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THE AUDITORIUM WAS crowed with pets of all sizes, shapes and colours, in various
states of trepidation and nerves. Some, like Kaelik, looked thrilled to be there
- while others were as anxious as Harry, or worse. One little Poogle was so
scared, she was eyeing the stage like it might come to life and bite her. In
the best seats, closest to the stage, sat Sundari_Radha and her friends, laughing
and talking amongst themselves. Scheat flew up to Harry and Kaelik, looking
excited. "Guess what, guys? I'm going to be stage manager! Bobby Blumaroo was
going to do it, but he got such a bad grade in NeoEconomics that his owner wouldn't
let him participate!"
"That's great, Scheat!" said Kaelik, giving
him a high-paw.
"I sure could use a tall guy like you on the
stage crew, Harry. You'd be great for getting lights strung up in high places,
and we wouldn't even need a ladder to paint the sets," Scheat said.
"I…" Harry stammered, uncertain. It was the
perfect opportunity to get out of auditioning, after all. He could just save
himself the embarrassment of getting on stage at all, and hang out with his
friend Scheat behind the scenes. "No." No? Where did that come from? He'd really
meant to say yes! But that little voice inside of him, that sounded an awful
lot like his owner, was saying "You can do it, Harry." Stupid inner voice!
"Harry's going to try out with me." Kaelik grinned.
"I just know I'm going to get the leading role. No one could possibly be as
great an actor as me. I've got a wide range of emotions and expressions. Sad,
angry, perplexed - even the elusive quixotic - I can play them all!"
"What the heck is quixotic?" Scheat asked, but
Kaelik was already posing and posturing.
"I don't know," said Harry, "But whatever it
is, I guess Kaelik can do it."
"It looks sort of like constipated," Scheat
said with a giggle.
"Does not!" Kaelik grumbled. "You guys just
don't know what it means, and I'm so not telling now."
Harry grinned and settled into a seat to wait
for the auditions to begin. Scheat and Kaelik argued quietly while settling
into chairs next to him. He looked around the room to see if he recognised any
other faces, and that was when he saw her. She was a beautiful Grarrl, glittering
golden in the light of the auditorium. Harry had never seen her around school
before. She was absolutely stunning! Much to his horror, she went over and talked
to Radha, asking a question that he couldn't quite hear because he was across
the room. His heart sank in his chest. She just had to be one of Radha's friends!
Life wasn't fair. He closed his eyes and muttered to himself.
"Whoa - look what the new girl did to Radha!"
Kaelik said with a great big laugh.
Harry opened his eyes and looked back over that
way. The golden Grarrl was sitting as primly as it was possible for a Grarrl
to sit in her chair, hands folded in her lap. Radha was crying and her friends
were desperately trying to pull a great big gooey Rotten Egg Grarrl Gobstopper
out of her precious white fur. "I'm sticky!" she cried.
"Worse…" said Tigsam, "You're stinky! Ugh…"
"What kind of sycophant are you? Shut up and
pull!" Radha snapped. The desert Wocky pulled with all her might, but the gobstopper
was good and stuck. Radha was mortified! How could she audition with gooey,
stinky fur? She started crying real tears, and wringing her paws together. "I
hate Grarrls!"
Harry felt sorry for Radha, even though she'd
been mean to him. He reached into his backpack and took out his Quiggle Scissors.
"Here, Tigsam… you can use these to cut it out of her fur." Tigsam was surprised,
but took the scissors and carefully snipped and clipped the nasty Rotten Egg
Gobstopper out of Radha's fur. This process left a few bald spots, but it was
much better than smelling like nasty eggs.
"My fur… my beautiful, perfect fur… it's ruined!"
Radha cried. Just then the door opened, and the drama teacher, a female Lupe
named Ms. Maxine Lupa who was quite a drama queen herself, sauntered in. Her
dress was a loud clash of vibrant colour, and her overdone fur-do was as outrageous
as the lady Lupe herself. "Attention, please, students! We are here to audition,
not to laugh and talk. None of you are as important as me and what I am saying,
so shhhh!"
Everyone grew silent, even Radha, though she
still sniffled quietly. Tigsam passed the Quiggle Scissors back to Harry quietly,
and he wiped them off on the bottom of the chair next to him before putting
them back into his pack. The Lupe was giving a long, long list of her acting
credits, and how wonderful she was in each and every play. This went on for
quite a while until at last she was finished, and started calling names.
"Perri Poogle, you're first! Get up there and
read this passage from the great Alstaf, and wow us, darling!" The petrified
Poogle shook all the way up the steps to the stage, and when she got up there,
took a great deep breath before doing a passable reading.
"How… adequate." Ms. Lupa said, clapping with
the barest hint of politeness. "Next - Sundari Radha!"
Radha reluctantly took the papers and went up
on stage, careful to keep her good furred side to the audience. She read the
piece with great feeling and emotion. Surprisingly, despite her various personality
issues, she was quite good.
"Excellent! Bravo, darling!" Ms. Lupa clapped
her hands together. "Next - Kaelik!"
Kaelik swaggered over, picked up his papers,
and climbed right up on stage. He looked down at the paper, opened his mouth,
and froze. Completely. His eyes grew large and wide, and he stared out into
the audience.
"Uh-oh…" groaned Scheat. "Kaelik's got stage
fright!"
"Psssst…" called Harry. "Say something… Kaelik…
say something…"
"Eeee… gh… fff…" said Kaelik, tripping over
his tongue. "Blahh… um… egh…"
"Please remove yourself from the stage at once."
Ms. Lupa sniffed.
Harry stood up in protest. "But Ms. Lupa - he's
really a very good actor! Kaelik does all sorts of impressions and stuff… he's
just a bit nervous. Give him another chance."
"Please?" Scheat chimed in.
"Ka… rm..." said Kaelik.
"Hm… well, I'm sure we have a part for him somewhere
in the play. Perhaps a nice silent tree." Ms. Lupa said, and helpfully got up
to make shooing motions at Kaelik.
Eyes still fixed straight ahead, Kaelik woodenly
walked back to his seat, clearly traumatised. Radha was laughing, the misfortune
of others making her forget her own trouble. Scheat was quick to remind her.
"Shut up, stinky fur." Radha glowered, but was silent.
"Next up- Harry the Grarrl," Ms. Lupa called.
"Gah…" Harry said, and eyed the frozen Kaelik
beside him. What if that happened to him? He looked towards his buddy Scheat
for advice.
"Two words, man," said Scheat, "Stage. Crew."
Harry didn't want to make a fool out of himself
in front of his friends, in front of Radha, and especially, in front of that
beautiful golden Grarrl, whoever she was. But he certainly couldn't back out
now-that would make him feel even worse. With every step feeling like a mile,
he approached the stage, took the papers from Ms. Lupa's hand, and climbed up
into the center. The lights were slightly brighter than he expected, and he
had to squint a bit to read the words on the paper.
The part that he had been asked to read was
a scene where Scorchio was telling JubJubette that despite the fact they came
from different species and backgrounds, he was good enough to be her suitor.
Scorchio was talking about how he'd had a rough life, but he'd overcome it to
be the good person that he was today. "Hey," said Harry to himself, "I can relate
to this…" He thought about how Scorchio must feel, trying to win the love of
a woman who thought he might not be good enough. He thought about how he had
felt not good enough, because once, he didn't have a name. He thought about
the lessons his friend Kaelik had taught him, that no matter what species, colour,
or gender you were, it was what was inside that counted.
And so, the Grarrl began to speak. Clearly and
proudly, he recited the words of Scorchio. "Though I am but a humble pet, without
a fine NeoHome, or beautiful things - I can offer you far more than the other
pets. I offer you my honesty, my kind heart, and all the love in it. I offer
you this, because I see beyond your fine things and the wicked ways of your
family to the person you are truly, inside…"
"Bravo!" shouted Ms. Lupa. The students clapped
and cheered as Harry returned to his seat. Kaelik was coming out of his trance,
and smacked Harry on the back in congratulations. "You were awesome, Harry!"
Harry was surprised. He did it! He really did it. Maybe he could be a tree in
the play, too, like Kaelik. He felt very proud.
To be continued... | 
