THE CONDUCTOR’S CHALLENGES

By Jacob Cheung

I.
“You can’t just stay home and play that video game all day! It’s unhealthy! You
have to get out of the house! See something new! Get some cultural enrichment!”
“But Mom, the opera’s insanely boring! They just yell random words and bore people
to death!”
12 year-old Carl Canterman was lying on the sofa refusing to go with his
family to the opera. He didn’t want to do anything else other than sitting on the
sofa with a jumbo pack of Cheezy Curlz and immerse himself in his favorite video
game, The Wizard’s Quest, which was what he was doing right before his mother came
and stopped his game declaring they were going to the opera.
“The show’s only two hours, and there’s a twenty-minute intermission.
You could bring a comic book if you like. Come on, it’ll be fun!” Carl groaned in
annoyance at this.
“Ooh, oww, oww!” Carl suddenly exclaimed, clutching his stomach. “Mom, my
stomach hurts so bad! I don’t think I can go.” he said dramatically, desperately
trying to get out of going to the opera.
“Carl, I know you are faking it. We are going. Period. Now get changed and get
in the car. Sally, Fred and your dad have been waiting for ages. Sally’s 11 and
Fred’s 13. You ought to be as mature as them. But now you’re acting like a four-
year-old!”
“Argh!” Carl groaned. He reluctantly went up to his room to change. He came
down a minute later wearing a navy blue checkered shirt and brown trousers. His
mother said happily, “Great! Let’s go, chop-chop! The show starts at 8!” Carl
grabbed his backpack and slogged to the front door to put on his Converse. Then,
the family drove to the city music hall.

II.
The family found their seats and sat down just before the conductor struck up
the orchestra to play the overture of the opera. Mozart’s Così fan tutte was on
that night. Carl sat in his seat, thinking, “Why did Mom make me come to this lame
show? She’s all like, ‘Meh, meh, meh, you need cultural enrichment’. But how much
‘cultural enrichment’ is in this? Boredom enrichment, more like. I’d rather have
Mr. Xander assign me 10 extra pages of Pre-Algebra!”
He glanced at his family. They were all engrossed in the music. At this point,
Carl was bored out of his mind. He carelessly flipped through the programme the
usher handed him when he entered the concert hall. “Hmm…Mozart…a backdrop of
disguises…false goodbyes…Ferrando?…Ugh, this is putting me to sleep!”
He pulled out his phone discreetly, in an attempt to keep himself entertained.
He took another look at his family to make sure they wouldn’t notice. He turned on
his phone, the Spy Family wallpaper flashing brightly on screen, the clock blinking
20:23. He quickly turned down the brightness, hoping no one had seen. Then, he
opened Instagram, anticipating some new posts or stories by his favorite gaming
celebrities. “Ooh, MegaZapper just bought a new PS5! And SlasherDude is live
streaming at 10 tonight! I gotta see that!” he thought as he scrolled through the
posts. But, he got careless at one point and his finger slipped, causing an ad to
blare at full volume.
“Come on down to Bill’s Chicken to try our new Red-Hot Spicy Chicken! Only…”
“Carl! Turn off that phone right this instant!” His mother hissed, taking care
not to be too loud.
Carl quickly shut off his phone and tucked it back into his pocket. He forced
himself to watch the rest of the show until the intermission.
 III.
By the time the announcement came over the loudspeakers informing everyone
there was a 20-minute intermission, Carl felt like he was going to die of boredom.
But, he had a plan to avoid having to see the rest of the show in order not to
actually die of boredom.
He went up to his father, who was purchasing a bottle of sparkling water at the
refreshment stand, and said, “Dad, I have to visit the restroom.” ‘Okay, but make
it quick.”
Carl went into the restroom and locked himself in a stall, then pulled out his
AirPods and his phone, and started watching the soccer game live stream. There. A
piece of cake.
His TV session didn’t last long, though. 10 minutes later, his father went into
the restroom and said, “Carl? Carl Canterman? Are you okay? The opera resumes in 5
minutes!”
Carl came out of the stall sheepishly, headphones still on and phone still in
hand. He managed to articulate with an odd smile, “Hi, Dad?”
His father steamed up to him and grabbed his phone. “What is this you’re
watching? Soccer? Wait ‘til I tell your mother. Now come back to the show!” he
said, enraged. He took Carl by the hand firmly and pulled him back to the concert
hall.

IV.
Carl Canterman couldn't take it anymore. The opera was too tedious for him.
Decisively, he got up and headed for the double doors without a second thought.
And that’s when it happened.
The lights went out with a bang.
Everyone around him disappeared.
Even the orchestra.
Just the conductor stood solemnly on the stage.
With a flash, the conductor teleported right in front of Carl and boomed, “Carl
Canterman. Are you really that immature? You don’t have any respect for the
performers!” His eyes grew blood red. Carl trembled in fear. He whimpered, “How do
you know my name?” The conductor replied sternly, “I have my ways. NOW NO STUPID
QUESTIONS!”
The conductor waved his baton and they were both teleported to a dark and
eerie-looking swamp. Ear-piercing notes from out-of-tune violins echoed through the
trees. Broken instruments hung from the trees. Some were floating in the dirty
water. A bit like Dali’s Melting Clocks, but this time it was instruments.
 The conductor said with a menacing stare, “If you want to go back home, you
must pass two of three musical challenges. One slight cock-up and you shall be here
for eternity. Understood?” Carl gulped and replied, “Yes, sir.”
“Very well. We shall now begin the first challenge.” The conductor waved again
his baton, and a violin, along with a bow appeared floating in front of them.
“You must tune this violin to precision using only your musical knowledge and
the power of your ear.” He reached into Carl’s pocket and took his phone. “I will
temporarily hold on to this in order to prevent you from using a digital tuner. You
have one minute. You may start now.”
Carl took the violin. He didn’t have a clue on how to tune it. He tried to
remember what his music teacher Mrs. Flater taught him, but could only come up with
“The Star Spangled Banner”. He began to panic. He turned the pegs every which way
and tried to make it sound right. He used the bow to test the sound, but he
couldn't determine whether the pitch was right or not, considering the fact that he
didn’t know how to hold a violin bow. He decided to test his luck. He handed the
violin to the conductor. The conductor put the violin to his ear and strummed the
strings. He did not look pleased. Carl silently prayed that he would be able to go
back home soon.
After a while, the conductor said to Carl, “You have failed. You must pass
the next two if you want to go home.”
Tears welled up in Carl’s eyes. He said to himself, “I’m doomed. I
never got to say goodbye to my family. And I have to admit to Dad I took 5 bucks
from his wallet last week!”

V.
The conductor led Carl to a maze made of sheet music. He handed Carl an
orchestral score and said, “Some parts of this orchestral score are missing. They
have been scattered throughout the maze. But beware, some of them may be in
unexpected places. There are ten missing parts. You must open your eyes. You have
two minutes. Start now.”
Carl examined the score to figure out which parts of the score were missing.
Then, he walked through the maze, all the while looking around for the missing
parts. It was hard for him to look for the missing parts in the dizzying patterns
of the sheet music, but he tried his best because he knew he wouldn’t be able to
get back home if he didn’t pass. In the end, he managed to recover all the parts
but one. When the timer rang, he collapsed on to the muddy ground in despair, the
dirt staining his clothing. He burst into tears, crying, “Please have mercy! Please
have mercy! I won’t be disrespectful and immature again!” The conductor laughed
lightheartedly with a hint of cruelty. He snatched the score from Carl’s hands.
With vigor, he flipped it over for him to see. There the last part was! “What?!”
Carl cried loudly.

VI.
The conductor said, “I will not have mercy. You must learn your lesson! You
have failed two of three challenges. For the third challenge I wanted you to play
several instruments at once perfectly. Quite hard, no? But we can forget about
that.” He gave Carl his phone back. “Here’s you phone. Maybe call your mother. But
there’s no cell service in the dungeon! Ha ha ha ha…” The conductor waved once more
his baton and the floor opened up underneath Carl with a loud shattering sound.
Carl, at this point, was extremely terrified. He felt like he was having a
heart attack as he fell down the deep hole, the conductor’s cackling dying away,
screaming at the top of his voice…
 VII.
Carl woke up in bed, gasping for air desperately, still screaming. His
family rushed in to see what was going on, “Carl! Carl, are you okay?” Carl rubbed
his eyes. It was all just a dream!

Epilouge (VIII.)
From that day on, Carl learned that he had to appreciate the arts in a
mature way, and that he could not just focus on video games. Now, Carl plays video
games less and attends a concert or a play regularly with his family. His parents
are now pleased with Carl’s changes.

FIN.