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The quakes started two months after Ella had finally forgiven Arden, three whole weeks after the initial prank that had incited her sullen mood. Arden was in the playground with his class at recess at the time, humming to himself idly, when the ground "started buzzin' real bad," as he informed his sister solemnly when they were reunited after school had let out for the day.

The quakes were always minor, and soon the townfolk became used to them, eventually giving no more reaction that to all pause for the briefest moment so that each of them could assure themselves that this quake was no more serious than the last.

Arden was the only one who seem worried by the quakes. His voice would quaver when he sang during one of them, and after the fifth quake, he confessed that his head always started buzzing when a quake was imminent. Within days of his confession, the entire town knew to expect a quake if Arden began to hum shrilly for no apparent reason. By the time his tenth birthday arrived, he had developed a superstitious aversion to the church building. The quakes had come every Sunday during services, but stopped doing so when he stopped singing there.

He was too vain to stop singing entirely, though, and was called on when any school assembly - even those for older grades - included a song of any sort. He bloomed under the attention, and became even more vain.

By the time he was twelve, he was the lead alto soloist in the school chorus, and in a state of panicky anticipation over his impending rise to manhood. He was constantly assured of fame and adoration once his voice settled, but he had never paid much attention to vocals outside his current range, and dreaded the idea of spending months or years with no tolerable range to speak of.

The chorus director, taking pity on the boy, decided that the school should hold one last big performance before Arden's voice began changing. He made his decision just a little too late. Two weeks before his thirteenth birthday, Arden picked up the new music for the first time, nodding absently as the piano led in to the lyrics he was to sing.

His mouth opened, his voice cracked, and his world collapsed around him.