Once, there was an orchestra. It was an amazing orchestra, every instrument required playing its parts (except for the tuba. It had gone missing for some reason...). If a song was requested and they knew it, the orchestra could play it by rote, perfect and spectacular. The more touching tunes were enough to make a grown man cry. Yet, in time, the music grew stale. The orchestra was playing the same songs over and over again. Eventually the people grew bored of them and stopped coming to the concerts. Yet the band played on. Days turned into weeks turned into months, and still they played on. Than, one night, one of the cellist's caught a cold and had to be replaced for the night's concert. "This is a disaster!" "We've never missed a concert before, and we'll not miss one now!" "Anyone know another cellist?" The orchestra looked about the city, hoping to find someone who could play the missing part. And in a small restaurant they found their replacement. His music was fine, his style classy, and he was already wearing a suit (albeit a bit brighter than they were used to). "Quick, to the concert hall! We're running out of time, and we need another player!" The man agreed, and soon they were on stage. As the orchestra warmed up, the man looked around and found there was no-one to be found in the audience. "Excuse me," he asked the cellist beside him, "Where's the people?" "Who knows? We just need to play. Follow the notes on the sheet and you'll do just fine." The man was confused and slightly annoyed. Yes, this gig would pay more than the one he was working before, but there were no people to listen. 'What is the point of music without a listener...' he mused. But then the orchestra began. They ran through their classic opener, and the man followed along, keeping in tune. But there was no soul to the beat, no heart in the groove. His heart sank. 'They've been performing for so long, they've forgotten why they play.' he realized, '...but I might be able to change that.' As the next bar blandly rolled through the room, he hesitantly made a slight modulation to the tune. No one seemed to notice. The man began to smile. Slowly, he added in a few more riffs, a couple of trills, until eventually he was playing another tune on top of the one that was already in motion. The two melodies intertwined, creating a new song that was greater than the sum of their parts. Yet, it was quiet for now, the volume only as great as one who was playing the second piece. But it was growing. The music began to swell across the stage, twisting like a vine, tendrils of song spreading through the players. Color returned to orchestra as the anthem reached new heights! The conductor was confused as anything, but he realized something spectacular was happening, something *new*. At the back of the room, a cautious head poked into auditorium. The passerby had heard something that didn't sound like the usual array of songs coming out of the columned entrance. Eventually, she took a seat and began to enjoy the music as she hadn't done in months. As the concert continued to change, more people arrived, by themselves, by the few, by the handful, by the dozen! The place was packed, and still the people poured in! There was something new here, something never before heard. The orchestra reached the crescendo. The audience broke out into wild cheers! And thus the "New Song" was born. It was never the same any night, never heard more than twice, and the people of the city came back every night to hear it again, to find out where it would grow this time. As for the man who played that night, he slipped out the back door never to be seen again. But the orchestra remembers the man with the rainbow suit. They remember his tune and the way he changed their music.

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A long time in the making this one, but it was definitely worth it. Half of a trade with  Pabea_Khaos where he specified the basic concept then let me run with it. Wasn't expecting to write a short story to go along with this, but it just sort of popped out. As per usual, this was done completely in MSPaint 7.

Full sized version: http://public.blu.livefilestore.com.....ete.png?psid=1

Tail high, Pabea.