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elm-writes-stories · 4 months

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Sing(My Version) Rewrite Chapter 1:

*Hey guys, I'm back with the first chapter of my rewrite of my version of Sing! Yay! This is published on December 18, 2023. If you guys like this first chapter, don't forget to reblog, heart it, and comment! That would be greatly appreciated. I wrote my own songs for this new chapter, so I'm sorry in advance if the song-writing sucks. If I practice more, I'll get better at it. For now, I hope you guys enjoy it!*

The stage was lit up by purple and blue colors.

Today was the day the world will look upon the greatest show in the history of animal kind.

“Here is where it all started,” a voice boomed from the stage. The koala in a tight blue suit emerged from the curtains with a headset attached to the side of his face and a microphone in front of his lips. The curtain parted, revealing a black sheep on stage dressed in sparkly lavender dress standing on top of a cut-out of a hill. She was a statue singing to the moon.

The koala continued, “Here is where an ordinary little guy fell in love with the theater.”

The curtain closed after he said that.

“Everything about it. From the sounds—”

The little saxophone played a couple of notes in the background.

“—the lighting—”

The stage lit up in all different colors.

“—to even the smell of lavender—”

The stage curtains parted and the purple dust flowed out from the darkness. The lights came on with silhouettes of a young koala peering over the edge of the balcony with the adult koala holding him.

“He was only six years old at the time and his dream to become the first marsupial in space were…replaced,” the koala replied.

The light flickered to show the next slide of the silhouettes of the koala, now an adult, standing in front of the red ribbon with his father beside him and a cheering crowd in front of them.

“Some folks may have said that he grew up to become the greatest showman.”

The silhouettes changed with a flicker of the light with the audience praising the koala while holding awards.

“Some folks called him a visionary.”

The silhouettes changed again under the flicker of the light and revealed the audience screaming at the koala angrily, throwing tomatoes at him.

“Some called him insane.”

The koala became more centered on stage, taking the attention away from the silhouettes. “But I believe wonder and magic don’t come easy. And, oh, there will never be a doubt where the name Buster Moon will go down in entertainment history. I should know because I’m Buster Moon!”

The imaginary cheering from the audience was replaced by the creaking noises of the theater. The colorful lights were only imaginary lights replaced by the pale sunlight shining through the ceiling drafts.

The red curtains that were on stage never moved an inch and Buster Moon, the koala in the tight blue suit, stood in front of the empty stage and faced the empty red seats all throughout the rows and the balconies.

Buster realized that he didn't have the headset and the microphone on and he was giving an imaginary performance in front of the invisible audience members. He sighed deeply. “Great exercise for the day, Moon.”

“Are you talking to your invisible audience again, Mr. Moon?” A sweet voice rang from the side.

Buster turned his head and noticed the antelope assistant secretary approaching him named Mizuki. She had a blue notepad in her hooves with the pen.

“Ah, Mizuki, you’re here early,” Buster replied with a bright smile.

“Bright and early,” Mizuki claimed eagerly.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he responded with a grin and hurried over by her side. “Alright, fill me in. What’s on the agenda today?”

They started to walk to the stage and up the steps towards his office.

“Well, you have an appointment with the bank at three o’clock this afternoon,” she responded.

He nodded his head with a ‘Mhm’.

“And you have the stage crew from your last show wanting their paychecks since the ones you gave them bounced,” she added.

He clenched his teeth. “Ooh, yeah. I really need to find the money to pay them. It’s not fair to hold them out for this long—”

They heard banging noises as they entered the hallway to get to Buster’s office. Their eyes widened when they noticed that there was a crowd of animals noticing them with angry looks on their faces.

“I mean to tell you that they’re already here,” Mizuki whispered to Buster.

Buster awkwardly wave at them with a nervous smile. “Hey guys…”

He immediately took Mizuki by the hoof and led her back downstairs and towards the backstage.

“GET BACK HERE, MOON!!!”

“How long have they been here?” Buster whispered to Mizuki harshly. “Please don’t tell me that they’ve come in while I was talking to myself.”

“Uh…no. They got here before you did,” she whispered back.

“Oh geez…Did you think they heard me?”

“Uh…they would’ve already been on stage to strangle you if they had.”

“Good point.”

“MOON, GIVE US OUR PAYCHECKS!!!”

“Uh! There’s some technical difficulties! I’ll fix it later!” Buster looked back to see the angry stage crew chasing after them.

“Pay us now!” the chimp demanded angrily.

“Again! Technical difficulties! What part of technical difficulties did you not hear?!” Buster shouted at the stage crew.

Buster and Mizuki approached the half crescent moon cut-out and the koala pulled the lever. He hopped on it while pulling Mizuki up on it with him. The moon raised them up away from the angry crew.

“THIS ISN’T OVER MOON!”

Buster sighed in relief while Mizuki was holding onto the moon cut-out for dear life. They hopped off of the cut-out and balanced themselves across the planks, careful to not fall.

“Anything else I need to know before going into my office?” Buster asked in a peppy voice.

“Ms. Crawly is getting your coffee.”

“Ah, that’s one good news,” he said with a calmer tone. They approached the wall that had a hole in it in front of the other wall. Only except, it wasn’t the other wall. Buster removed it so easily and squeezed through the hole to approach his office.

“I didn’t know you have a secret passageway to your office,” Mizuki gasped in shock while crawling through.

Buster held the framed poster up and waited till Mizuki was all the way through to align it right. “Yeah. You never know when you’re going to need it.”

Mizuki sat on the couch with small giggle. “Oh! I almost forgot you also have lunch with Eddie Noodleman at Les Calamars around noon.”

He froze and twitched his ears. “Uh…I didn’t schedule that—”

“Really? Ms. Crawly put it down on the notes,” Mizuki said while looking at the notes.

Buster sighed. “That crazy lizard.”

On cue, Ms. Crawly, the iguana with her glass eye out of place, entered the office with a smile. “Good morning, Mr. Moon.”

“Ah, speak of the devil. Good morning to you too, Ms. Crawly. What a lovely morning, isn’t it?” Buster responded while running up to his office chair.

Ms. Crawly placed the white coffee cup on his wooden desk. “It is. It is. I brought you some coffee.”

Buster noticed it empty. “Really?” he showed the empty coffee cup with confusion in his face. “Where is it?”

“Oh dear, I must have drank it on the way up those stairs,” Ms. Crawly uttered. Before she could walk away, Buster sat on the edge of the desk while holding the empty coffee cup.

“You scheduled me with Eddie today?” Buster questioned.

“Oh yes, Eddie called you several times throughout the week. Eddie called me and asked if he could talk to you. Well, you weren’t available at the moment yesterday since…you were doing something else on stage, so I told him that I can put you down to spend some time with him,” Ms. Crawly responded with a smile.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Buster responded, faking a smile. “Wait, how much does it cost? I would—”

“Oh, don’t worry, Eddie covered it,” Ms. Crawly responded.

“Oh, he shouldn’t have to do that—”

“He insisted, Mr. Moon. Strongly insisted.”

Buster sighed. “Of course.”

“I suggest you go out to eat with him. He can help out with the theater situation.”

“No, this is something I oughta do on my own…if I involve him…well, I don’t know. It might be too much of a burden for him to help me out.”

“Oh, Mr. Moon, you can’t assume that. You and Eddie have been friends since college.”

“Eddie Noodleman…as in…wait, is he the grandson of Nana Noodleman?” Mizuki asked Ms. Crawly.

Ms. Crawly nodded her head. “Why yes. They’re the richest family in Bell City.”

Mizuki brightly smiled. “That is a great opportunity to ask for help!”

Buster shook his head. “I’ve already wasted the bank’s loans by making mediocre productions. I wouldn’t have the appointment with the bank if I hadn’t. If we make another mediocre production, I would’ve ended up wasting the funds from Eddie’s family.”

Mizuki frowned at Buster’s words.

“Fine, I’ll go out and have lunch with him, but I’ll strongly decline his help with the payments,” Buster responded with a positive smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out. I always do.”

“You better hurry. It’s almost noon,” Ms. Crawly alerted Buster of the time.

“Already?!” Buster shrieked. “Great, my day has only just started.”

Buster got up from his seat and placed his coffee cup down on the desk. “Welp, ladies, I’m taking off!” He hurried towards the poster before forgetting something. He went back and grabbed two metal lunch boxes. “Just in case.”

Buster moved the framed poster out of the way and entered through the hole in the wall.

Ms. Crawly and Mizuki watched the poster swing close as Mizuki straightened it.

“I don’t think the restaurant will let Mr. Moon take the lunch boxes in,” Ms. Crawly whispered to Mizuki.

“Should we tell him?”

Ms. Crawly shrugged. “I think he knows. Want to help me with filing?”

“Sure!” Mizuki responded excitedly and both of the ladies went over to Ms. Crawly’s desk next to Buster’s office.

~.~

Buster brought his red bike out of the theater and scrolled through his phone to find out that he did miss a lot of calls from Eddie. The koala let out a sigh and scrolled through his music app called Songify. He took out his earbuds from his pocket and untangled the wire as quickly as he could. He plugged the wire into his phone and placed the earplugs into his round ears. Turning up the music, he got onto his bike and pedaled down the streets of Bell City.

The music begin to play, but it seems to be a record scratching at first until the choir sang majestically like angels from the Heavens and echoed into the koala’s eardrums. The buildings turned into cardboard settings in Buster’s mind with the lights lit up from the voices of the choir. The world itself became a stage and Buster was part of it.

“Heey!!”

The music stopped and a deep tenor voice croon.

“Ladies and Gentlemen

Welcome to the show.”

The choir sang with all of their hearts, appearing on the sidewalks Buster was riding by.

“Heey!!”

The koala stepped out into the scene on the curb of the intersection with the white top-hat and suit, with a small stick that had the crystal under his paw.

“Sit back and relax.

This is only the beginning.”

The choir appeared behind the koala, with different animals wearing white robes. The citizens around them ignored the singing choir and koala, their focus on their phones.

“Heey!!”

The koala sang beautifully while the music started to pick up in the middle of his verse.

“Watch and be dazzled

Ignore the misery you carried.

Let it take your breath away.

Trap you in a fantasy land.

Leave behind the burdens of reality!”

The koala started to lead to a dance, letting the choir behind him dance with him. The animal citizens shifted their attention away from their phones to find them dancing. They all started to follow Buster, dancing behind him without him being aware.

“Don’t resist it, you know you want it.

Fly your colors in the sky.

Who cares what comes next?

The crowd cheers for you.

Can’t you hear it coming closer?

Don’t resist it, let it take over.”

The pig with gold sparkling jacket and sweatpants drummed on the trashcans Buster was pedaling by. The notes of the music had gotten intense with the koala’s voice going higher.

“Your heart burns in your chest.

Let your big dreams lead you.

March to the beat of the drums.

Break through your walls,

Holding you back from your potential.

Tell me, don’t you want to take a leap of faith?”

The beat dropped while the animals, including the citizens, dance to the unnamed choreography together. The sky lit up from the sun glowing brighter. The music intensified when the chorus hit.

“Where we are covered in gold,

Where gangs become family,

Big dreams come true!

Anything is possible!

Oh, let your heart sing!”

Buster took a turn to the right into another street and entered a huge park full of green grass and trees, being followed by the dancing citizens.

“Lift your voices, don’t let it drown!

And the world can’t stop you!

Make these come true!

Anything is possible!

Oh, let your heart sing!”

The choir sang angelically as Buster rode down the stairs in the middle of the city park.

“Heey!!”

The koala kept singing his heart out while dancing on the stairs.

“The new age will rise.

The new generation is born.”

The choir danced on the steps with the koala.

“Heey!!”

The koala reached to the bottom of the steps with a little hop.

“Where the outcasts become performers

And we give them a round of applause.”

The choir sang louder and the music had gotten more intense.

The koala brightly smiled and followed Buster onto another street, ushering more animals to dance with him.

“Don’t resist it, you know you want it.

Let it shine through the streets.

Fly your colors in the sky.

Who cares what comes next?

Break through your walls

Holding you back from your potential.

Take the leap of faith.”

The beat dropped while every animal dance in the street behind Buster without Buster being aware of them dancing.

“Where we are covered in gold,

Where gangs become family,

Big dreams come true!

Anything is possible!

Oh, let your heart sing!

Lift your voices, don’t let it drown!

And the world can’t stop you!

Make these come true!

Anything is possible!

Oh, let your heart sing!”

They reached to the end of the song while the lead koala singer and the choir gave it their all. The lights flickered up in the sky and the fireworks exploded behind them.

“Oh, let your heart sing!

Oh, let your heart sing!

Oh, let your heart sing!”

The number ended with Buster taking out his earplugs as soon as he arrived at the fancy restaurant called Les Calamars. He looked at the time on his watch to realize that it was broken. He looked at the time on his phone to realize that he was a few minutes late.

Buster turned around to find that there were no dancing animals or singers behind him. He sighed and secured his bike on the railing.

~.~

Buster opened the doors to Les Calamars and looked through the animals dining.

He spotted a sheep with white wool on top of his head like an afro on his phone with a red rubber jacket and a yellow and white striped shirt underneath. He laid back against the chair with the orange shorts pulled up to his lower back. The sheep wore a red bead necklace Buster gave him when they met in high school. That was how Buster could tell it was Eddie.

Eddie noticed Buster from the corner of his eyes and turned his head to look at the koala. The sheep smiled and waved his hoof.

Buster grinned sheepishly and blushed. He walked across the restaurant and hopped up on the chair across from Eddie.

“Look who shows up. I almost thought that you might cancel on me again,” Eddie said with a teasing smile.

“Sorry about last time. I, uh, got busy…”

Eddie tilted his head. “Did another show flop again?”

Buster faked a smile. “What?! No, no—”

Eddie arched a brow, not convinced by Buster’s lie.

The koala sighed heavily. “Sort of.”

“How much do you have to pay back in loans? I can get my parents to help you pay it back so that you can keep the theater.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll handle it.”

“How are you going to get more money? Rob a bank?”

Buster scratched his chin. “Hmm.”

“Don’t you even think about it, Buster.”

“You’re the one who put the idea in.”

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully. “I’m telling you, my parents are loaded. It’ll be a one time thing if you’re more comfortable with that.”

“Eddie, please, I know you’re trying to help me, but you don’t need to.”

“Come on, man. The bank is going to try to repossess the theater. How are you going to have money magically appear in your pocket to pay back the loans you’ve borrowed?”

Buster frowned and looked away.

Eddie laid back with a sigh. “All I’m saying is, I want to help you in any way I can. If you won’t allow me to…I’ll accept that. But know that I’m here when you need me, okay? I always got your back no matter what.”

The koala smiled softly. “Of course.”

The pig waitress came by their table. “Hello, my name is Rosita and I’ll be taking your orders. Would you like to order anything?”

“Oh, um, uh…I won’t get anything—”

“Don’t worry, I got it covered,” Eddie reassured Buster.

“Eddie—”

“You’re not starving on my watch.” Eddie shifted his attention to the pig waitress. “Could I get a shrimp salad with ranch please? And whatever he has.”

Rosita, the pig waitress, wrote down the order and waited for Buster to order something.

Buster blinked in shock and looked at the menu. “Um…could I get, um…uh…tuna sandwiches with eucalypt tea on the side?”

She nodded her head with a small friendly smile. “Of course, I’ll get those right away. Let me take these menus.” She picked the menus up from the boys. She hurried away with the menus in her hooves.

Eddie smiled at his friend.

“You sure you got it covered? Maybe I should take back my order—”

“Hey, it’s fine. I got you,” Eddie responded.

Buster sighed and rested his head on his paw.

Eddie frowned and changed the subject. “Soo, how is the new secretary assistant? I heard she’s helping Ms. Crawly with things.”

“Yeah, Ms. Crawly was getting too old to keep track of things. Mizuki was willing to help, so I hired her.”

“Oh, so that’s her name.”

“Yep,” Buster answered with a little blush.

“Um…are you having a—?”

“No, she has a boyfriend.”

Eddie blinked and smirked. “How do you know I was going to ask that?”

“Because I know you, Eddie.”

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully with a humorless chuckle. “Har Har. Come on, you were a looker in college.”

Buster’s shoulders tensed up a bit.

“I see you get girls and guys crushing on you. And you don’t even notice them.”

“I was studying during college.”

“I know.”

Buster rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a crush on Mizuki. It’s unprofessional to even pursue that anyway.”

“Oh, I understand that completely,” Eddie responded. “Just saying though. You blushed when you mentioned her.”

The koala shook his head. “Let’s just skip the subject.”

“Alright. Alright. Um, what’s your next big idea? Whatever you got, you gotta bring the house down…or should I say bring it up from financial debt?”

“I—I don’t know, Eddie. Nobody wants to see any of the musicals and I haven’t done the best. I couldn’t even pay my last stage crew. I gotta think of something big and eye-catching. Something that will wow the world.”

They heard humming noises and looked to see the waitress, Rosita, coming in with their orders while singing soothingly,

“Oh, my darling, my darling, my darling sunshine.

You shine brighter than the sun and the moon combine.

Can’t you, can’t you, can’t you, can’t you see?

I’m blinded by the way you smile at me.”

Buster seemed captivated by her voice, tilting his head to listen more. Rosita put their orders on the table while singing quietly,

“Oh, I want to...

Dance with you, dance with you, dance with you, oh-oh.

Twirl you into my arms and sweep you off of your feet.

I want you to dance with me, dance with me, dance with me, yeah.

Don’t ever let me go, my sunshine.”

“You have a pretty voice,” Buster blurted out the compliment.

Rosita immediately stopped singing and blushed in embarrassment. “Oh, um, thanks. Sorry about that. If you guys need anything else, let me know.”

“You got it,” Eddie responded.

When Rosita walked away, Eddie noticed Buster picking at his food. “Uh-oh.”

“What?”

“I see the gears in your head turning,” Eddie pointed out.

“Eh, it’s nothing,” Buster said, taking a bite of his tuna sandwich. “Wow, I forgot how much I miss sandwiches.”

“Have you been eating?”

Buster swallowed and giggled nervously. “Of course I have. Three times a day.”

Eddie noticed Buster had been lightweight and sighed in discouragement. “Buster…”

“Okay, not as much as I should, but hey, I’m eating now. It counts for something.”

Eddie smirked a bit. “I should just take you out for lunch every day, huh?”

“No need for that. I don’t want to drain your money.”

“Dude, you’re not draining anything. I’d be happy to help you if you need it,” Eddie responded with a small smile. “You’re my friend. I want to help you in anyway I can. But you do need to take better care of yourself.”

“Don’t worry, Eddie. I’ll be just fine,” Buster responded with a smile, eating his sandwich.

“Suit yourself,” Eddie said with a sigh.

“So, what’s new with you?” Buster asked with a bright smile.

“Uh…well, I got myself a fitness partner,” Eddie responded.

“Wow, that’s great!”

“Well…not really when he wakes you up early in the morning playing Cascada on his phone,” Eddie replied with a sheepish smile.

Buster giggled nervously. “Well, I’m sure he’s a fun fellow to work out with.”

“Fun and energetic.”

“See? Exactly what you need.”

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully again. “Whatever, man.”

Buster chuckled as their lunch continued on and their conversations got more relaxed.

~.~

The lunch went better than expected.

Buster was full from all the sandwiches and sleepy from the tea while he walked out of the restaurant with Eddie. “You know, I should be getting back to the theater. Who knows what needs to be done?”

“Alright, alright. Just don’t overwork yourself,” Eddie responded.

“I’ll be fine. Absolutely fine. Have fun with your new fitness partner,” Buster teased the sheep.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Buster chuckled while walking down the sidewalk, untying his bike, and rode off with it while Eddie was watching him.

Eddie heard his phone ringing and picked it up to talk into it. “Hello…oh, hey, Gunter….Yeah, I just got out of lunch with a friend….Yeah, yeah, I’ll make it to the gym. Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

Buster overheard the conversation as he was leaving his friend and chuckled. He turned back to ride his bike through the city, taking his phone out with his headphones. He searched through his Songify playlist until he heard an angelic male voice.

“Hey-ey-ey.

Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Hey-ey-ey.

Ooh, ooh, ooh.”

Buster twitched his ears and squeezed the brakes of his bike to jerk to a stop to hear the angelic voice. Part of him wondered if he was dead or what. He pedaled his bike to follow the hums from a stranger, cutting through alleyways until he finally got into the alleyway where the voice was coming from. The voice was coming from the young adult gorilla in a black leather jacket, leaning against the building. His black fur spiked up like his hairstyle, his thumbs in his pockets.

Buster arched a brow and stopped closer to the gorilla to hear more of his voice.

“Don’t know what to say.

I’m keeping in tabs.

Might get caught in the act.

Don’t worry about me.”

Buster got off of his bike and leaned it against the wall to move around the gorilla, who was not paying attention to his surroundings.

“I give anything to make you proud.

But I’m such a mess.

I give anything to make you smile.

But I’m such a mess.”

“Wow—”

The gorilla gasped and whirled around. “Bloody Mary.”

“Sorry to give ya a scare,” Buster responded. “But can I say that you have a beautiful voice?”

The mountain gorilla smiled a bit nervously. “Uh, thanks.” He looked around with his shoulders tensed.

Buster realized of how he approached the young gorilla. “Oh, uh, sorry. That’s a weird way to approach someone.”

“No, no, you’re fine. But, um, I’m in a bit…uh, well—in a busy situation.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Don’t worry about it, kid. Oh, I heard that there’s a talent show downtown if you ever want to take a shot at singing,” Buster replied. As soon as Buster said that, he stopped himself. “Wait…wait! This just gave me an idea!”

“What—?”

“Thank you so much! What’s your name?”

“Uh…Johnny?”

“Thanks for the inspiration, Johnny!” Buster shouted with a bright smile on his face before running off to get his bike and riding off away from the gorilla.

Johnny blinked in question. “…What?” The gorilla heard a crackle and noticed two cops, one rhino and one tiger, walking down the sidewalk. He hid against the wall, watching the cops walking by without paying attention. He waited until they’re an earshot away and got out his walkie-talkie.

“Guys, the cops are right nearby. Stay where you are—,” Johnny whispered to the walkie-talkie.

Interrupting Johnny’s instruction, the glass broke above Johnny and the three gorillas with small bunny masks that only cover the top part of their faces landed on the ground with the larger gorilla carrying the safe full of money.

The cops that just walked by hurried back to the alleyway.

“Hey!” The tiger cop growled while putting his gun up.

The larger gorilla huffed and nodded to his pack to get the truck.

One of the large gorilla rushed to the black pick-up truck parked on the other side of the alleyway and drove through the alleyway. The leader and the other gorilla hopped onto the pick-up while the cops fired the bullets until the truck reached to them. They jumped out of the way as Johnny grabbed the leader’s hand and was pulled into the pick-up.

“Johnny, you were supposed to be on look-out!” the leader shouted.

“I-I’m sorry, Dad,” Johnny stuttered.

“And where’s your mask?!” his father shouted.

Johnny pulled down bunny mask to cover the top half of his face.

His father looked to the get-away driver. “Faster, Barry!”

Barry, the get-away driver, stepped on the gas, unaware they were speeding past Buster before he could cross the street to get to his theater.

Buster saw the black truck and the police cars driving through the crosswalk in a flash, causing him to gasp and jerked his bike to a sudden stop. He breathed heavily as a sudden flash of someone getting hit by a semi-truck flashed in his mind. For a moment, he was breathing heavily from almost being hit until the sounds of sirens faded. He snapped out of the sudden memory, trying to think of the inspiring idea he got from this fellow named Johnny.

He looked both ways before crossing the street and made it back to the theater.

~.~

Mizuki was getting filing done with Ms. Crawly until her ears twitched to hear footsteps approaching closer to her. Before she could turn around, she saw hooves covering her eyes.

“Guess who?” A familiar deep male voice asked.

Mizuki sighed playfully. “Hmm, if I were to have to guess, um, it’s Justin Fiber.”

“Ha, you wish.”

The hooves uncovered her eyes as Mizuki turned around to see her antelope boyfriend, Babeesh.

“Babe!” Mizuki chirped and stood up, kissing his lips.

“How’s my little secretary doin’ in this depressing piece of crap?” Babeesh questioned, wrapping his arm around her waist possessively.

Ms. Crawly ignored Babeesh while getting some more filing done.

“We just got filing done,” Mizuki replied to her boyfriend. “And it’s not a piece of crap, babe. It just needs some renovating and we should be solid.”

“If your boss can focus on getting the money instead of hitting on you,” Babeesh grumbled.

“Mr. Moon is not hitting on me. He has never expressed interest in me,” Mizuki responded with her arms crossed.

On cue, Buster swung open the door to the secretary office. “Mizuki, Ms. Crawly, I got an idea that might be able to revive the theater!” Buster noticed Babeesh. “Oh, hey, Babeesh. How are you?”

Babeesh glared at Buster.

“I’ll take that as you’re doing good,” Buster replied and shifted his glance at Mizuki and Ms. Crawly. “Anyway! I have an idea that can revolutionize the theater! It’s going to be spectacular! Fantastic! And may I say breath-taking!”

“That’s what you say on all of your past shows before they flop,” Babeesh growled at the koala.

“Right. But this one is different than any musical I’ve put out before. If we’re lucky, we can make big bucks from this—”

“Again, you’ve said that last time with all of your shows—”

“Babeesh,” Mizuki scolded her boyfriend.

“What’s your idea, Mr. Moon?” Ms. Crawly asked.

Buster ran towards Ms. Crawly’s desk and hopped on it, turning to face Mizuki and Babeesh with a positive smile. “Drum roll please!”

Ms. Crawly did the drum roll on her desk while Buster did it by tapping his feet on the wood.

“A talent show!” Buster announced.

Babeesh quirked a brow. “A talent show?”

Buster nodded his head. “Yes. I’ve passed by two animals who have amazing singing talents and let me tell ya, they are amazing. We don’t have that many talent shows except from clubs. Why not take advantage of it and make it bigger?! People can join in and use whatever talents they have! Most of it might be singing though so…what do you think?!”

“Oh, Mr. Moon, that’s a wonderful idea,” Ms. Crawly responded.

“It sounds like a good idea…but how are we going to do it without the money? Like they have to be motivated to show up to the auditions?” Mizuki asked.

“We’ll figure that out later!” Buster determined.

“How about you figure out now before your precious show flops again?” Babeesh growled, irritated by Buster’s optimism.

“Babeesh,” Mizuki uttered.

Babeesh rolled his eyes. “Have fun in your crappy work environment.” With that said, he walked away from her.

She sighed sadly.

Buster watched Babeesh exiting the secretary office and looked at Mizuki. “Why is he always this grumpy?”

“It’s nothing to be concerned with,” Mizuki reassured Buster.

“Oh, okay, anyway, once the talent show struck gold, I might be able to pay back the loans to the bank. I just have to tell the bank about it,” Buster responded. “Hopefully, we’ll figure something out.”

Mizuki smiled a bit. “Yeah, hopefully.”

~.~

The police had been searching for the black pick-up truck for hours. They searched around the Bell City for the gorilla gang. Unbeknownst to them, the gang had been hiding in the garage called Dexter’s Shop. The garage was up against the tree so that the gorillas could climb on it and sleep in.

Johnny closed the garage in the early evening, hiding the black pick-up truck from the eyes of civilians and cops alike. With a sigh, he took off his bunny mask and tossed it aside.

“Great job, everybody! Let’s keep this up and we might get this shop back and running!” the lead gorilla, Johnny’s father, announced. “Oi, Johnny, a word.”

His father wrapped his arms around Johnny’s broad shoulders.

“Yeah?” Johnny asked as he was being guided to the hallway out of earshot from the other gorillas.

“Look, Johnny. I know you got of a lot things on your mind,” his father replied. “But…I need you to take part of this gang, son. Someday, all of this, the shop, the heists, the gang, will all be yours. You need to know how to lead the gang. Think of this as if you’re going to be a king someday. All of this is going to be yours. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I’m not going to be here someday.”

“I know. I know,” Johnny replied with a frown.

“Well, sometimes I can’t tell if you know that or not,” his father replied.

There was a brief pause.

His father patted on Johnny’s shoulder. “Keep your chin up, son. Your old man ain’t gonna be gone that soon. I still got some fight left within me. But I want you to know that you need to think about your future sooner than later. Just sleep on it, okay?”

Johnny nodded his head in understanding.

“Good. Get some sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a new day,” his father replied positively while going to the other gorillas to talk with them.

Johnny climbed up his tree further away from the gorillas, entering his own room. He had posters of a yak with red hair covering his face known as Elton Jock, singing his heart out. He also had news clippings of his mother singing at a karaoke club. His clothes were scattered across the room. Johnny shut the door and took off his leather jacket, revealing a green shirt with a yellow lightning bolt in the middle. He collapsed on the bed with a tired sigh.

“What a day,” Johnny said to himself.

The gorilla stared up at the ceiling, getting out his phone and put on headphones. He listened to the soft melody that reminded him of a song he used to listen to when he was little.

He hummed a little and tapped his fingers on the round bed. Johnny closed his eyes to fall asleep to the music. The memories of his mother played in his head like an old tape-recorder. He could remember her smile as she was watching him walk to her for the first time as a toddler. Perched on her back, he remembered being carried around by his mother and watched her cook in front of him and his father. Where did it all go wrong?

Johnny opened his eyes with a sigh. He sat up from the bed and turned off his music, pulling his headphones out of his ears. Johnny turned over to the drawer next to his bed and pulled it out to reveal the VHS tape he had kept for a while. He took the VHS tape and inserted into the VHS player.

He turned the television on and watched to see the video of himself of when he’s a toddler, burying his father on the sand of the coast of Bell City except for his head and his hands.

“Oh no! Marcus, can you get out of the sand?” a woman’s voice asked in concern, assuming to be Johnny’s mother holding the camera.

“Ha! Watch me!” Marcus, Johnny’s father, replied playfully. He played dead, fooling little Johnny to approach his father. Marcus suddenly rose out of the sand and grabbed little Johnny, causing him to scream and laugh.

Johnny chuckled at the video playing, getting teary-eyed.

“Oh, he got you, Johnny!” his mother shouted from the video.

“Ma! Ma! Come join us!” little Johnny replied with a smile.

“Yeah, come join us,” Marcus responded.

“I don’t want to drop the camera,” Johnny’s mother responded.

“Here, I’ll hold the camera. Spend some time with Johnny,” Marcus offered, coming forward and taking the camera.

The footage revealed to be a female gorilla, carrying around an oxygen tank. She was losing most of her hair and her weight thanks to cancer many years ago. Little Johnny and his mother went up to the ocean, greeted by the waves. Whenever the waves crashed on the shore, they would run back.

Marcus would laugh at their antics. “Uh-oh, the ocean’s in a mood today.”

Johnny’s mother into the camera. “Oh no, I look so ugly.”

“No, you don’t. You’re bloody gorgeous,” Marcus replied while coming towards her with the camera.

“You’re not ugly, Mama,” Little Johnny responded.

“See? Take your son’s word for it,” Marcus said with a tease.

“Alright, alright, I guess I’ll believe both of you,” she teased back.

“Yay!” Little Johnny said while climbing on his mother’s back.

“Oi, boy, don’t climb on your mother’s back,” Marcus reminded the little gorilla.

“Oh, sorry,” little Johnny said and climbed down from his mother.

She smiled warmly at him. “It’s alright, dear. It’s alright.”

Johnny paused the video and stared at his mother for a while, looking at the pictures of when she was young without having cancer. He sighed and looked at his mother in the video.

“I still think you’re gorgeous, Mum,” Johnny said sadly. “Dad and I…We miss you a lot. I wish you were still here.”

Johnny frowned at the thought of his mother. He turned to look at the pictures of her singing at a karaoke club in the news clipping, playing the keys of the piano. Maybe he should try singing.

“Oh, I heard that there’s a talent show downtown if you ever want to take a shot at singing.”

Johnny thought about what that strange koala said. Was this a sign to start looking for talent shows that will consider taking his voice? Only time could tell.

To Be Continued...

#sing 2016 #sing johnny #buster moon #sing rosita #sing mizuki #ms. crawly #eddie noodleman #sing gunter #sing(my version) rewrite

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