Confused Tempo (Otherwise Untitled)
#82 of Short Stories
An African Grey parrot shares his most recently favorite music with a wolf.
~ The parrot leaned forward, beak open in a wide expression like a grin. He started to nod along to the music as a low thumping began to sink into the mixture of tones. As though dubious of this enthusiasm, the wolf reached a hand out to feel the face of the old disc player. From the sounds coming out of the speakers and heading to places he couldn't reckon, the canine half expected for the whole thing to be shaking itself apart. Instead his fingers only found the soft vibrations from the spindle whir and laser tray's glide, his eyes fixing on the rhythmic tempo of the current play time's increment with each second.
~ The bird's gray plumage deployed with glee as something seemed to sort of slide into the song from sideways, as though gears grinding their way into a grooved path. "This is my favorite part.", he quietly confessed. The wolf nodded slowly, his mind racing for a polite response. "So.. 'vaporwave', you called this?" The parrot's eyes were closed, his attentions focused to the warbling ebb of klaxons weaving their way in and out of the tempo.
~ When the trumpets finally overtook the wails of a smothered diesel engine, the mammal flopped back into his beanbag chair. "I can ride this out.", he muttered softly.