You walk into a nearly empty room. In the middle of the space is a table with a closed book. Curious, you open it. You jump back startled. Inside the book you see a tree suspended in the heavens the leaves moving with what seems to be wind. A living breathing boy is sitting in one of its branches. He is looking down on two perpendicular lakes surrounded by a range of mountains. He is spinning a leaf from finger to nimble finger. He looks up and jumps then he smiles brightly at you.
“Hi! My name is Michael. I am a Prince from a realm not unlike here. It has no different names; it is the same. Almost, we travel through time in our vessels and find places to build. When I was a boy I planted my seedling vessel in the honeycombs where ships take on the form their captain needs. When I was of age, I returned to the honeycombs and called my vessel to me. Not long after, I and my vessel were sent inside this book to wait for you to come. I need your help to tell this story. Show me what you want to see and we will build together. Now look below. what do you make of that?”
On the shore of one of the lakes are three finely crafted buildings. A girl walks down a boardwalk that stretches along the lake. She walks through the front door of a three-story hall, and passes through an open café, to a door. A girl is standing in front of it; she lets her into an auditorium. There is a temporary barre set up along the side wall. She approaches it and starts warming up. On the back side of the room is a stage, the girl watches out of the corner of her eye she watches as people take turns performing on the stage. After a few performances, the girl that let her into the hall calls her out of the room.
Next Page Of The Book
The dancer leaves the auditorium and walks onto the next page. She walks through the café and up a flight of stairs. Words start to wrap themselves around a spiral banister. They say:
I am a tree; my roots go deep into the earth. I am afraid I can’t walk away from the pain that envelopes me. I will forget. I will not dwell on the past. I will grow alone so nothing can harm me.
The words keep following her down a hallway, and to a practice room. She knocks on the door and hears a voice calling her to go in. She enters, and a man is on the floor stretching; he gets up and stops. He extends his hand. She takes it; they look at each other with bated breath, their eyes lock, lungs pulsing in unison. The words that followed her down the hall fade as she closes the door behind her.
“Hi,” He says in a clear warm voice.
“Hi,” The girl replies quietly
“I’m Freddy” He introduces himself.
“I know, Ali”
“Is Ali short for something?” he inquires.
“Alisa,” They are still grasping each other’s hands.
“Yeah? I like it,” he says in an off-handed way.
“Thank you, what are we doing?”
“I’ll be teaching you a dance that we will perform tomorrow at the final auditions.”
After hours of work, Alisa walks back along the boardwalk to a condo she climbs a flight of stairs. She enters her room and closes the blinds. You can hear her cry from outside. The sun sets then rises into the next day.
The Next Day
Alisa is in her room lying on the bed. She sits up looking unsettled she looks around the sun is streaming in through the window of a waterfront condo.
Alisa enters the auditorium she was in yesterday and sits on one of the chairs that are now filling the space. A man gets up on the stage and introduces himself.
“Good morning, I’ve never been one for long speeches, so I’ll get straight to the point. You may call me Mr. Spencer. I am the new musical director and am in charge of daily operations. I’m looking forward to working with all of you who make it. If I tap you on the shoulder, your journey for this season is over. Now, everyone on stage will be blocking the number you all learned yesterday.”
Everyone gets on the stage. One by one, people are tapped out until only the cast members are left. Alisa stands clearly uncertain what to do. Should she stay or should she go?
