THE READING ROOM

Dawn of a New Day

The rising sun slowly emerged over the distant dark mountains. Starrzan awoke dreamily and with him the new day started.

It was yet another day in the bustling concrete jungle but fortunately for Starrzan he operated best in jungle environments. In the end it was his attitude towards the many situations faced in his life that influenced the outcome of his day. The world was often dark and had many problems, most of which was brought on by the greed of Men, but in Man also lay its salvation.

Today he had set aside his time to do the preparation and planning for his next expedition, his next adventure, which would lead, unbeknownst to him, to one of the greatest adventures he would ever have in his time here on Earth. And so this adventure started with a meeting at APE's headquarters, found fittingly at The Adventurers Guild, a meeting place for adventurers, explorers and like minded people.

Adventures on Planet Earth, also known as APE, was an organisation, headed by Starrzan, whose purpose it was to share the goodness of life with everyone. Their weapons of action was music and adventure, to inspire people to share the good things in life with others, and to make them realise that beauty and goodness is all around them.

All were present at the meeting, the register totaled four. Starrzan wasted no time in explaining why each one was called to be present. He produced a map from his backpack and folded it open on the table for everyone to see. The map displayed a mountainous area which seemed to be somewhere in Southern Africa. Starrzan explained that APE had been contracted by another organisation to scout out an area which was densely overgrown with trees and vegetation, and had many possible dangers. Their goal was not only to provide valuable reconnaissance of the area but to also find the ancient ruins of a tribe that once lived there and to bring back all of their discoveries. There was an immediate air of excitement around them as they each pondered the expedition.

Although all who were present at the meeting were members of APE, Starrzan had decided to create a specialised unit for tasks, such as this, that had more of a dangerous nature. Each present were therefore chosen specifically for their specialists skills in key areas of this expedition and they all relied on one another completely to make this mission a success. Because of this four-way bond they now had, which was to distinguish them as one enity, he dubbed the band The X-Structure.

Chacma, with his baboon-like features, was an expert climber and could, with relative ease, scale any scalable object. He also had a close affinity with the rhythm and beat of nature and could keep a precisely timed account of any event. A perfect drummer that could play any simple or complex beat and made it sound like there were two of him.

Nightowl was most elusive, and mysterious, and at times you would think he was not even there. He provided the much needed stealth element to the group and could scout out an area without making a sound. His interest oddly enough lied in the complexity of sounds and he was always ready to record an intriguing noise, a sound, and then used it later in one of his many sonic stories. A mood-setter through ambient keys and dream-like soundscapes.

Epic Beard was much slower and less agile than the others due to his older age but his keen mental abilities easily made up for this. His lore of the natural and the artificial was boundless and his tactics and strategies unmatched in any situation, except maybe when it came to the much more complex nature of the female kind. He was by far the oldest in the group and also the wisest in the matters of life. He seldom spoke but when he did it was always with a twist of humour and of wit. Some would call him deep but he would say that he just tried to play along with the tune of his spirit and the unseen movement of life. Bass resounds in his voice, in his soul, and in the morals that through him are taught. A bassist of note, a companion without measure.

Lastly there was Starrzan the brave, some say the crazy, was the leader of the pack. With his wild hair and naturally shiny blue eyes, he had the mark of a good leader. His humble approach to leadership however was often be frowned upon by the more aggressive type but it always proved successful to the purpose of the endeavour. Amongst other things, he liked taking long walks on the beach, reading short books and talking to animals who never seemed to say much back. There was this one time however when.... I digress. Starrzan had a sharp eye, a quick mind and a willing heart, the real mark of a good leader. He had an instinctive ear for a good melody and was often the voice of the group when situations so needed him. A subversive voice and a melodic lead player.