� 2001-2006 by Shiloh
�
I was back in school and taking a class with my friend Kjerstina. I got the impression it was a literature class in high school, but the teacher wanted us to act in a play. The story's plot would've made a good video game. Well, maybe it's the dream's plot I'm thinking of. I can't remember, unfortunately, much of the play's plot as the dream faded almost immediately upon waking. All I remember is there was a maiden who was betrothed to a young, clumsy warrior, whom she had no interest in. (She was interested in his best friend.) All I remember of the play after this is she tried scorning and avoiding her fiance, but they were thrown together time and time again while he was trying to complete quests for her, to show her he was worthy. Sounds like I remember a lot, I know, but there was more to the play than this, like what was going on with her and his best friend--which I don't know. The only other thing I remember about the characters (vaguely) is that the land, soil, was important to them.
I don't know why the teacher wanted us to read and perform this play, but she did, aanndd she didn't hold any auditions! She just willy nilly, randomly picked students to be the characters. And of course, I got the very dubious honor of playing the maiden. I hate performing before a huge crowd, and so my stomach dropped to the floor when she annouced my role. Of course, I protested mightly and tried getting her to pick another person, but she was adamant. She picked a guy with light-to-medium brown hair to play the warrior and a dark-haired kid to play his best friend. It was odd, the dark-haired kid was immediately to my left in the next row then the "warrior" was to his left, but when class started we were in a big circle, not rows like we were at this point. And guess who I liked? The dark-haired guy, of course. We practiced our lines a bit for one scene where the maiden scorns the warrior and tells him she will not wed him. She will choose another path. Her own path. I knew the lines and could read them as clearly as if I were reading an actual play or book, but once the dream faded, the lines fell into obscurity as much of the play did. Too bad too, they seemed like good lines at the time. The scene changed and we were in the Commons for lunch. That's what we at Madison High School call the open area of tables and chairs in the center of the high school. An older gentleman, maybe in his early 50s, came over to my friends' table where I was currently grousing and venting about the whole play thing. He was gentle and started talking to me like an old family friend, calming me down. He even got me to laugh once, I think. I told him I didn't want to do this play. Lunch was suddenly over and I stood with with him, reluctant to go back to rehearsals. I refused. Then suddenly to my right there was this arched window in a wall where there shouldn't have been like in a gothic novel. The window had two halves that opened into the inside like shutters. A green dragon hovered at the window, staring or glaring at me. He was somehow the brown-haired kid, come to retrieve me. The older man and I backed away, and I could imagine the dragon extending his neck through the window to nab me with his great teeth. Somehow, I ended up back in the class reading my lines again, this time more poorly than before. The print was in this fancy script this time, so it was hard to make out. But someone earlier had given me a sheet of computer paper with my lines typed upon it. The teacher was disappointed and frowned at my inability. Annoyed, I told her I'd just use the paper and that I'd get it.
Like I said, one for the Book of Strange and Inventive. It could be a tale from the time of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, except for the high school part.
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