Powerful piece. It starts with that bright, almost innocent “Buccaneer Festival” energy, then slowly walks into something much darker, and the shift is handled really well. The way the scene moves from lights and music into “the darkness took over” makes the fear feel real without any exaggeration.

And then the baton changes meaning. That part is strong. It stops being decoration and becomes something earned all over again. “I swung it to keep them off me” and “I was not theirs to take” give the whole story its backbone. Painful, clear, and full of grit. It carries both fear and strength at the same time.