The Owl, the Koi Fish, and the Snake

Chapter 2: A Day of Unproductive Work (Aiden)

I stare up at the clock that announces every second there is to this long hour. The soft pattering of the rain hits somewhere off in the distance accompanying the harsh breeze of the wind. I sigh deeply, hunching over my desk and looking at the little pink pamphlet in front of me. Using both my arms I raise it up into the air, the big loud old text half shown with the light of the candle. Underneath it was the description of the theater.

"Hm.." I drop the page back onto the desk, ringing my fingers through my hair and digging my face more into my arms. My shirt smelled of the bitter rain, I would have to wash it when I get home. If I ever do at this point.

Everything feels like it was going so slow. Auditions felt as though they were a week from now, these long dreadful days stretching out so far. These months were an eternity for me and every week the magic in the halls seems to be fading. We were never going to make it if nobody showed, much less if no one had the talent to join us.

Who would want to?

The smell of charcoal still lingers in the air even though it's been such a long time since it happened. No one seems to smell it but me and no one but me seems to be still recovering from it all. Sometimes I ask the question of whether I was the one also holding everybody else back even though they were already ready. 

I hear some kind of laugher from outside the dressing room, a familiar sound that's been absent for far too long. With reluctance I sit myself up again, eyeing the door to the left of the room. There was a small warm light bleeding from the halls that connected to the stage.

I sniffle, out of all of this work I had forgotten that everybody was most likely still here. Even though none of them wanted to spend their time off in this place, running around downtown trying to convince passerbyers to join our chaos. They still came.

I rise out of the felted red chair with the old wood shaping marvelous wonders of the crafters imagination. The legs scrape against the floor and make this soft screeching sound of wood on wood.

My hand slides over the starry blue cane of mine, my arm jutting out in front of me to make sure I didn't completely fall over. That's usually when my single leg gave out, right after getting up.

Exiting the small dressing room I walk down the hallway towards the light. There's voices that guide me in that direction.

"That would be a silly trick, Andrew.." The call of a child's intellect fills the air.

Before entering backstage I stalk the occupancy of the area.

"No it wouldn't, you never know, maybe Koshin could actually be a bird." Andrew shoulders the moody Koshin who ignores him.

"Perhaps, I heard he's quite peckish." Briar coos at him as she puts on mascara using the vanity mirror so she could see herself.

"Yes, I am actually. You want to know why, Briar? Because we've been sitting out in the rain all day trying to convince tourists to join a failing show." Koshin smiles sarcastically at her, shoving a straw in his mouth and sipping at the smoothie we got before giving up and coming back to the theater. We needed something to lift our crushed spirits after being ignored for hours. He goes right back to his furrowed brows and agitated frown.

"Oh don't be such a bummer." Alea says. She sways her hip to the side and blows a bubble from her gum. Before popping it she leans over and pops it in Koshin's face. He flinches backwards, scrunching his nose.

"Your breath, stinks." He hisses at her.

Alea rolls her eyes and sits down on a stool, crossing her legs.