How I was recruited by the Secret Service
to protect the earlobes of Canada's
preeminent Baroque pianist

Blazing Reader,

Yesterday, I was recruited to join the Secret Service to protect the earlobes of Canada's preeminent Baroque pianist, Angela Hewitt. Months ago, when I first heard my favourite Bach performer was coming to town, I purchased tickets for my son and myself. Printing out the tickets on Sunday, I saw that we were assigned seats SS66 and SS67.

SS? Obviously, they were letting us know that we would be operating as impromptu Secret Service agents. Yes, I know, my son Jonah is completely blind — but he'd probably still do better than what went down in Butler last week.

So I showed up at the concert with a white shirt, maroon tie and a .22 gauge rifle. Our side seats offered a perfect sniper position to cover the balcony at the rear of the church — the most likely spot for a lone gunman (or gunwoman or gun-non-binary-person).

However, when I showed up at the door with the rifle, the attendants said I couldn't take it inside. I immediately understood. They wanted me to work undercover and that I would have to rely on my concealed carry.

Fortunately, no one tried to shoot Ms. Hewitt. Even if they did, she was so absorbed in her intense two-hour (with no sheet music) recital of Beethoven, Bach, Scarlatti and Brahms that I doubt she'd have missed a note if a bullet pierced her head, no less her earlobe.

Watching her perform was like watching someone possessed by music. That's how I aspire to write novels — possessed by the muse.

Here's a photo of Jonah (that white cane is loaded) guarding the piano during the intermission (possessed by the giggles):

Goofing off on the job. Such low standards these days. No wonder Trump got shot. Jonah, you're fired!

John C.A. Manley

P.S. Fortunately, Ms. Hewitt needed no protection. Any gunman would have been so mesmerized by her performance, that they'd have called off the assassination upon hearing her opening performance of Bach's Partita No. 6 in E minor. See what I mean by checking out her music at: AngelaHewitt.com.

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/