Present Centered Awareness
Life with the Bronto Brothers is never quiet, and it never has been, not when Rex is writing three songs at once. Axe Raptor is restringing for the tenth time, while Groovy tries hard to stay focused, and Tim hovers in circles because he forgets he has feet, and Thumper is dropping drumsticks as though they grow on trees.
So when the town school invited the band to try a whole week of CALM activities, the group looked at each other, all with the same confused expression, because calm is not a word anyone usually uses around the Brontos. Still, they agreed to try it: one theme per day, with breathing, balance, awareness, and contentment on the list. No roar-offs, no panic practicing, just honest effort and maybe a little patience if anyone remembered to pack it.
What could go wrong?
Rex learns how not to explode.
The first activity sounded simple enough. The group was supposed to stand quietly and notice what they heard, and Rex tried, he really did, but he made it about five seconds before whispering that the silence felt louder than their concert crowds. Groovy told him to relax and listen, so he did, and slowly he began to hear more than the quiet that had scared him. There was wind outside the school windows, and birds tapping on the roof, and Tim humming by accident, while Axe muttered about a stubborn guitar pick, and Thumper tapped a tiny beat on his leg because he forgot he was not supposed to tap anything at all.
Something shifted, slowly but clearly, because Rex stopped bracing for a noise that never came, and he let his shoulders drop. He noticed his own breathing, and the quiet stopped feeling like an enemy and began to feel peaceful. He even admitted that his brain felt a little less scrambled, which Groovy said was probably a Christmas miracle.
Axe said he would believe it when Rex stayed calm for longer than a minute, and everyone agreed that was fair.
And so Rex learned that quiet is not empty, and sometimes the world sounds clearer when you take a moment to listen.
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