Perfect Rhythm
PERFECT RHYTHM – May 22, 2026 – Flower Mound, Texas, USA
Unlike his older brother and sister, Joshua liked everything about school. He liked waking up early and riding the school bus. He liked his second-grade teacher and the worksheet and craft projects she designed for the class. He liked the star stickers she attached to his work.
Probably the thing Joshua liked best about school was his music class. He only had Music two days a week, but those were special days. He loved walking into the music room and admiring the violins, trumpets, and saxophones hung on the wall. His music teacher, Ms. Viola, could play the piano, guitar, and flute. She told the class they could find music anywhere, including in something as simple as tapping your fingers. She called herself “pleasingly plump” and said her generous figure gave her extra singing volume.
Joshua’s favorite part of music class was when Ms. Viola passed out simple instruments like egg shakers, bells, drums, and toy harps. The twenty-seven kids in his class sang as they made noise with the instruments. Sometimes Ms. Viola would try what she called “advanced music” by giving different parts of the class different instruments. They practiced an advanced music song for the school’s December Holiday program that included drums, bells, and rain sticks.
When she divided the class into instrument sections, Ms. Viola always put Joshua with the drums. She recognized right away how good he was with rhythm and keeping the beat.
“You’re like a metronome,” she said to Joshua, even though he did not know what that meant.
“Follow Joshua,” she told the other drummers. “He’ll keep you on the right timing.”
While he enjoyed the praise from Ms. Viola, Joshua did not like her shining too much attention on him. He was happy to confidently bang a drum surrounded by other student drummers, but did not like extra eyes watching. Ms. Viola did not seem to care how uncomfortable she made her “class metronome.”
With a week left in the school year, Ms. Viola excitedly announced to the class they would spend their last day together doing what she called Music Share. Every student would stand up for three minutes and demonstrate a musical talent.
“You all have something great to share,” Ms. Viola assured her students. “You can play an instrument or sing a song. The song can be something you learn or make up yourself.”
A girl in the class asked if she could team up with her friend.
“No, I want everyone sharing solo talents,” Ms. Viola replied.
Almost everyone around him looked unhappy about the idea, but Joshua’s expression went way beyond dissatisfaction. He was completely terrified. Standing alone in front of the whole class and singing for three minutes sounded like the worst torture he could imagine. As Ms. Viola talked about how fun Music Share would be, he desperately thought up ways to avoid it. The most obvious way was missing school entirely. Unlike his brother and sister, he had never faked sick, but now he had a good reason.
Joshua was deciding between a fake stomachache and headache when Ms. Viola changed the subject to something else that would happen on the last day. “I’ve got a special present for all of you. I’ve chosen them to match your talents and personality. I’ll hand them out after Music Share.”
Joshua stopped planning his stomachache. The present intrigued him. He definitely wanted it but would miss out if he was at home pretending to be sick. Ms. Viola took a personal interest in every student and she would likely hand out something good. How could he avoid Music Share and still get the present? The question seemed too big to answer alone. He carried it home and eventually shared it with his mom.
His mom’s first reaction was, “Music Share sounds like fun!”
Joshua had forgotten that his mom did not understand feeling shy. She loved talking to strangers and being the center of attention in a room. Joshua tried explaining why he was scared. “I don’t want people laughing when they hear me sing.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. You have a great voice. No one’s going to laugh. They’ll be feeling a little nervous too.”
“I just don’t want to do it.”
“Don’t worry so much. It’s a great way to break out of your shell. You can practice with me. Let’s think of a song together.”
Joshua realized his mom was not going to be any help. And he had made things worse by telling her about Music Share. If he tried faking sick, she would see right through him.
On the last day of school, he woke up truly feeling sick to his stomach. It was supposed to be a fun and happy day marking the start of summer vacation, but all he could think about was embarrassing himself in the music room. The worst seemed inevitable so he resigned himself to quietly singing one of the songs he knew well from the Holiday program.
After lunch, Joshua reluctantly trailed the rest of his class on the way to Music. Ms. Viola had arranged the chairs in her room into a half circle. A table sat in front of the chairs and was filled with wrapped presents.
“Any volunteers to go first?”
A girl named Isabelle raised her hand and then walked to a spot in front of the present table. She started singing the same Holiday song Joshua planned to sing.
“Louder! You have to sing louder!” Ms. Viola called.
Isabelle blushed as she increased her volume. For the next three minutes, Ms. Viola encouraged her to get louder. By the time she was done, Isabelle was bright red and looked like she had crossed a desert with no water.
Joshua’s heart raced. His performance was sure to be more humiliating than Isabella’s. He raised his hand.
“Oh, you want to go next, Joshua?” Ms. Viola asked.
“No. I really need to go to the bathroom!” he replied convincingly. The beads of sweat on his forehead helped sell the request.
“Sounds serious. Okay, but hurry back,” Ms. Viola replied.
Joshua fled the music room and traipsed toward the bathroom. At first, he had no real plan except for escape, but as he walked, he decided he would simply hide out in the bathroom until class was over. He would emerge when he heard people walking around outside in the hallway. Then he remembered the stack of wrapped presents. He did not want to leave his behind.
The question hit him again: How could he avoid Music Share and still get his present? Ms. Viola said she would pass them out at the end. What if he reappeared in class with less than three minutes left? He would not have time to sing and she would be in the middle of handing out presents. Yes. It would work if he could get the timing right.
His class had learned to tell time from a dial clock or watch, but unfortunately, Joshua did not have a watch. There was a clock on the wall outside the bathroom, but he could not hang out there and monitor it because one of the adults would catch him and send him back to Music. He would have to hide in the bathroom and rely on counting.
Joshua looked carefully at the wall clock. 1:05. He had 55 minutes until Music was over. That meant 52 minutes until he should show up to claim his present. He ducked into the bathroom and an empty stall. He locked the door, sat on the toilet, and started counting to 60. If he repeated the count 52 times, he would emerge right on schedule.
“One, two, three, four, five, six . . . “ Joshua said the numbers out loud but mostly under his breath. He knew how long a second should last from watching the fastest hand on a clock and he tried to match each number with exactly one second in time. If he was too long, he would miss the present. If he was too short, he would walk out of the bathroom with too much time to spare.
Each time he hit 60, Joshua used his fingers to keep track of the total minutes that passed. People walked in and out of the bathroom but they did not disturb him. He continued quietly counting. His focus was so strong, he did not grow bored or lose track of minutes.
When his finger count reached 52, Joshua stepped out of the stall and exited the bathroom. He passed the wall clock. It read 1:57. He had done it! His timing was exactly right. He hurried to the music room.
On the other side of the door, Ms. Viola was handing out presents to the class. She saw Joshua walk in and she waved him over.
“What happened to you? Are you okay?”
Joshua clutched his stomach. “I’m feeling better now.”
“It’s too late for you to show off your musical talent. I was hoping to see some of your perfect rhythm and counting.”
Joshua smiled just a little. He kept to himself that he had used his perfect counting in the bathroom.
“Here’s your present,” Ms. Viola added, handing him a wrapped package. “I thought it was appropriate for the class metronome.”
Joshua opened the gift to find an inexpensive wristwatch. He immediately put it on and checked the time. Then he thought to himself, “I really could have used this 55 minutes ago.”
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