”To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.”
Hex Code ~ #0B610B
The day began as any other, with Althea readying herself at her off-campus apartment. Except today would be different, as it was the day of the Spring Festival and all classes were cancelled so everyone could either enjoy their day or attend to their assigned class duties. For Althea, all that she had to worry about was the play that they would be putting on at 1:00pm, and then ensuring that if anything were to happen, as SeniorClass President, she was present to attend to any matters that arose.
She attended the festival wearing a simple yet elegant green dress that she had designed and enlisted the assistance of the fashion department’s help in creating. It was a dress that she was to wear in the play, and the director had requested she wear it at the festival to draw in people to buy tickets and attend the performance. Paired with a simple lavender flower crown she made and pretty iridescent green fairy wings she found online for a fairly decent price, she looked the perfect picture of a fairy princess and would undoubtedly draw eyes and therefore a fair amount of theater goers. Not to mention the splash of shimmering glitter she added to make the fairy look more realistic. Topping the look off with a simple pouch, she snatched up her messenger bag, intending to leave it in the locked dressing rooms.
She would be lying if she said it wasn’t nice to be rehearsing outside, when the weather was as lovely as it was. Inhaling deeply, she reveled in the fresh air as the breeze brushed around her, almost whispering in her ears. The chitter of a chipmunk could be heard as it skittered up a nearby tree, and the small mew of one of the stray cats traveled from a bush that she strode by. Pausing, Althea withdrew a small pouch from her bag, made her way over to the bushes, and crouched down. Almost immediately a black and white face peeped out, as though excited, and she let out of a soft giggle in response.
”Don’t worry, I brought you food,” she reassured it, popping open the pouch of wet cat food. Emptying it out onto the sidewalk right next to the grass lining the bushes, she watched as the cat scurried out and basically inhaled the food, gently stroking it behind its ear as it did. ”I’m sure someone will come and take you home real soon, okay?” she murmured softly, wishing that she herself could adopt the feline. Once it had finished eating and receiving attention, it returned to its nesting spot inside the bushes for what she assumed was a much-needed food nap, and Althea returned on her way, glancing at her smartwatch as she did so, noting the time to be 7:15 in the morning. This gave her around fifteen minutes to reach the outdoor amphitheater and start to get ready for dress rehearsal, and if she didn’t want to be late, she would have to hurry.
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“...And Paris, too. Come, I’ll dispose of thee Among a sisterhood of holy nuns. Stay not to question, for the watch is coming. Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.”
Silence rang heavily in the air as the remnants of the man’s voice faded from the outdoor amphitheater. The quiet quickly grew uncomfortable, and was marred by the clearing of a throat and the soft shuffling of a chair. A young woman knelt on the stage, seemingly staring off into the unknown, and it was clear that her mind was elsewhere instead of focused on the play at hand.
“Miss Regàlé, do you need your line read to you?”
When the director’s question was met with further silence, he pushed back his chair, shuffling the script papers in front of him before placing them in a neat stack on the table. Moving out from behind the desk, he approached the stage and lithely hopped up onto it, swiftly made his way across the floor, before placing a hand on the young woman’s shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise, having quite obviously been off in her own little world and not paying attention in any form.She blinked up at him with a blank expression for a moment before light dawned on her expression and a bright pink hue rose into her cheeks.
”I’m so sorry, Mr. Heinry. I suppose I was lost in my train of thought. There is little excuse for my behavior and I apologize - sincerely, sir. It will not happen again,” she scrambled out, bowing her head to him. ”I don’t require my lines, I remember them. Please, allow us to return to rehearsal.”
With a questionable look down at James, the young man currently pretending to be a dead Romeo, Mr. Heinry nodded in answer to Althea and strode back across the stage, hopping down and returning to the director’s seat behind his table.
“Alright, let’s take it from Friar Lawrence’s line beginning with, ‘I hear some noise.’” He spun his hand in the air, and following the cue, the young man playing Friar Lawrence cleared his throat and spoke his lines anew, this time with Althea paying attention.
“Go, get thee hence, for I will not away!” The man playing Friar Lawrence nodded and exited the stage, leaving Althea alone with her partner. Tears streamed down her face in rivlets, streaking her cheeks with stains. Her eyes moved to James’ hand and she grasped his wrist, raising it swiftly. “What’s here? A cup closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.— O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop To help me after! I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, To make me die with a restorative.” She leaned down and pressed her lips gently to his own, and when she retreated, a soft sob escaped her. “Thy lips are warm! Lead, boy. Which way? Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath! There rust, and let me die!” With that final line, Althea brought her hands into the air, raising the false dagger that shimmered as though real in the bright morning light, and brought it down quickly towards her chest. She let out a cry of pain and slowly slumped over James, the dagger lodged between them and her arm sprawled across his body.
The applause of their fellow castmates drew them up, and as she rose, Althea held out a hand to James, which he took gratefully as he allowed her to help him stand. She gave him a sweet smile, prompting his cheeks to turn pink, but she didn’t notice.
”Great work so far, James. Keep it up and we might even make it to finals!” she encouraged, patting him on the shoulder. His cheeks turned brighter and he rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Thanks a lot, Althea; but if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even made it to sectionals. You’re the one who brought the whole thing together. Not only did you direct the set building, but with you playing Juliet, there’s no way we can fail,” he gushed, looking down at her with shimmering puppy dog eyes.
Althea, ever the dense and naive when it came to recognizing clues and hints in the regards of romance, simply beamed in return. ”Ah, thank you so much, James! I appreciate the compliment, but we never would have made it this far if it weren’t for everyone involved,” she insisted, then bid him a quick farewell. Turning, she strode across the stage and grabbed her messenger bag from behind the curtains, making her way down the stairs on the side of the platform. Casting a gentle smile at people as she passed and they congratulated her on her performance, she headed toward the dressing rooms to change back into her original dress.
Excited to bring in people to watch her performance, she spent a majority of the day traversing the festival, pausing to chat with those who wanted pictures with her and who had questions about her costume. Little girls would run up and excitedly tug on her skirts, exclaiming that they had found a real-life fairy princess and they wanted to be just like her, and little boys professed that they would save her should she ever be kidnapped by a big, mean bad guy and need rescuing. This would draw laughs from their parents who would snap pictures for the memories, a bright smile on Althea’s face, and when the time came for her performance, it went off without a hitch, the show sold-out, much to her pleasure. A majority of the theater-goers were those who had stopped to take pictures with her, the little ones wanting to watch the pretty fairy princess’s show, and the parents intrigued on how well she could perform in a practiced situation. Needless to say, they were not disappointed, and they congratulated her after the show as they all left the theater, shaking the hands of the cast as they awaited them at the exit.
For Althea, changing into normal clothes could not come quickly enough. After sweating it out in the beautiful yet uncomfortable gowns she had been forced into throughout the day, she was more than ready to change into a pair of pants. The cast filed back into the dressing rooms, chattering away, and she joined in on a few of the jokes, giving a giggle here and there as they all reverted from Renaissance royalty and peasants into normal, 21st century civilians.
Once she was done, Althea gathered her bag and made her way into the festival, intent on perusing the wares, food, and activities.