GGray
New member
Timothy James Scott
Sorry I haven’t written in a while. Pete’s mom switched his socks to another drawer and found this. She stuck it on a pile of Pete’s stuff, and it took til now for us to find it.
Irene has this summer job at a day care center, and I got dragged off on their field trip to the zoo yesterday. (Amy says she made me go because the zoo is Educational, but I think she just wanted to keep me away from AxeQuest.) Now I know why Irene complains about her job. The day care center name (Happy Little Angels Daycare) is all wrong. It should be called the Evil Little Demons Lockup. On the way to the zoo, I sat in front of one of the most annoying types of kid ever—a five-year-old tattler. It was ‘Jacob looked at me’ and ‘Aiden kicked Ben’, etc., the whole way there and back. When I leaned over the kid next to me to ask Irene a question, the tattler kid screeched, “Miss Irene! Your brother breathed on Maggie! Punish him!” The rest of the trip was so bad I’ve blocked it out of my mind.
Speaking of Irene, she’s spent the last few months rehearsing for this big musical she’s in. The opening performance is tomorrow, and Evelyn and Anna Rose are taking all of us Pals plus Sally to see it. I hope it isn’t one long love song with short inserts of dialogue, like the one she was in last year. I was so bored that I almost dumped my water on the head of the person in front of me, just to cause some excitement.
The Journal of Henry Lincoln McGillis, 3rd entry
4:57 PM
I made Level 10 in Math:Advanced. I’m really looking forward to Level 11—the box claims it’s the most interesting one. Finding time to play it is getting more and more difficult—Johnny, Rory, and Teddy complain that I’m ‘hogging the computer with dumb stuff’ whenever I try.
RORY J. MCGILLIS, Pal Club Official Picnic Basket Packer
I heard Johnny is planning to enter a writing contest, so I decided to. When I told Johnny, he snorted and said that anything I can do, he can do better. Then he gave me a Self Satisfied look. Turns out that’s some movie quote. But he meant it. I’ve been working on my story for a while, and here it is. The idea came from this dream I had a while back. I’m Really Proud of this story—I used the computer thesaurus and spell checker and got in some words that even Pete doesn’t know.
The Creature and the Donuts
by Rory J. McGillis
Once there was this Creature that looked like a mix between a frog and a shrimpy human. It just appeared one day inside a Denver’s Donuts and snatched away all the donuts except the jelly-filled ones, which it hated. The workers were too repulsed to stop it. Anyway, if you tried to grab it, it would slime you. The creature repeated this over the next few weeks. People who always had coffee and donuts in the morning were pretty annoyed. Except for the ones who always got jelly-filled ones. They were quite contented as they sat at tables, sipping coffee and nibblings their jelly-filleds. Otherwise, the riots got out of hand. One man, who had just seen the Creature run off clutching all the Boston Creme filled donuts, burst into Denver’s with a model of a donut on the end of a pole, shouting, “Donut eaters, revolt!” So the people went on a strike. Their signs said stuff like, “Save Our Donuts!” and “Catch and Kill the Creature!” One guy even juggled plastic donuts and did the samba at the same time, singing, “Do Not Steal My Precious!” And throughout it all, the jelly-filled eaters kept peacefully munching—even when a REAL donut fanatic staggered down the street with a plush donut around his neck. (This was suspected to be the result of a caffeine overload.)
The police were naturally concerned, so they came up with a clever idea—a trap baiting with a double-dip vanilla glazed. It worked! While the Creature was in jail awaiting a trial, the police discovered that it was only capable of eating donuts—anything else made it sick. Well, the Creature was smarter than it looked. It figured out that all imprisonment would mean was a life-long supply of donuts. In court, it volubly pleaded for a life sentence. The judge had never heard THAT coming from the guilty party before. Still, he agreed and sent the Creature to jail on a voluntary life sentence—after serving a couple years for the stealing and disturbing the peace, it could leave anytime it wanted to. But with the unlimited donut supply and the free coffee, the Creature is probably still in jail.
TEDDY’S JOURNAL
In a few minutes, we’re going to see this play Irene is in. It’s around three hours long, so it better not be boring. Tim told us about the last one she was in. All I can say is, “Ugh.” Evelyn’s here to get us, so I gotta go.
Sorry I haven’t written in a while. Pete’s mom switched his socks to another drawer and found this. She stuck it on a pile of Pete’s stuff, and it took til now for us to find it.
Irene has this summer job at a day care center, and I got dragged off on their field trip to the zoo yesterday. (Amy says she made me go because the zoo is Educational, but I think she just wanted to keep me away from AxeQuest.) Now I know why Irene complains about her job. The day care center name (Happy Little Angels Daycare) is all wrong. It should be called the Evil Little Demons Lockup. On the way to the zoo, I sat in front of one of the most annoying types of kid ever—a five-year-old tattler. It was ‘Jacob looked at me’ and ‘Aiden kicked Ben’, etc., the whole way there and back. When I leaned over the kid next to me to ask Irene a question, the tattler kid screeched, “Miss Irene! Your brother breathed on Maggie! Punish him!” The rest of the trip was so bad I’ve blocked it out of my mind.
Speaking of Irene, she’s spent the last few months rehearsing for this big musical she’s in. The opening performance is tomorrow, and Evelyn and Anna Rose are taking all of us Pals plus Sally to see it. I hope it isn’t one long love song with short inserts of dialogue, like the one she was in last year. I was so bored that I almost dumped my water on the head of the person in front of me, just to cause some excitement.
The Journal of Henry Lincoln McGillis, 3rd entry
4:57 PM
I made Level 10 in Math:Advanced. I’m really looking forward to Level 11—the box claims it’s the most interesting one. Finding time to play it is getting more and more difficult—Johnny, Rory, and Teddy complain that I’m ‘hogging the computer with dumb stuff’ whenever I try.
RORY J. MCGILLIS, Pal Club Official Picnic Basket Packer
I heard Johnny is planning to enter a writing contest, so I decided to. When I told Johnny, he snorted and said that anything I can do, he can do better. Then he gave me a Self Satisfied look. Turns out that’s some movie quote. But he meant it. I’ve been working on my story for a while, and here it is. The idea came from this dream I had a while back. I’m Really Proud of this story—I used the computer thesaurus and spell checker and got in some words that even Pete doesn’t know.
The Creature and the Donuts
by Rory J. McGillis
Once there was this Creature that looked like a mix between a frog and a shrimpy human. It just appeared one day inside a Denver’s Donuts and snatched away all the donuts except the jelly-filled ones, which it hated. The workers were too repulsed to stop it. Anyway, if you tried to grab it, it would slime you. The creature repeated this over the next few weeks. People who always had coffee and donuts in the morning were pretty annoyed. Except for the ones who always got jelly-filled ones. They were quite contented as they sat at tables, sipping coffee and nibblings their jelly-filleds. Otherwise, the riots got out of hand. One man, who had just seen the Creature run off clutching all the Boston Creme filled donuts, burst into Denver’s with a model of a donut on the end of a pole, shouting, “Donut eaters, revolt!” So the people went on a strike. Their signs said stuff like, “Save Our Donuts!” and “Catch and Kill the Creature!” One guy even juggled plastic donuts and did the samba at the same time, singing, “Do Not Steal My Precious!” And throughout it all, the jelly-filled eaters kept peacefully munching—even when a REAL donut fanatic staggered down the street with a plush donut around his neck. (This was suspected to be the result of a caffeine overload.)
The police were naturally concerned, so they came up with a clever idea—a trap baiting with a double-dip vanilla glazed. It worked! While the Creature was in jail awaiting a trial, the police discovered that it was only capable of eating donuts—anything else made it sick. Well, the Creature was smarter than it looked. It figured out that all imprisonment would mean was a life-long supply of donuts. In court, it volubly pleaded for a life sentence. The judge had never heard THAT coming from the guilty party before. Still, he agreed and sent the Creature to jail on a voluntary life sentence—after serving a couple years for the stealing and disturbing the peace, it could leave anytime it wanted to. But with the unlimited donut supply and the free coffee, the Creature is probably still in jail.
TEDDY’S JOURNAL
In a few minutes, we’re going to see this play Irene is in. It’s around three hours long, so it better not be boring. Tim told us about the last one she was in. All I can say is, “Ugh.” Evelyn’s here to get us, so I gotta go.
Copperfox
Well-known member
That mother is what I call a "helpful hurricane"--someone who thinks they know better than you where your own things need to be, and even thinks you'll magically know where they hid your things.
The "Creature" part makes me glad I gave up eating doughnuts.
This one was great! The tattle-tale kid reminds me of way too many children I've known. 
I love the doughnut story Rory wrote! That is so hilarious! It's a lot like things I wrote in 6th grade when I was bored and trying to be funny. xP
That sounds like something my little brother would say.
I love the doughnut story Rory wrote! That is so hilarious! It's a lot like things I wrote in 6th grade when I was bored and trying to be funny. xP
GGray
New member
The last bit of the chapter:
PETER MATTHEW LEWIS
So, we just got back from Irene’s play. It was called ‘The Music Man’, and Irene played the part of the love interest, Marian. Basically, this con man who called himself Harold Hill but whose real name was Greg something came to River City, Iowa, with the intention of scamming the population. In my opinion, the love songs were unnecessary, as always, but I guess Irene did a good job singing them. Aside from that, it was pretty interesting. The mob scene got the most applause from us. Henry used the intermission to deliver a boring talk on how dumb and trusting the citizens were. Personally, I agreed, but refrained from saying so.
The whole ‘play’ thing obviously had given Amy an idea, because she drew us aside when we got home and told us that she had volunteered us (we Pals, Anna Rose, Evelyn, and Sally) to organize the older kids at Irene’s day care and direct them in putting on a play. We...weren’t happy, to put it nicely. See, Tim told us how bad the zoo field trip went. Johnny expressed our feelings once we were in the safety of the rec room: “So that’s how it feels to be sentenced to death.”
Looks like the remaining weeks of vacation are going to be TORTURE.
PETER MATTHEW LEWIS
So, we just got back from Irene’s play. It was called ‘The Music Man’, and Irene played the part of the love interest, Marian. Basically, this con man who called himself Harold Hill but whose real name was Greg something came to River City, Iowa, with the intention of scamming the population. In my opinion, the love songs were unnecessary, as always, but I guess Irene did a good job singing them. Aside from that, it was pretty interesting. The mob scene got the most applause from us. Henry used the intermission to deliver a boring talk on how dumb and trusting the citizens were. Personally, I agreed, but refrained from saying so.
The whole ‘play’ thing obviously had given Amy an idea, because she drew us aside when we got home and told us that she had volunteered us (we Pals, Anna Rose, Evelyn, and Sally) to organize the older kids at Irene’s day care and direct them in putting on a play. We...weren’t happy, to put it nicely. See, Tim told us how bad the zoo field trip went. Johnny expressed our feelings once we were in the safety of the rec room: “So that’s how it feels to be sentenced to death.”
Looks like the remaining weeks of vacation are going to be TORTURE.
Zella
New member
Oh dear! The poor boys... directing the daycare children in a play! And yet... I admit that I am very eager to hear how all this turns out. 
GGray
New member
7. Basically, Chaos
The next day, all of us who were doomed to volunteer at Happy Angels met in Tim’s room to plan the play. Amy had given us a list of topics that had to be included, which Anna Rose read out loud.
“ ‘Topics to be included in the play: sharing, being yourself, and following your dreams!’”
Pete rolled his eyes. “The usual.”
“How are we supposed to write anything interesting with those topics?” Rory asked.
Johnny, of course, had an answer. “There’s this guy—Bill. His DREAM is to be a hit man, so he follows it! That’s just BEING HIMSELF....”
“What does he share?” Teddy interrupted.
“Bullets,” Johnny replied.
“I take it that was a joke,” Pete said. “Now, seriously, what will we write?”
“How about we just adapt a fairy tale or classic story?” Evelyn suggested.
“The only message I ever got out of fairy tales was that if you’re not the third-born kid, you’re out of luck,” Sally said.
“Okay...fairy tales...” said Anna Rose. “Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty...”
“It has to have parts for at least twenty children,” Evelyn said, consulting the bottom of the list. “But they don’t all have to be speaking parts.”
Anna Rose was still listing fairy tales. “The Little Mermaid...”
“How about the Apple Chest?” suggested Teddy.
“What’s that?” asked Anna Rose.
“I don’t know if that’s the real name. It’s this story Sally read to us from some collection called Wonderfully Morbid Fairy Tales. The only part I remember is when the a kid was looking into a chest for an apple and his wicked stepmother let the lid drop and it cut his head clean off.”
“Yeah, like that would ever work,” said Anna Rose. “Amy would drop dead.”
“Amy?” said Rory. “What does she have to do with this, besides volunteering us?”
“She’s proofreading the script before we hand it in,” Evelyn explained.
Pete slumped backwards. “Great.”
“So, what’s the age range of these kids?” asked Sally.
“Well, we’re writing the play for the school-aged summer program to put on,” said Evelyn. “Irene said the kids were five to ten.”
“That’s getting a little close to our ages,” Tim said nervously. “What if they don’t listen?”
“That’s what we girls are here for,” Sally said. Looking at Sally, you wouldn’t think she was too good at crowd control, but having four younger brothers taught her a few things. That’s what she says, anyway.
“Yeah, they’ll listen to teenagers,” said Anna Rose. “Hopefully.”
“I say we do a google search for pre-written fairy tale plays,” Henry suggested.
This was a sensible idea, so the girls went off to google while we Pals took a break and played ping-pong.
The next day, all of us who were doomed to volunteer at Happy Angels met in Tim’s room to plan the play. Amy had given us a list of topics that had to be included, which Anna Rose read out loud.
“ ‘Topics to be included in the play: sharing, being yourself, and following your dreams!’”
Pete rolled his eyes. “The usual.”
“How are we supposed to write anything interesting with those topics?” Rory asked.
Johnny, of course, had an answer. “There’s this guy—Bill. His DREAM is to be a hit man, so he follows it! That’s just BEING HIMSELF....”
“What does he share?” Teddy interrupted.
“Bullets,” Johnny replied.
“I take it that was a joke,” Pete said. “Now, seriously, what will we write?”
“How about we just adapt a fairy tale or classic story?” Evelyn suggested.
“The only message I ever got out of fairy tales was that if you’re not the third-born kid, you’re out of luck,” Sally said.
“Okay...fairy tales...” said Anna Rose. “Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty...”
“It has to have parts for at least twenty children,” Evelyn said, consulting the bottom of the list. “But they don’t all have to be speaking parts.”
Anna Rose was still listing fairy tales. “The Little Mermaid...”
“How about the Apple Chest?” suggested Teddy.
“What’s that?” asked Anna Rose.
“I don’t know if that’s the real name. It’s this story Sally read to us from some collection called Wonderfully Morbid Fairy Tales. The only part I remember is when the a kid was looking into a chest for an apple and his wicked stepmother let the lid drop and it cut his head clean off.”
“Yeah, like that would ever work,” said Anna Rose. “Amy would drop dead.”
“Amy?” said Rory. “What does she have to do with this, besides volunteering us?”
“She’s proofreading the script before we hand it in,” Evelyn explained.
Pete slumped backwards. “Great.”
“So, what’s the age range of these kids?” asked Sally.
“Well, we’re writing the play for the school-aged summer program to put on,” said Evelyn. “Irene said the kids were five to ten.”
“That’s getting a little close to our ages,” Tim said nervously. “What if they don’t listen?”
“That’s what we girls are here for,” Sally said. Looking at Sally, you wouldn’t think she was too good at crowd control, but having four younger brothers taught her a few things. That’s what she says, anyway.
“Yeah, they’ll listen to teenagers,” said Anna Rose. “Hopefully.”
“I say we do a google search for pre-written fairy tale plays,” Henry suggested.
This was a sensible idea, so the girls went off to google while we Pals took a break and played ping-pong.
Sopespian
Well-known member
Aw, bummer...
Haha, I love the guy's take on "being yourself". Too true.
GGray
New member
“Remember that play we put on for Mom and Dad a couple years ago?” Rory said during a short rest period.
“You mean Lacking of Wits?” said Teddy.
“It was Lackey of Wits, and it was inspired by Shakespeare!” Johnny said.
“Don’t even mention that,” Henry moaned. “I can’t believe I was actually in that. What did you bribe me with, anyway?”
“Five bucks,” Johnny recalled. “And the only reason I even asked you was because Sally refused. She insisted that it would be worth at least fifty bucks to embarrass herself.”
“Wait, what?” Tim cut in. “Lackey of Wits?”
“It all started with a box of books a cousin sent us,” Johnny said. “The morbid fairy tale book was in it. So was this condensed version of some of Shakespeare’s plays. After reading ‘em, I decided to write a play of my own. It was about a scheming lackey—AKA servant—who planned to take over two kingdoms using a simple pudding. Well, two puddings, actually.”
Pete and Tim looked a little confused.
“See, the two kingdoms were ruled respectively by a duke and a prince. The lackey was the duke’s servant, and he ate his master’s pudding and the prince’s, too. This led to war, and it all built up to this big duel. If I remeber right, the duke killed the prince, the lackey killed the duke, and the prince, who turned out to be only mostly dead, got the lackey. So basically, everybody ended up dead.”
“That is WEIRD,” Pete said.
“You think that’s weird? In the first version, the puddings talked,” Henry informed him.
After a while, the girls came back with their choice: Cinderella. Popular, simple, and easy to memorize.
“I say we insert appropriately snarky comments,” Johnny suggested. “You know, stuff that kids wouldn’t get, but the watching adults would.”
“Did you forget that Amy is proofreading this?” Pete reminded.
Johnny rolled his eyes. “I’m talking about cultural references. Amy won’t catch those. She’s not on the same wavelength as the rest of the world.”
“Why not hand the original version to Amy, and then fix it up?" Rory said.
The rest of us stared at him. Johnny finally broke the silence.
“Wow, Rory, you’re not so dumb after all!”
Naturally, this didn't go over so well with Rory.
"Was that meant as a compliment or an insult?" Tim asked after the minor fistfight had subsided.
Johnny was indignant. "A compliment!"
"Well, you really need to work on your compliments," said Henry.
Last edited:
GGray
New member
Evelyn handed us each a copy of the play. “Irene said to take the bus to Happy Angels at one o’clock. We’re supposed to audition the kids today.”
We cringed. The thought of a dozen or so little girls fighting over who got to be the princess was not something to look forward to.
“You think someone is gonna volunteer to be the evil stepmother?” Rory said doubtfully.
“It’s always more fun to play the villain,” Johnny said.
Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t think they’ll see it like that.”
“How about we just draw names out of a bowl?” Sally said. “That way, we can’t be accused of favoritism.”
“Great,” said Evelyn. “That’s what we’ll do.”
After some discussion, it was agreed that Pete, Johnny and Henry would handle the script modification plus make sure all the mandatory lessons were included. The rest of the group would handle the casting.
The bus trip to Happy Angels went way too fast, and in what seemed like seconds we were standing in front of a white building with smiley faces painted on the windows. Evelyn rang the bell, and an employee answered it.
“We’re here to organize that play,” said Evelyn.
“Oh, yes, you’re Irene’s sister, aren’t you? It’s so nice of you kids to take time out of your vacation and volunteer.”
We let this statement pass without arguing. After all, we deserved a little praise, even though ‘coerced’ described us better than ‘volunteered’. We were led to a large green door, which, judging from the sign, led to the school-aged room. Inside, twenty kids were engaged in various activites while Irene and another worker watched.
“What are they doing here?” asked a little girl with long blond hair and a shirt that said, “Sassy and Proud of It.”
“The tattler,” Tim whispered.
“I told you, Olivia. They’re here to help us put on a play,” said Irene.
Olivia walked up to Teddy and poked him in the chest. “You’re going to make me a princess in this play.”
“Yeah, in your dreams, kid,” Teddy muttered. Fortunately, Olivia didn’t catch this.
“And Chloe and Maddalee are going to be princesses, too,” she continued.
“We’re picking names from a bowl,” Sally explained.
“Is there any way we can rig it so they end up as the villains?” Teddy whispered to Rory.
Rory shook his head. “Too late.”
We cringed. The thought of a dozen or so little girls fighting over who got to be the princess was not something to look forward to.
“You think someone is gonna volunteer to be the evil stepmother?” Rory said doubtfully.
“It’s always more fun to play the villain,” Johnny said.
Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t think they’ll see it like that.”
“How about we just draw names out of a bowl?” Sally said. “That way, we can’t be accused of favoritism.”
“Great,” said Evelyn. “That’s what we’ll do.”
After some discussion, it was agreed that Pete, Johnny and Henry would handle the script modification plus make sure all the mandatory lessons were included. The rest of the group would handle the casting.
The bus trip to Happy Angels went way too fast, and in what seemed like seconds we were standing in front of a white building with smiley faces painted on the windows. Evelyn rang the bell, and an employee answered it.
“We’re here to organize that play,” said Evelyn.
“Oh, yes, you’re Irene’s sister, aren’t you? It’s so nice of you kids to take time out of your vacation and volunteer.”
We let this statement pass without arguing. After all, we deserved a little praise, even though ‘coerced’ described us better than ‘volunteered’. We were led to a large green door, which, judging from the sign, led to the school-aged room. Inside, twenty kids were engaged in various activites while Irene and another worker watched.
“What are they doing here?” asked a little girl with long blond hair and a shirt that said, “Sassy and Proud of It.”
“The tattler,” Tim whispered.
“I told you, Olivia. They’re here to help us put on a play,” said Irene.
Olivia walked up to Teddy and poked him in the chest. “You’re going to make me a princess in this play.”
“Yeah, in your dreams, kid,” Teddy muttered. Fortunately, Olivia didn’t catch this.
“And Chloe and Maddalee are going to be princesses, too,” she continued.
“We’re picking names from a bowl,” Sally explained.
“Is there any way we can rig it so they end up as the villains?” Teddy whispered to Rory.
Rory shook his head. “Too late.”
Copperfox
Well-known member
I am reminded once again of my annoyance with the saccharine formula that "Every girl is a princess." This DOES NOT elevate girls in any way that really does them any good; all it does is degrade language and logic. For if every girl is a princess, then the very WORD "princess" means nothing at all except that she EXISTS.
Meanwhile, I've known little girls who WOULD have had a blast playing the wicked stepmother.
Meanwhile, I've known little girls who WOULD have had a blast playing the wicked stepmother.
Picking names out of a bowl is a good idea. Weeeeelll, only if the people who get the main roles are good at acting! I feel so bad for the boys getting coerced into this. xP I can't wait to read more!
I would have said just that if you hadn't beat me to it.
I'll add that the "sassy and proud of it" types of shirts irk me greatly.
I feel so bad for the boys getting coerced into this. xP I can't wait to read more!I would have said just that if you hadn't beat me to it.
I'll add that the "sassy and proud of it" types of shirts irk me greatly.
GGray
New member
“I want to be Spider-Man,” said a little boy who was sitting off to the side playing a DS.
“Sorry, Spider-Man’s not in this play,” said Rory. “Unfortunately.”
“What play is it?” the kid asked.
“Cinderella,” confessed Tim.
This produced groans from the eleven boys (and two girls) and cheers from the other seven girls.
“Who’s gonna be Gus-Gus?” a girl asked.
Tim turned to Rory. “Huh? Enlighten me.”
“The Disney version,” Rory explained. He turned to the kids. “We’re not doing it that way.”
“Why?” asked Olivia.
“Just because,” said Tim.
“No, why,” said Olivia in an annoyingly patronizing tone of voice, like WE were the five-year-olds.
“Because Disney would take us to court and sue us for copyright infringement!” said Sally impatiently.
Olivia looked impressed. “Sue?”
Rory explained.
“Can I sue Aiden?” was Olivia’s comment.
“You’re too young,” said Teddy. “Can we hurry up and draw the names so I can actually do something fun with my vacation?”
It was a good thing for our helpful volunteer images that he added that last part quietly. Before the suing discussion could continue, Anna Rose held up a list. “I’ve got all the names written down.”
We proceeded to cut up the list into just about same-sized pieces and made two piles: one for girls and one for boys. To deflect the ‘unfair’ comments, we had the other worker draw the names while Evelyn noted who got what part on her copy of the script.
“Cinderella is...Maggie,” the worker announced.
“Well, I’m not being in this play,” Olivia said.
“Me either,” chorused her little followers.
The worker calmly ignored them and continued the drawing. The cast list ended up like this:
Cinderella—Maggie
The Prince—Ben
The Stepmother—Summer
Stepsister #1—Isabella
Stepsister #2—Chloe
Fairy Godmother—Sophia
Footman—Jaxon
King—Aiden
Queen—Olivia
Other Princesses—Maddalee, Isis, Norah
Horses—Jacob, Dylan
Royal Guards—Noah, Shawn, Rohan, Jett, Blaine, Cullen
“We’ll be back tomorrow!” Sally called back as we hastily exited in the middle of the huge commotion the drawing had caused.
“Sorry, Spider-Man’s not in this play,” said Rory. “Unfortunately.”
“What play is it?” the kid asked.
“Cinderella,” confessed Tim.
This produced groans from the eleven boys (and two girls) and cheers from the other seven girls.
“Who’s gonna be Gus-Gus?” a girl asked.
Tim turned to Rory. “Huh? Enlighten me.”
“The Disney version,” Rory explained. He turned to the kids. “We’re not doing it that way.”
“Why?” asked Olivia.
“Just because,” said Tim.
“No, why,” said Olivia in an annoyingly patronizing tone of voice, like WE were the five-year-olds.
“Because Disney would take us to court and sue us for copyright infringement!” said Sally impatiently.
Olivia looked impressed. “Sue?”
Rory explained.
“Can I sue Aiden?” was Olivia’s comment.
“You’re too young,” said Teddy. “Can we hurry up and draw the names so I can actually do something fun with my vacation?”
It was a good thing for our helpful volunteer images that he added that last part quietly. Before the suing discussion could continue, Anna Rose held up a list. “I’ve got all the names written down.”
We proceeded to cut up the list into just about same-sized pieces and made two piles: one for girls and one for boys. To deflect the ‘unfair’ comments, we had the other worker draw the names while Evelyn noted who got what part on her copy of the script.
“Cinderella is...Maggie,” the worker announced.
“Well, I’m not being in this play,” Olivia said.
“Me either,” chorused her little followers.
The worker calmly ignored them and continued the drawing. The cast list ended up like this:
Cinderella—Maggie
The Prince—Ben
The Stepmother—Summer
Stepsister #1—Isabella
Stepsister #2—Chloe
Fairy Godmother—Sophia
Footman—Jaxon
King—Aiden
Queen—Olivia
Other Princesses—Maddalee, Isis, Norah
Horses—Jacob, Dylan
Royal Guards—Noah, Shawn, Rohan, Jett, Blaine, Cullen
“We’ll be back tomorrow!” Sally called back as we hastily exited in the middle of the huge commotion the drawing had caused.