Sonya Hamelin was born as a cripple and her two-year-younger sister Sophia Hamelin became blind after a severe fever when she was five. On that Sunday, the day that left the village with deep grievance twenty years ago, a piper lured the children to follow him. Lumbering, struggling and squabbling along the way, the sisters worried that they would miss out the festivity. “twenty-two, twenty-three …..eighty-nine, ninety, ninety-one”, the piper was counting the kids when they stepped into the cliff. He paused when he saw the last two, the Hamelin sisters. His heart softened. He pulled the sisters off the cliff and took them back home miles away. First time ever, the sisters’ handicap was a blessing in disguise.
At the beginning, the sisters’ new lives were nothing but homesickness and nostalgia: the smell of chicken casserole with mom’s secret mushroom source, the memory of stone fireplace where the sisters would cuddle nearby and listen to dad’s fairytales, and the jiggle and giggle at school. The sisters thought about sneaking back to the village and they actually did try a couple of times. Yet the return path stretched ahead was long and winding, and became a dreadful labyrinth whenever piper blew his pipe. Every escape so far had ended with unwilling footsteps back to where they started.
After the disappearance of these ninety-three kids, the mayor decided to ban all the music, blaming music would remind villagers the sorrow of their loss. Nevertheless, everyone knew real reason behind mayor’s fear of music. Music reminded and shamed him of his greediness which angered the piper, and his incompetence to rescue the children. Since then, not only the children’s lives had gone, but also the spirit of the village and heart of the adults, slowly and gradually evaporated like mist.
Twenty years went by. Sonya and Sophia had grown into two wise and kind-hearted young ladies. They were gifted in music and very good at pipes. But their real talent was singing. If piper’s pipe was hypnotic, Hamelin sisters’ singing was healing and forgiving. Their voice revitalized the dying upstream salmons, restored the blossom of the wilted gardens and refreshed the stale rivers. Slowly but miraculously, Sonya regained the strength to walk while Sophia recovered her eyesight.
The piper himself was getting famous. He was hired by the world power to fight or hypnotize enemies in Far East, Persian and Goguryeo ..etc. He would be gone for days, sometimes weeks, occasionally months. One day, piper set off for another mission. The Hamelin sisters felt it was the time to return. Birds and animals, attracted by the sisters’ singing along their way, acted as the navigator during the day and guardian during the night. Seven days and nights after, the sisters were back to their village.
There was not a happy soul in sight. Indeed, the whole village was overwhelmed by depression, moan, and a smell of sickness. A passerby told the sisters better to leave soon as the village was attacked by a mysterious rampant disease called SARS, which had killed families, infected hundreds and put thousands into quarantine. The sisters approached the mayor and claimed that they could help. The mayor frowned and hesitated at first, recalling what had happened twenty years ago. Seeing the village ravaged by the disease, he had no choice but let them try.
The sisters started singing to the dying patients, hospitals after hospitals, home after home. Their singing was enchanting, soothing and rejuvenating. It penetrated piles of depleted and gangling bodies. Slowly and miraculously, each of the patients was then able to sit up, then stand and walk with their full energy again. Families and friends rejoiced. The whole village celebrated. The mayor learnt the lesson and handed the sisters a heavy bag of golden schilling. The sisters refused and started to sing again.
We were the Hamelin sisters - part of the ninety-three
Our misfortunate gained piper’s pity and set us free
Money or power we don’t need, but only the one thing you fear
Music fills the body with peace, the mind with creativity,The heart with love, the soul with complete union.
The mayor agreed to lift up the ban on music. Since then, the village returned to its original. Full of joy and happiness, the village was now protected by the Hamelin sisters and lightened by music. As for the piper, rumor had it that he was captured in a battlefield in Africa by a voodoo piper. Was he alive or dead? No one cared anymore.
At the beginning, the sisters’ new lives were nothing but homesickness and nostalgia: the smell of chicken casserole with mom’s secret mushroom source, the memory of stone fireplace where the sisters would cuddle nearby and listen to dad’s fairytales, and the jiggle and giggle at school. The sisters thought about sneaking back to the village and they actually did try a couple of times. Yet the return path stretched ahead was long and winding, and became a dreadful labyrinth whenever piper blew his pipe. Every escape so far had ended with unwilling footsteps back to where they started.
After the disappearance of these ninety-three kids, the mayor decided to ban all the music, blaming music would remind villagers the sorrow of their loss. Nevertheless, everyone knew real reason behind mayor’s fear of music. Music reminded and shamed him of his greediness which angered the piper, and his incompetence to rescue the children. Since then, not only the children’s lives had gone, but also the spirit of the village and heart of the adults, slowly and gradually evaporated like mist.
Twenty years went by. Sonya and Sophia had grown into two wise and kind-hearted young ladies. They were gifted in music and very good at pipes. But their real talent was singing. If piper’s pipe was hypnotic, Hamelin sisters’ singing was healing and forgiving. Their voice revitalized the dying upstream salmons, restored the blossom of the wilted gardens and refreshed the stale rivers. Slowly but miraculously, Sonya regained the strength to walk while Sophia recovered her eyesight.
The piper himself was getting famous. He was hired by the world power to fight or hypnotize enemies in Far East, Persian and Goguryeo ..etc. He would be gone for days, sometimes weeks, occasionally months. One day, piper set off for another mission. The Hamelin sisters felt it was the time to return. Birds and animals, attracted by the sisters’ singing along their way, acted as the navigator during the day and guardian during the night. Seven days and nights after, the sisters were back to their village.
There was not a happy soul in sight. Indeed, the whole village was overwhelmed by depression, moan, and a smell of sickness. A passerby told the sisters better to leave soon as the village was attacked by a mysterious rampant disease called SARS, which had killed families, infected hundreds and put thousands into quarantine. The sisters approached the mayor and claimed that they could help. The mayor frowned and hesitated at first, recalling what had happened twenty years ago. Seeing the village ravaged by the disease, he had no choice but let them try.
The sisters started singing to the dying patients, hospitals after hospitals, home after home. Their singing was enchanting, soothing and rejuvenating. It penetrated piles of depleted and gangling bodies. Slowly and miraculously, each of the patients was then able to sit up, then stand and walk with their full energy again. Families and friends rejoiced. The whole village celebrated. The mayor learnt the lesson and handed the sisters a heavy bag of golden schilling. The sisters refused and started to sing again.
We were the Hamelin sisters - part of the ninety-three
Our misfortunate gained piper’s pity and set us free
Money or power we don’t need, but only the one thing you fear
Music fills the body with peace, the mind with creativity,The heart with love, the soul with complete union.
The mayor agreed to lift up the ban on music. Since then, the village returned to its original. Full of joy and happiness, the village was now protected by the Hamelin sisters and lightened by music. As for the piper, rumor had it that he was captured in a battlefield in Africa by a voodoo piper. Was he alive or dead? No one cared anymore.
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