they began to follow the river. Bertie whistled and hummed, Siri brushed her palm against the swaying damp grasses and sighed.

'I sometimes hated my song Bert!’
The words cracked and she felt the tears rise, her chest swelling in pain.

‘H a t e d i t!’ The words spoken in time with her foot stomps.

‘I would scrunch my face closed, squeezing it so tightly hoping there would be no room for my song and it would disappear.’ The words tumbled from her mouth in pain

‘I didnt mean it! I didnt mean it!’ She sobbed

‘Im empty now, I didnt mean it.’ Her voice now a whisper.

They stood a moment, silently, then carried on walking.

‘Are we there yet Bertie?’

‘Where yet?’

‘The end of the rainbow. The rainbow’s over there! It doesnt seem any closer, however far we walk!
He turned and faced his friend, he held her heavy shoulders,

‘ Dont think about the rainbow, Siri, its waiting there, just try not too think about it ok?’

‘Its fading, its leaving me and taking my song.’ With a thud she plonked herslf down on the soggy grass.
Bertie plucked a little blue flower from the bank,

‘Maybe its time to let this song go Bumblebee’ he tapped the flower on the tip of her nose, and then tucked it behind her ear.

‘Let the rainbow have your song, then everytime you see the colours in the sky appear, you'll know its there.’

She breathed and breathed and allowed a smile for her friend to tickle her lips
The blue petals nestled against her head softly, stroking,

'you’re our bee Iris’ they whispered in her ear

‘I’m siri the tiger!’ She exclaimed

‘Thank you for the song iris, we will treasure it now its ours.’ yellow stardust burst from the flower head, glistening, laughing and singing on the wind.
Siri started up with a yelp

‘It’s there! I can hear it, I can touch it!’

She reached for the floating mist, stumbling and running, the blue petals now pressed in her hand as she slipped on the verge and fell, the dust sang around her, as she landed in the river. The water splashed and whirred around her, tugging at every limb, it washed and tumbled her, the petals floated away, Berts cries faded away. The water wooshed to her ears and she lay still, staring up at the sky, gliding on her back down the river, and she smiled, on the inside.

She wasn’t alone anymore, the water gurgled and splashed, her head was full of whirls and wooshes, she had no space for a song or a thought. She let the river carry her away, she couldnt see the rainbow anymore she didnt even look.

An eternity passed as she floated, clouds crossed over head, she wriggled her toes, but the water did the rest, she was effortless and thoughtless, she was carried along, she closed her eyes and drifted.

An explosion shattered her peace, violent crashes of water against her body, a dragging and shouting, till she found herslef flopped on the grass with bert kneeling beside.

‘What did you do that for?’ She spluttered

‘I saved you!’

‘ From what?’

‘The river’

‘ why?’

‘I thought id lost you siri, you didnt swim, you didnt hear me cry?’

‘I did, a little, but the water soothed it away.’
she shook her wet hair and pushed it from her newly clean face
‘The river took away my tiger too.’

‘ I thought id lost you’

‘It was nice for a while, my song’s not in the river though, I listened, but its not there.’

She looked up,

‘Thank you Bert’
He bounced up and pulled her up too,

‘Come on, lets go!

They walked some more, he sang a song, she sang along. She twirled and danced and ran and skipped glancing at the rainbow from time to time, until, just before lunch it faded away.