“You did that for her?”
“Yes, and I would do it again!” I turn to the audience. “And I would do it again for her!” The curtain falls.
“They loved you tonight!”
“Thank you, but without you there wouldn’t have been as much tension between us if they replaced you with anyone else here Jim.”
“Thank you I didn’t go to college for four years for nothing.”
“Yeah, I was lucky when it came to getting the lead role of this play.” We get in line on the stage, and bow to the audience as the curtain rises. As we are all bowing one of the goblins falls on his face. We all jump as the curtain quickly drops back down to hide the now passed out goblin on the floor.
“DAVID! Get up off the floor!” But there is no response from the passed out David. The director flips him on his back to look for a pulse, “I feel a steady pulse, but someone needs to call a paramedic.” I grab my stomach. “What’s wrong Tom?” Says the director.
“Nothing just never ate dinner before we started, but I’ll be fine. I can just eat it later.”
“Alright?” Says the director. We wait around, and the paramedics take David to the hospital. I start walking off the stage, but Jim runs over to me. “Wait up! Wanna grab something to eat before we go?”
“Sure where?” The lights go out, and the room goes black. I hear someone running around the room with chains, and I start walking backwards. I walk around in a daze trying to make sense of my surroundings, but as I am walking I hear the running getting closer to me as I feel something hard knock my legs out from under me, and I realize that I was hit by heavy chains. Whoever it is runs off. I try to stand up, and someone is helping me get up, “Are you okay?” I recognize Jims voice.
“No, I think there is some psycho in the building!” The lights come back on, and all the people on the stage are huddled in a circle on the stage. “Are you all ok?”
“Yeah we are, but what happened to you?”
“Someone attacked me.”
“Look” The director pointed to the doors around the room, and he peaked backstage at the back door, and all the doors had chains closing them shut. Thinking to myself not thinking that things could get too much worse I head out back to the break room to get my dinner out of the fridge. “Where are you going?” Says the director.
“Just getting my lunch, and to get into the phone cubby to call the cops”
“I’ll come with you” Says Jim.
We head out back in the dark backstage. We keep our heads on a swivel to watch for my assailant. Then we see the break room. We walk toward it into the light illuminating the empty backstage, and we see wood splinters all over the floor in the room. The phone cubby is in pieces and not one phone was left in one piece. “What are we going to do?” Says Jim in a panicked voice.
“I’m not sure but I’m starving.” I look in the fridge, but my sandwich is missing.
“I guess we’ll have to get dinner later, because it seems like whoever did this to me was hungry too because my sandwich is missing.
“Weird” Says Jim.
We head back through the darkness of the backstage, but we hear pounding on the back door. We head over to the back door and see David in the little piece of glass on the door. He sees me and holds a little yellow sticky note with my name on it that was on my sandwich. I look at David’s face, and his eyes widen and he ducks out of the window. I turn around and Jim is holding a gun at my head. “What’s going on Jim?”
“Go to the stage.” I walk to the stage, and everyone is sitting in the audience seats startled by Jim. A couple people scream.
“What are you doing Jim?” Says the director.
“You wanna know what I’m doing?! I am getting rid of this plague that you have brought to the play! I have always put my all into my act for you, and what did I get for a role this time! The second biggest role in the play! I went to college for acting for four years! Then this little disease walks in and gives an ok performance. Then you throw away our relationship of three years of working together for a newbie!!” I look at Jim and the director. The director was looking down at his feet the entire time.
“Sorry Jim you’re right about what you’re saying, but you’ll never be in one of my plays again. You’ll be arrested for this. Like what were you thinking?”
“This was my play! I was the main role! I was the director of this play that I created! Where is the curtain dropper?” As Jim finishes his sentence the curtain falls crushing Jim. We all stare as we hear the back door hit the back floor, and the cops storm in. The police chief looks at Jim, and then the director, “How heavy was that curtain?!”
“About 1,200 pounds.” He looks at me, and asks what happens.
“This guy got what he deserved for stealing from me!” As I talk I slowly kneel down and talk to what is left of Jim.