| Subject: Lyric Wheel: A Life Beyond This |
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hautecoffey
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Date Posted: 01:34:14 08/30/01 Thu
A Life Beyond This
Strains of music drifted over the dimly lit staging area.
“Tommy? Macleod quirked an eyebrow.
“Puh-lease work with me here, Macleod!” Walter Graham groaned. “It will give our young maiden's story a contemporary appeal ~ “ he announced with a theatricality perfected centuries ago. He completed the scene with a grand gesture of his arms.
“Tommy?” Macleod repeated unimpressed.
"You were never this difficult to work with when we were doing Shakespeare," the director groused.
"You never used a rock opera to score a fairy tale," Mac retorted.
“Everyone’s a critic,” the director snarled, humphing off, exuent all.
See me - feel me
Touch me - heal me…………
The “Imminent Immie” buzz tugged at the Highlander’s perception and he turned to face an “old” friend.
“The Who wasn’t your idea was it?” Macleod half accused.
“The what?”
“That line’s older than you.”
Methos grumped a harsh look over to him. “I’m just here to paint the scenery,” he shot back.
“What are you getting for it - scale?” Mac smirked.
Methos rewarded him by painting a green stripe across the bridge of the younger man’s nose.
“Paybacks and all that,” he smirked in return.
Movement from stage left caught Mac’s eye.
“Who’s that?” he elbowed Methos and directed his attention toward the new arrival.
“That,” Methos allowed thoughtfully, squinting his eyes for a better look and giving the question due consideration, “is a young woman in a horribly brown frumpy dress.”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime,” Methos returned to painting bushes on what Mac took to be a cave entrance.
“What scene is this?” he questioned.
“It’s the basement that the female lead gets locked into so that the appropriate drama can be contrived for maximum effect,” he explained.
“Cynic,” Mac accused.
“Sticks and stones……” Methos sassed, turning his head quickly.
Mac glared at him, certain the 5000 year old Immortal had stuck out his tongue.
The young woman picked her way carefully past the two men and stopped at the foot of a circular stairway. She stared up hesitantly and finally allowed herself to look over at Mac and Methos.
“Um, excuse me……” she asked haltingly.
“Yes,” they chimed.
“I’m looking for wardrobe,“ she explained.
“Keep going,” Methos suggested.
Mac glowered at him. “He means it’s at the top of those stairs.”
“Thank you.” She put a death grip on the handrail and practically raced up the stairs.
At the top, she knocked lightly on the door marked Wardrobe and waited quietly to be acknowledged.
“Well, hello there,” a vibrant brunette pulled the door back and dragged the woman inside.
She froze.
“Hello?” Amanda tried again.
The woman thrust the script out in front of her.
“Why don’t you try coming on in?” Amanda invited.
The woman took a few small steps.
“Timid little thing, aren’t you? Put your stuff on the counter and let’s have a look at you.”
Amanda watched the girl move to the lighted makeup counter and place the script on a clear spot.
“Not bad; you’re the perfect size. Let’s find something that fits you - "
“Oh, but I’m not here for my fitting, I'm just supposed to run lines with some of the actresses - “
“THIS!” Amanda gushed, selecting a sky blue satin dress complete with train and hat. She held it up to woman. “It’s perfect! And your skin colour is perfect, too.” She looked over the dress again and as an afterthought held it up to herself. “Of course, I’d be perfect in it, too, but - “ she glanced up again at her charge. “Pull that brown thing off and let’s get you dressed, shall we?”
“But I'm not supposed to be changing out - “
“Shoo, shoo!” Amanda commanded.
The woman took a step back.
“Wait!” Amanda halted her. “What did you say your name was?”
“Cindy.”
“Well, what are you waiting for??? Get changed!!”
Back down below Macleod was doing his best to be annoying.
“What is this supposed to be anyway?” Mac went back to irritating Methos once the more pleasant diversion had escaped.
“Macleod,” a great exasperated voice boomed back into the conversation, “You uncouth if well coiffed behemouth; it represents the dark and primitive emotional and intellectual state of the familial characters - “
“It’s a cave - “ Methos supplied
“Cretan!” Walter huffed.
Macleod gave a cursory shrug steeped in temperate humility. “I’ve been called worse,” he smiled.
Methos stood quietly to one side watching the exchange. In desperation, Walter turned his frustrated rage on the older Immortal.
"Will you paint something??!!??" he yelled.
"Always happy to oblige," the elder replied, swiping a neat green stripe down the resident thespian's nose.
Walter aimed his rage back at the Scotsman who was barely containing his laughter. "Will you go get dressed?!?!"
Mac headed for the downstairs dressing room and almost made it to the door before bursting into an unrestrainable belly laugh.
The upstairs wardrobe door flung itself inward and slammed into the wall. "Where's the make-up girl?" an unattractive older woman demanded.
"And I just know you are not referring to me," Amanda warned her.
The woman swept in, followed by two plain woman closer to Cindy's age. Cindy peered from behind the dressing screen.
"Harumph," the older woman grunted. "You'd think Walter would have cast an attractive girl in the lead role," she frowned disapprovingly.
Amanda swept past the threesome over to Cindy.
"You're beautiful," she assured the girl, pulling her into the center of the room.
"That's the dress I'm supposed to wear!" wailed one of the younger newcomers.
"Well, we'll just have to get you a different one, won't we?" Amanda snarled with just the right touch of articial sweetness.
"I think I'll take this one," she sneered, grabbing the soft blue sleeve of Cindy's dress. "It would be a shame to have someone with such a boyish figure wearing such a beautiful outfit."
"It's true," the second girl added quickly, "there's no reason to waste a perfectly good dress on such a plain face and body."
Cindy snatched her sleeve from the grip of her tormentor and rushed through the door. She tripped down the stairs and ran into Mac just emerging from his dressing room regal in cape and bodice. Apologizing profusely she stumbled backwards through the mouth of the cave and was swallowed quickly in the gloom. Methos shrugged and Mac followed her, picking his way through the dim-lit construction. He found Cindy standing in a small open area, tears coursing down her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked gently.
"Nothing," she protested.
"There must be something wrong to cause such pretty eyes to be that sad," he insisted with the charm learned in 400 years.
"Sometimes I just get tired of being me," she confessed.
"What's there to get tired of?"
"Of being plain, mousey, boring me!" she complained. "I have a boring job, I don't have any friends in this whole town, my life is so boring it even bores me to death. I feel like I'm never going to amount to anything! I want something more, something beyond this, something with a purpose and excitement......."
Mac smiled, recognizing the faint buzz of a future Immortal. "I'll bet you have no family, either, huh?"
"How did you know that?" she sniffed through her tears.
"Just a hunch," he shrugged. "And I have another hunch. I think that things are going to get really exciting for you one day. Maybe even sooner than you think - "
"Do you really think so?" she snuffled, blinking long blonde hair out of clear, blue eyes.
"I think your life is going to be very exciting. Let me tell you a story......."
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