The Pounding Goes on and on and on...

And the Pounding goes on, and on, and on…

     Yonnon could already hear the tapping of the drums from two streets away. “I can hear the pounding in my head mostly.”

     Looking at the other Korians on those very busy streets made Yonnon shake his head. “How can they live and work with all that drumming going on.”

     “I get a headache every time I come here.” Yonnon turned a corner and walked halfway down that street. He stopped in front of an old three level building. “I wouldn’t even be here if my Personal Medic didn’t insist on it.”

     The words above the door in big letters said ‘Music World’ and under it the message said ‘The best therapy on Korian is music.’ Yonnon entered that door with a big sigh. “I hate coming here twice a week.”

     “Luckily, my learning is almost over.” Yonnon took the first level hallway to the Lift Cube at the end of it. He took that up to level three. His final destination was at the other end of that hallway.

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     “Okay!” Doria stood in front of ten clear box cubes. Each one had a set of drums within them. Six already had drummers seated behind those drums. “Since almost everyone is here let’s get started.”

     Doria turned her back on her Learners and started writing names and what they were learning on a large monitor behind a desk and chair. She did it with her finger. The seventh name on that list included Yonnon. “You all may begin once you get Protection on.”

     “All of you already know where you are in your learning.” Doria finished her list. She straightened up, but before she could turn around Yonnon entered.

     Yonnon sneaked in by barely sliding open the door leading into that room. Then he used two other drummers to access one of the empty clear cubes. “I see our final drummer is here.”

     “Sorry, I’m late but I had to park my transport six streets away.” Yonnon picked up the two small metal balls on his main drum, and placed one in each of his ears before he sat down behind his drums.

====-=====-====-=====-====

     Doria sat behind her desk staring at the ten small monitors in front of her. All ten were on, but only seven were being watched. Using a control panel in front of the monitors Doria taught all seven Learners at once. Her fingers flying over the control panel.

     Yonnon continued to stare up at the monitor hovering in front of him as he finished his latest lesson. While waiting for the next lesson to appear Yonnon glanced at the drummer next to him. Then the one in front of him. Yonnon had to peer around his monitor before he could look at the one in front of him. He could see them, but he couldn’t hear them.

     A red flash of light from the monitor told Yonnon it’s time for his next lesson. Yonnon returned to the monitor as the music started to play, and he began to play the drums according to the symbols on the monitor. The music sounded loud, but no one in the other cubes seemed to notice it.

     That music played for a lot time, but Yonnon only had to play his drums during half of it. The other half he watched the monitor waiting for his cue to start playing. “This is the boring parts of the lesson.”

     “No talking.” The voice of Doria sounded like it came out next to both ears as though she stood right next to both of them.

     Yonnon got up to stretch in between music. When the red glow came on Yonnon sat back down. That music started out with a drum beginning. Yonnon’s head bobbed up and down, and from one side to side, to the music being played. He could see that on the monitor too.

     When Yonnon saw the other drummers starting to put their stuff away he knew his time was almost over. The second after the last piece of music ended the monitor automatically turned itself off and the metal balls in his ears popped out.

=====-====-=====-====-=====

     Waiting until the others left Yonnon approached Doria seating behind her desk. “Again, I wanted to say I was sorry about being late.”

     “That’s okay.” Doria never looked up to acknowledge Yonnon. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

     “I won’t.” Yonnon turned and started heading for the door.

     Doria looked up at Yonnon. “Wait, I wanted to talk to you before you left.”

     Yonnon stopped so suddenly his feet stopped, but the rest of him wanted to continue on. He pitched forward a little. “that doesn’t sound like good news.”

     “How do you think you are doing learning to play the drums?” Doria asked.

     “I guess I’m doing okay.” Yonnon said as he approached Doria.

     Doria stepped around her desk. The she leaned on it. “You are doing pretty good, but you should be doing a lot better.”

     “What are you trying to tell me?” Yonnon asked.

     “Do you like learning to play the drums?” Doria asked.

     “It’s supposed to relax me, and according to the experts it’s good for my heart too.” Yonnon didn’t say anything for about a minute before he continued. “I don’t know about my heart, but it’s definitely not relaxing.”

     “I have been discussing this with your Personal Medic, and we both agree the drums aren’t for you.” Doria started walking toward the other instruments there that lined the four walls of that room. “Music World does of other instruments that you could learn how to play.

     Yonnon started looking at the other instruments. Then he suddenly stopped. “I always wanted to learn how to play this.” He reached for a…


Note – I only used the words drum(s), drumming, drummer, music, music
       instruments etc. because of the prompt. They aren’t really called that on
       the planet of Korian.

The Word Count, including this line, is 998