Sir Elrod’s Castle

“Assigned to me, said Elrod. “What does that mean?”

“That you are mine to mold my dear Elrod,” said the Enchantress. “You see, I do like your music and when the job came up to help you get it out there, I volunteered.”

“Oh, when did you hear my music?”

“When you play it, my dear man,” said the Enchantress. “We’ve been keeping our eye on you and your music for quite some time.”

“Oh? Who is we?”

“All in good time, dear Elrod, all in good time. Now I want to go see your studio. I’ve been wanting to see it in person for quite some time!”

Elrod went down to the Dungeon and the Enchantress followed, still enveloped in her cloud. When they got down to the studio the Enchantress asked Elrod to show her all his instruments, equipment and gadgets he had. It was actually a very well put together little studio. Elrod had an assortment of quality musical instruments, fine microphones and preamps and all kind of quality outboard gear, his ‘black boxes’ as Elrod fondly referred to them. He also had a music computer and much music software, which Elrod used to make his arrangements. As Elrod explained his equipment, the Enchantress avidly followed all his detailed explanations, which led Elrod to believe that the Enchantress was also a musician.

“You are also a musician, aren’t you,” said Elrod.

“Yes I am. I guess it shows. I love all this equipment you have, I am envious of you.”

“Really? Well it’s yours. I mean, you can use it if you want.”

“That is sweet, dear Elrod, but I don’t know if I can get off this cloud,” said the Enchantress pointing to he cloud around her.

“How did you get in it in the first place?”

“Well, it was the only way I could reach your world.”

“And why did you need to reach my world?”

“Because you needed me, my dear Elrod,” said the Enchantress. “It looked like you were down to the last of your rope and we did not want to lose you. You have too much talent and we felt we had to help you.”

“There goes that ‘we’ again. Who is we?”

“Like I said, all in good time,” said the Enchantress. “My job here is to help you get your music out into the world.”

TO BE CONTINUED!

Elrod’s fears were unfounded. The lady laughed and she said:

“I am touched, Elrod Geare, though I don’t think you have any idea of what love is.”

“I’ve written many songs about love,” said Elrod. “I have an idea that love is what I am feeling now.”

“No Elrod,” said the lady. You only know love from books, from what you’ve read and from the few videos you have seen… You do have videos here, don’t you?

“Videos?”

“Yes movies, they have provided you with movies here, haven’t they?” Said the lady.

“Oh yes,” said Elrod. I’ve watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I’ve named my kois after them.”

“You have watched no other movies in your whole life? That’s the only one they’ve given you?

“Also the Wizard of Oz… I do have some music movies. Simon and Garfunkle, the Eagles, Queen Aerosmith, Sting and a few others.”

“That’s all you have? No movies where people fall in love?”

“Snow White…”

“Yes I know that!” said the lady interrupting Elrod. “You said that already!”

“Oh…”

“It’s ok, Elrod. Do you even know who you are?”

“I’m Elrod Geare.” He though about it a few seconds. “Sir Elrod Geare.”

“No Elrod, you are not a ‘Sir’ more than I am. Sir is a title that has to be given to you by the queen for meritorious service to your country. You have done nothing to merit that.”

“I’ve written many songs…,” said Elrod. I’ve read that other people have gotten a ‘Sir’ from writing songs….”

“Yes you have written many songs, that you have. But you get a ‘Sir’ with a capital ‘S’ when you have written many songs that have touched many people. How many people have you touched with your music, ‘Sir’ Elrod Geare?

“That is my dream, to play for people…”

“Yes Elrod, but let me go back to my original question, do you even know who you are?”

“Yes, I am Elrod Geare.”

“And who, may I ask, is Elrod Geare?”

“It’s me.”

“And who named you Elrod Geare?”

Elrod stood still for a moment, looked down and became lost in his thoughts. Then he looked up at the lady and said:

“I don’t know.”

“Yes Elrod, you don’t know. But I am here to help you discover who you are and assist you to realize your dreams.”

“Thank you, but why?” said Elrod looking into her eyes.

“Because my dear Elrod I too like your eyes and because it’s my job. My dear I am the Enchantress of the Magic Martin and I have taken a fancy to you.”

TO BE CONTINUED!

Sir Elrod was very tired. He had worked in the song and the arrangement for twenty four straight hours and before that he had
spent almost a day hiking in the underground caverns of his Little Kingdom. He wanted to go back to the cave where he found the Martin guitar that led him to the Lady, but first he had to get some sleep. Elrod turned into his little sleeping cell in the castle and fell asleep the minute his head hit his pillow.

Sir Elrod slept for a long, long time and kept dreaming the different versions of the same dream. It was always the Beautiful Lady who was there with him. Sometimes she took him out of his world through the hole in the sky, sometimes they left through a tunnel underground. But most of the time they left through the screen of his music program. Elrod woke up after such a dream when they ‘flew’ right through the screen and that really puzzled him. He then went down to the Dungeon Studio and turned on the monitor for his music program.

“Gosh, dreams are strange,” he said to himself. “How can we possibly travel through a display screen?” Then he saw the Martin guitar. He picked it up and started playing it.

“Beautiful tone, what a nice guitar!”

The he started remembering how he met the Lady. He had been playing his new song and it led inevitably to a chord… Yes, a new chord he had never played or heard before! But try as he might he just could not find it. But the guitar was very nice to play and he spent a good part of the day in the studio playing. Then he took the Martin along and decided to go out to the deck of the castle. When he went out on the deck he was almost overcome by sheer beauty. The wild flowers had taken over the old thorny meadows. Orange poppies, the color of his koi fish were everywhere! He was so excited that he played a chord on his guitar out of pure joy. And the chord was the missing chord!

A cloud formed out of the headstock of the Martin and there she was, the Beautiful Lady! She was even more beautiful than he remembered and Sir Elrod was overcome. But this time he decided he was going to maintain his composure and not drift away into music land. He barely was able to turn off the stream of music that was beginning to flood his brain and with a great effort he smiled at the lady and was able to speak:

“Hi, I am Elrod Geare and I welcome you to Macadonia, I love you!”

Right after he had said that he winced. He had read somewhere that it was bad form to say ‘I love you’ to a girl who you had just met, and he had a feeling that he had committed a cardinal sin.

TO BE CONTINUED!

To Sir Elrod’s amazement the cloud contained a human form, and not just any human form, but that of a beautiful lady. Elrod just stood there, open mouthed and mesmerized by her face, the first female human face he had seen in the flesh in his short life. To Sir Elrod it seemed like hours had passed as he just stood there admiring the apparition, and he doubtless
would have stood there forever dumbfounded had not the lady had spoken to him:

“So you are Elrod Geare. Interesting. I had pictured you a bit younger and not so skinny.” Said the Lady. Elrod still could not speak. He just stood there, looking at her.

“Don’t you know how to speak? Has solitude robbed you of the gift of gab or are you dumb, in more ways than one!” The lady laughed and her laughter to Elrod was the most wonderful thing. It evoked in his mind visions of bells and birds singing like…, yes like a nightingale, he had seen a video of a nightingale singing and to him it sounded just like this beautiful lady. He closed his eyes and music rushed his brain and at that moment he wished he was in his little recording studio so he could put down the music of this magnificent vision with the aid of his wonderful black boxes. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he was back in his little Dungeon Studio!

That startled Elrod a bit but not for long, there was no time to lose! There was wonderful music to record and he got down to work on it, momentarily forgetting about the Lady who had been the source of his inspiration. First he recorded a sketch of his song by playing his guitar and humming the melody into his recording software. Then, and only then, he noticed that the guitar he was using wasn’t his usual one, but a new Martin acoustic/electric. Thoughts of his adventures underground and of the Lady of the Martin insinuated themselves into his mind but he put them aside, afraid to lose his musical ideas. After making a sketch of his song, Elrod started fleshing it out with different instruments. He played a second guitar line, then added a bass and a basic drum track on his Roland V-Drums. Then he played a piano part on his keyboard and added some string pads. The arrangement was taking shape and Elrod like it, it felt good! Now time to add some loops for sweetening here and there, The little snipets of music put down by Ancient Music Masters and made available to Elrod as Cd-rom libraries came into play. A saxophone riff came to life and was added to the mix, then a brass section provided some stabs in just the right places. It was very much to Elrod’s liking and it was good, very good!

It wasn’t until several hours later than the arrangement for the song was finished. Elrod then listened. It totally met his approval and it was worthy of being stored away with the many others. Only after Elrod had put away the mix of his new song did he allow himself to think of what had happened and wished he was still in the cave. He needed to go back
to the vision of the Beautiful Lady.

TO BE CONTINUED!

When Elrod’s clothes were dried he put them back on and started walking again. Soon he came to another place where the tunnel split in two directions. One of them was into a relatively small room and looking inside Elrod saw a wonderful sight: a black guitar on a stand!

When Elrod dove head first into the rock he had put his guitar down, so that when he had catapulted into the cave Elrod had come without his ever preset guitar. Up to that point Elrod had not missed playing his guitar, in fact he had not even thought about it as he was too busy getting around the cave. But seeing the guitar made Elrod eager to play and he
picked up the guitar and started strumming his tunes.

The guitar was a Martin, a brand that Elrod knew, as he had one that had come with his studio. The Martin sounded sweet as a Martin should,and soon Elrod lost track of time as he played his songs. As he played on, Elrod started improvising and playing what he knew of his life into a Form of sound. Once more he played about what he knew:

“My name is Elrod Geare, I live in the Valley of Macadonia, land of Olde Cubanacan. I have no idea how I got here or where I am going and I do like my little world a lot but it’s a very lonely place. If I had people here I could play for I would be very happy. Ideally I would like to get out and gig all over the world, playing for people everywhere. I know there is a world out there, yes I know there is a world out there. I see it when I bang my head against the sky.”

And Elrod played on and on, composing the story of his short life. As he played he wished he was back in his little Dungeon Studio where he could record all the wonderful new sounds, but no, he was stuck in a cave under his valley of Macadonia and he had absolutely no idea how to get out… he played on and on and on, and the music was his thoughts, and his thoughts was the music and it all blended down to a stream of strawberry marmelade colored thought-flow.

Elrod became liquid, his thoughts were liquid, the music was liquid and it all went downstream to a logical place where there should be a new chord, one that Elrod had never played before. Elrod could ’see’ and ‘feel’ the chord and his fingers reached for it as his guitar led him inexorably to the music’s inevitable conclusion. Elrod strummed the new chord and for a moment the world stopped, as it had never been formed or fashioned into anything tangible. Then a cloud started to form from the headstock of the Martin guitar and coalesce into a form, a human form.

TO BE CONTINUED!

When Sir Elrod woke up he was cold and hungry. The gentle mist had soaked him and made him uncomfortable. He removed his clothes and found a spot away from the waterfall where he could hang them to dry. The temperature was very comfortable and the air in the cave was arid, so his clothes should not take too long to dry. As he was hanging up his clothes a spot of color caught his eyes. Sure enough, wild berries! Elrod had no idea nor he cared at the time how the berries could grow in the tunnel, he was hungry! Elrod tasted the berries and they were good and sweet . After he had eaten his fill, he gave the matter of the light some thought. Apparently the phosphorescent glow gave enough light for the berries to grow. He
could not still figure out where the light came from as it just seemed to permeate the whole space.

Sir Elrod rested a while as he waited for his clothes to dry, and took the opportunity to assess his situation. He was caught under a system of caves and tunnels under his valley world of Macadonia. He had no idea where he was or how he could get out to the outside or even back to his world. But Sir Elrod was optimistic. He was sure that he was on his way to get out to the outside world, where he could play his wonderful music for the people.

Up to that point Sir Elrod had no idea where he had come from or even who he really was. All he knew is that one day he had awaken in the small valley World of Macadonia. He had no idea where he had been before. He knew his name was Elrod Geare and in the dungeon studio there was a sign by the door that read ‘Sir Elrod’s Dungeon Studio,’ so he had taken a fancy to the ‘Sir’ and started thinking of himself in that way. His world of Macadonia consisted of a small
valley, surrounded by impenetrable mountains, an ample though drafty castle, (which Elrod had left unnamed), complete with a dungeon recording studio that was the joy of Elrod’s lonely existence. Outside there was a small forest, the size of a small city block and a koi pond. Now Sir Elrod could add the underground tunnels to his world, that is if he ever could get out and back into his valley. That was not Elrod’s concern at the moment though. His goal was to
get out of the valley altogether to the world of people. He wanted to play his music for people, it was the driving force of his life.

Not that he wasn’t relatively happy in his little world. As I said, the Dungeon recording studio gave Elrod many hours of creative pleasure and his Castle was an enchanting place. He also had his koi and a talking owl in the forest. But Elrod did not know who he was or where he had come from. All that he knew was that he was a music man who wrote many wonderful songs, and that he had a terrible longing to get out and played them for other people. Sir Elrod was sure there were other people. somehow he remembered a world where he wasn’t alone. But he had no idea how to get to it.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Sir Elrod ran to he spot where he last had seen Elsie The doe by the big rock in the forest. When he arrived, And still running, he dove head first into the rock. You would expect Elrod to bang his head and knock Himself out, but he had seen the fish swim though the Water and had had an epiphany as to how the deer got In and out of his world.

Sure enough, instead of banging against the rock and knocking Himself out, Sir Elrod went right through the rock to the other Side. He found himself in a cave illuminated by a strange Phosphorescent glow, unlike anything he had ever seen or read About. Elrod looked back to where he had come in and could find No trace of an opening. That didn’t worry him much at
the time, As his goal was to escape the golden prison of Macadamia, not to Go back to it. After spending a few minutes getting his bearings, Sir Elrod set out to explore the cave in earnest.

The cave was very large and extended as far as the eye could see in Several directions. Then it branched out in a series of tunnels. Actually it seem to be more of a catacomb than a
Cave, as many of the pillars and tunnels were obviously of manmade origin. He picked one of the tunnels at random and started exploring his new world.

The tunnel had the same outwardly illumination as the main cave and it was Narrow and just high enough so that Elrod could walk upright, though he Had to bend down in several spots where the ceiling was of shorter height. Elrod walked for several miles and started to feel
dizzy and fatigued, as he hadn’t Eaten for several days. As he came close to a spot where the tunnel branched out in two directions, he heard the sound of running water, Elrod was also getting thirsty, so he headed in the direction of the sound of water.

A few more minutes of walking rewarded Elrod with a small pleasant waterfall. He drank the water and it was very sweet, almost having the taste of honey. Sir Elrod reveled in the water, washing his hands and face and later he rested by the waterfall. The sound of the water comforted Elrod and he fell sleep, curled up in front of the water that was falling, the fresh mist
Cooling and refreshing him as he slumbered.

TO BE CONTINUED!

The incident with the deer threw Elmo into the longest depression of his short life. Dark moods haunted Sir Elrod occasionally, but they did not last for long, a day or so at the most. Usually a new song idea would get Sir Elrod out of his ugliest mood and into his dungeon studio where he could bring his new creation to life. Not this time.

Days passed and Sir Elrod did not even descend to the dungeon of his castle, where his wonderful little studio awaited him. He just sat on the wooden recliner on the deck and stared out into the thistle patch that was a poor excuse for a meadow in his little world. Even the appearance of the first spring flowers failed to get Sir Elrod out of his dark funk, which was very unusual as the spring flowers were one of the joys of his little fiefdom.

As Sir Elrod descended deeper and deeper into depression he started to wish there was a way to end what seemed for him to be his miserable and useless existence. “What’s the point of being given such talents,” he would say to himself, ” singing and playing and writing and recording if there is no one to share it with?. I wish I wasn’t alive, I wish I was never born!”

After that, Elrod stopped eating, as it wanting to commit suicide by starving himself to death. He would leave his cot in the morning and make his way to his wooden recliner on the deck and plop himself down and just stare into space. Today there were new flowers on the thistle patch. This year they were of many more colors than in other years. Some were of an unusual shade of orange, same as the koi in the pond behind the castle. Thinking about the fish distracted Sir Elrod from his gloomy mood.

Sir Elrod hadn’t been out to see the fish in quite a few days and he usually brought them food he made from vegetables he grew in a little garden patch he cultivated. He felt suddenly
guilty for neglecting his fish and got up fast to get the food and feed them. Getting up so suddenly made Sir Elrod very dizzy. He hadn’t eaten in quite a few days and was very weak. Elrod is a strong willed person and just thinking he was weak made him more determined to get up and go feed the fish. He pushed himself up, went and got the food and slowly made his way behind the castle to the koi pond to feed his beloved creatures.

As Elrod stood in front of the pond, the fish saw his silhouette and started swimming about, as fish always recognize those who feed them and love them. Elrod started feeding the fish
and the koi swam fast through the water trying to catch the bits of food as they sank into the pond. Elrod’s eyes got wide as he suddenly knew how the deer got in and out of his world! He finished feeding the fish and walked a straight line, as fast as his weakened legs could take him, to the spot in the forest where he had last seen Elsie the doe disappear out of his sight.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Horny, the resident owl of the Macadonia Forest was a very unusual creature. He was seldom seen and always at night when the clouds parted to reveal the full moon that always shone at night in the valley of Macadonia in Olde Cubanacan.

For one thing he was a talking owl and the only creature with whom Sir Elrod could have a conversation of sorts. I say of sorts because all Horny could say was ‘yes, Elrod, hoot hoot ‘ and ‘no, Elrod, hoot hoot.’ Elrod could never be sure if the yeses and noses were in fact the owl’s opinion or just arbitrary musings of the animal. But since Sir Elrod had no one else in
his little world who to ask a question, the owl would have to do.

Elrod: “There you are Horny, did you see the deer?”

Horny: “Yes, Elrod, hoot hoot.”

Elrod: “Good, did you see where she went?”

Horny: “Yes, Elrod, hoot hoot.”

Elrod: Good, “I saw her disappear right here… is there a gate in this spot?” said Elrod pointing to the rock.

Horny: “No, Elrod, hoot hoot.”

Elrod: “Aha!, said Elrod, going behind the boulder “then it’s behind the rock!”

Horny: “No, Elrod, hoot hoot.”

Then Sir Elrod pointed everywhere, to the sides, to the top, in front. in back. underneath and always the answer from Horny was the same, no, Elrod hoot hoot. Tired, frustrated and disgusted Sir Elrod then sat in front of the rock, leaning against it.

Elrod: “Horny, am I ever gonna get out of here?”

Horny: “Yes, Elrod, hoot hoot.”

Elrod: “But when horny, I want to know when, do you know when?”

Horny: “No, Elrod, hoot hoot.”

Elrod: “Tell me Horny please, I need to know!” said Elrod to the owl almost desperately. The owl answered Sir Elrod desperate plea by flying away into the night.

Elrod: “Noooo, Horny nooo!!!” cried Sir Elrod as the owl got lost into the night. Then the perennial full moon of the Land of Olde Cubanacan went behind the clouds and Elrod was left alone in the dark of his little world.

TO BE CONTINUED!

It was an unusually warm day in the little valley of Macadonia. The sun was out most of the morning, which was really a strange thing in the usually cloudy world. Sir Elrod worked up a rare sweat doing his daily calisthenics in the old rickety deck, then sat in his wooden recliner and let the sun warm his ample forehead.

Sir Elrod had not worked in his dungeon studios for several days now. His usual zest to write new songs and record was overtaken by a more pressing desire to escape his little world and play music for people, real people. Then out of the corner of his eyes he saw one of the deer
of the nearby forest cautiously approach the apple that he had put out to lure them. Sir Elrod turned carefully on his side and watched the animal cautiously approach the apple. It was hard for Sir Elrod to give up one of his precious apples. The tree in the castle courtyard only gave a few every year and Sir Elrod relished each and everyone of them. But Sir Elrod needed to get out of the prison of his virtual world and he thought that the deer held the key to his escape.

Sir Elrod was sure that the animals slipped in and out of his world and he intended to find the gate that they used to do so. The reason he was so sure was that the forest of Macadonia was very small, just the size of a regular city block. Yet the deer were seldom seen and when Sir Elrod looked for them in the forest he could never find them. Elrod flinched as the deer took a bite out of the apple, then cringed when the rest of the fruit disappeared down the gullet
of the doe. For it was Elsie, the female of the deer pair who had taken Elrod’s bait. Elsie started to leave and Sir Elrod cautiously got up and followed her into the woods. When she got to the clearing in the middle of the forest, next to a large rock that Elrod often sat upon when he walked that way, the deer stopped. Sir Elrod crouched behind a tree and watched the deer nuzzle some grass in front of the rock. Then Elsie vanished into thin air!

“Aha!” Sir Elrod said aloud. “That’s where the gate is, I knew it!” Then he hurried to the spot but try as he might he could not find the gate that the deer had used. He even got down on all fours and grazed the grass as Elsie had. But it was all for naught. The gate was nowhere to be found. Sir Elrod spent hours and hours going around the spot, replaying the actions of the deer in his mind. He just could not find the spot! Day gave way to night in Macadonia, and because it was a fairly clear evening, Elrod heard the hooting of Horny, the local talking horned
owl. “I bet Horny knows!” said Sir Elrod to himself and went to look for the owl. He had not taken more than a couple of steps when Horny the owl flew to the tree opposite the boulder in question.

TO BE CONTINUED!