Alfie's drumsticks came down HARD on his practice pad, making a sound like an angry elephant stomping on bubble wrap.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK-A-THWACK-THWACK!
It had been the worst day in the entire history of worst days. Johnny Patterson had laughed at Alfie's new haircut. His sandwich had gone soggy. And Mrs. Chen had given extra homework on a Friday.
"Stupid—" THWACK "—rotten—" THWACK "—no good—" THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
Alfie drummed faster and faster, his brown hair flopping over his eyes, not caring if he played the right rhythm or the wrong one. He just wanted to make noise—BIG noise, LOUD noise, noise that would shake the walls and rattle the windows and maybe even knock Johnny Patterson's smirk right off his face.
That's when something peculiar happened.
The air around Alfie's drumsticks began to shimmer. Not like heat waves off summer pavement, but like actual colours were leaking out of his music. Purple swirls. Orange zigzags. Bright blue spirals that twisted and danced through his bedroom like living ribbons.
"What the—" Alfie stopped drumming, but the colours kept going, spinning faster and faster until they formed a perfect circle right above his practice pad. A circle that looked an awful lot like a doorway.
And then the doorway pulled.
Alfie tumbled through headfirst, somersaulting through a tunnel of sound and colour, his drumsticks still clutched in his hands. He could hear every type of music all at once—classical and rock and jazz and pop—swirling around him like a musical tornado.
He landed with an oomph on something soft and squishy.
"Oi! Watch the wavelengths, will you?"
Alfie scrambled up and found himself face-to-face with the strangest creature he'd ever seen. It looked like a wobbly blob made entirely of light, constantly shifting and changing—one moment round as a balloon, the next stretched thin as a noodle.
"You're... you're made of music!" Alfie gasped.
"Well observed, young percussionist," the creature said, rippling with colours. "I'm Harmony. And you've just drummed yourself straight into Rhythmia."
Alfie looked around. The world stretched out before him like nothing he'd ever imagined. Mountains made of giant piano keys rose in the distance. Rivers of golden light flowed between valleys of swaying musical notes. And everywhere—absolutely everywhere—colours danced in time to invisible rhythms.
"Rhythmia?" Alfie whispered.
"The world of music itself," Harmony explained, shifting into a shape like a bouncing music note. "Every song ever played, every melody ever hummed—they all live here. Divided into kingdoms, ruled by the greatest musicians who ever lived."
"This is AMAZING!" Alfie shouted, spinning in a circle.
But Harmony's colours suddenly dimmed to a worried grey.
"It was amazing," the creature said quietly. "Until the Silence came."
Alfie stopped spinning. "The Silence?"
Harmony pointed with a wobbly tendril toward a distant kingdom. Even from here, Alfie could see something was wrong. Where the other parts of Rhythmia glowed with vibrant colour, this place looked... faded. Washed out. Like someone had turned the volume down on a whole world.
"The Jazz Kingdom," Harmony whispered. "It's losing its swing. The music is draining away, bit by bit, and if we don't stop it... the Silence will spread. To every kingdom. Until there's no music left anywhere."
Alfie's heart thumped like a bass drum. "But why are you telling me? I'm just a kid! I'm not even good at drums—I only started lessons last month!"
Harmony floated closer, colours brightening to a hopeful yellow. "But you played yourself here, Alfie. Your rhythm opened the portal. That means something."
Before Alfie could argue, a trumpet sound echoed across Rhythmia—but it was weak, wobbly, like a candle flame about to go out.
"That's the signal from the Jazz Kingdom," Harmony said urgently. "The great Louis Armstrong is calling for help."
Alfie gulped. Louis Armstrong? THE Louis Armstrong? His dad played his records all the time!
"What happens if no one answers?" Alfie asked.
Harmony's form flickered with shadow. "Then by midnight tonight, the Jazz Kingdom falls silent forever—and the Silence will already be reaching for its next victim."