“QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQSIHGSYUEYGXEJHVSJHWWGHS!”
“What on earth is that noise?” Agnes asked, as an insistent sort of metallic shrieking shook the kitchen and presumably the rest of the house and also much of the rest of the town beyond its walls.
“It’s Claire,” said Tina. “She’s playing the trumpet.”
“Who the heck gave Claire a trumpet?!”
“Dad,” said Ethel.
“Your father gave Claire a trumpet?! What possessed him to do such a thing?”
“It’s our birthday on Monday, Mum,” said Daniel. “We’re going to be TEN!”
“I know it’s your birthday on Monday, Daniel,” Agnes said. “But… a trumpet?! What did he get the rest of you? Machine guns?”
“What would we do with machine guns, Mum?” Tina asked.
“He bought us all trumpets,” Ethel explained.
“We’re forming a band,” Daniel announced, pulling a trumpet out from behind his back somehow even though Agnes could have sworn he definitely didn’t have a trumpet hidden behind his back moments earlier. “Toot!”
“Toot!” agreed Ethel.
“Toot!” Tina harmonised.
“SIHGSYUEYGXEJHVSJHWWGHSQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ!” Claire added from upstairs.
__________
Notes:
1. Written on June 3rd, 2025
2. The title is stolen from this wonderful album
