The girl who wanted to play Hamlet

Hi! So I had this weird idea since (sad as I am) I have read Hamlet like thirty times and he is like the best male character EVER, I have practised that whole to-be or not to-be speech like seven hundred times in front of the mirror but it has occurred to me that I may never play Hamlet! The reason... I am female. It hurts so much but still I decided to write a story of a girl with a similar situation to me.

(To those who are wondering Hamlet is basically about a prince who's uncle killed his father so he tries to seek revenge on his uncle by acting mad so no one will suspect him, then there is a lot of death, suicide, madness, unhappiness until it all ends really sadly... BEST PLAY EVER!!) I don't want to reveal too much in case anyone wants to read or watch the play later and I will try not to put any spoilers in this story

Anyway here it is and enjoy...

Chapter 1:

"I'm sorry Mai, it just isn't possible I'm afraid" my drama teacher, Mr Smith sighed obviously bored and desperate to get home but I wasn't going to budge until this smartass gave me a straight answer

He looked down at me and I felt intimidated but still there was no way I was backing down. I was quite short being only five foot and I had long brown hair that I often kept in a ponytail. I had a round, small face and my lips were curled in a perpetual smile, I wore glasses when I wasn't acting which were comically huge and covered half my face.

"And why not, didn't you say I did the best monologue of his speech, didn't you say I was the only one in the class who could portray his madness perfectly, didn't you say that not even Gerald the so-called Mr perfect could lift a finger to my version of the final scene" I said to the annoying teacher, bitterness and anger coated my voice, "so why can't I play Hamlet prince of Denmark in the Summer Shakespeare performance"

"YOU ARE A GIRL" he yelled at me "a girl cannot play Hamlet and in no production that I have directed a girl has or will play Hamlet"

I huffed in annoyance and he stared down at me over his professor like spectacles as if I was a naughty three year old.

I replied "But seriously you even admit I'm the best but you just say I can't because I was born different, this is my dream to play Hamlet in secondary school and this is my chance, I know I'm only in year 9 (third year of high school and age ranges from 13 to 14) but I really want to be in this play and show my speech to the public"

"Well then just settle with Ophelia or Queen Gertrude then since it would ruin the image if I were to cast you" he said back and turned around to look at a script of the play "it breaks every tradition our school has withheld over the many years of success and majesty"

"This is a public run ten year old school that takes in all the average kids in the area, there isn't anything special about it" I said back bluntly and he looked back me with an angry look that acted as if I had stabbed him in the back so I simply said "are you going to disagree?"

He opened his mouth to say something then looked out the window and a deep red embarrassing blush grew on his face,

His eyes were scanning the window aimlessly and I felt victory on the horizon until he said "oh my look at that bird it seems to be red kite or could be a heron"

I looked up and laughed at the feeble eyes of the ridiculous drama teacher and stated "actually that is a Great Bitten Latin name being Botaurus Stellata and by looks it is a male and probably has a nest nearby"

"Oh could it be hunting in the fields nearby for mice" he asked raising an eyebrow to me

At laughed at his bare knowledge of the bird kingdom and corrected him "actually it mostly feeds on amphibians and fish so it probably heading to hunt in the shallow waters of the lake next to the-" realisation hit me and I turned to the teacher and yelled "I know you're trying to change the subject, you think I'm that clueless I would fall for that"