The Red Wings of the Windmill
-Unexpected Encounter-
Katie got out of her green Explorer and slammed the door shut. She walked away from her car and headed up the steps of the movie theater. **I hope the same guy isn't working as yesterday or all the employees are going to think I'm psycho.**
She had tried to spread out her twenty viewings of Moulin Rouge over as many theaters as possible, but it's not easy when you see it this many times.
At one of the theaters that she went to three times it had been the same person, and he looked at her with a very quizzical glance and questioned as to why anyone would want to see this movie more than once. Katie simply said she thought it was good. She hated it when people judged her.
She loved movies though. She went almost every Friday to a matinee for a movie that opened that weekend. They were much too expensive to go to the night showings. Hell they were too expensive to go every weekend, but she loved them too much.
Moulin Rouge, however, was very different from the movies she usually saw. Most were only good enough to see once or twice, but this one she had to see more. The first day she saw it, she loved it so much that she went to a record store, which was next door to the theater, and bought the soundtrack right away. For some reason she hadn't expected a musical, but was very pleased with it. In fact, she was so pleased with it, that she went to see it again the next day and every day of the following week. Something was special about this movie.
She bought her ticket for number twenty-one and put it in her wallet with the rest. She then cruised right past the snack bar, (if she had gotten snacks every time she would be broke) passed through the doors of theater number five, and took a seat around the middle. Today was a bit of a special day, as it would be the last time she would see it in the theater. She had promised herself that she wouldn't see it more than twenty-one times, but it was going to be enforced upon her, as it was leaving the next day. Luckily, her favorite theater was the last to close on it so she could at least enjoy it the final time.
She had been to this one ten times out of the twenty-one because it had the best sound, picture, seats, and price. Who could pass up a combination like that?
The lights dimmed and the previews started, Katie had been so many times that she had now memorized not only the previews but the order they came in as well. It was kind of sad. Finally, after the eighth preview faded away, the familiar sound of an orchestra tuning met her ears.** I can't believe I'm seeing this not only for the twenty-first time but also my last.**
The curtains opened on the screen and she sat in awe, soaking up every aspect of the cinema experience to remember till it came out on video.
She had the whole movie memorized, and mouthed the words as each line was spoken or word was sung.
" There was a boy"
She loved every aspect of the film, the way the camera moved in on Christian and he slowly raised his head from behind his arms. Scruffy and broken hearted he stared into the camera right at you. **Wait, did he always seem to look right at me?** Katie thought hard for a moment then dismissed it **He must have.**
She was used to finding out something new about the film every time she watched it. That's what she loved about it; it was so intricate that you could never catch all the details in a hundred viewings. Still, she thought she would have noticed if a character looked right into the camera.
"I first came to Paris one year ago"
Her favorite part was coming up soon, when Christian bursts out into The Sound of Music. Very soon now…
"Before I knew it, I was upstairs, standing in for the unconscious Argentinean"
Now Toulouse was singing his wordy rendition that didn't quite seem to fit.
"There seemed to be artistic differences over Audrey's lyrics to Satie's song"
Next they are all trying to think up a better line and Christian would silence the commotion with his perfect voice, but something was wrong. He never sang. Instead he seemed to look right at Katie again, **what was going on?** Then he spoke. "You must really like this movie".
Katie looked around, **what's this now?** "Sorry?" she replied.
Again he spoke right to her "You must really like this movie, I've seen you here about ten times"
Everyone in the audience was now looking at her. **What is going on? Is this a dream?**
Now those on the screen had noticed that things were amiss.
"Excuse me Miss," said Toulouse "but we have a movie to do here. Christian if you please, I believe that you were about to-"
But Christian stopped him. "Actually, I really would rather learn more about this charming young woman." He turned to Katie. "What is your name?"
Katie looked around, then back to the screen. "Well… ah, Katie"
Christian smiled, "Well hello Katie, my name is Christian"
Katie laughed, "Yes, I know."
"Oh, right," said Christian "I guess you would. We should talk. Hmm… I've got it, come here."
"Sorry?" Katie still couldn't understand what was going on.
"Wait" Christian changed his mind "I'll come to you." And at that, he stepped to the edge of the screen and walked right through. The audience watched in amazement as he then proceeded to make his way over to Katie's row and giving her his hand, escorted her out the theater.
A thousand things ran through Katie's mind as they left the theater; **what is going on? How is this happening?** But mostly she assumed she was dreaming.
Katie noticed that Christian had a puzzled look on his face and decided to speak first. "Where do we go from here?" she asked.
He didn't seem quite sure. "Actually I was hoping you would know."
"Well, there is a park about a block from here, we could go there."
"Alright then my dear" said Christian "you lead the way."
Soon the two were at their destination and neither knew what to say. Finally Katie broke the silence. "I'm afraid I sill don't know what happened"
"Well" said Christian "I've seen you in the theatre all those times, and I just couldn't help but ask why you came so often."
"Oh" said Katie.
"I was very interested," said Christian "no one else seemed to enjoy it as much as you."
"Well" said Kate "I don't know, the movie was just so beautiful and intricate and well, you were so great in it"
"Thank you" said Christian " But I just had to get out of there, doing the same thing over and over hundreds of times just took all the fun out of it"
"Oh but how could you think so," Katie burst in "everything was so perfect and you sang so beautifully with Satine. With someone as gorgeous as her waiting for you how could you leave?"
"Yes Satine, well I was getting sort of tired of her, she always dies in the end and it just breaks my heart I don't think I could take it anymore."
"I'm sorry" said Katie "I guess that sort of thing is not fun after a while"
Christian smiled "Besides, I couldn't think of her as fondly as I did after I saw you in the theater."
A puzzled look spread across Katie's face "Are you saying that I distracted you from Satine?"
"Well" said Christian "You were different from everyone else who came to see the film. You always had a look of awe on your face, and laughed at the jokes no one else got. I found I couldn't ignore your every reaction."
"Oh" Katie blushed "I guess I kinda got into the movie a bit"
"Your awe inspired me," he said, "I decided today that I had to meet you."
Katie shook her head "That's crazy though, you can't just leave the movie just to talk to me."
Christian caught her flaring arms "I couldn't stop myself, I found I couldn't think of anything but you… and this." Christian pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. She was surprised at first but then gave herself into the kiss and lost the rest of the world. It was so perfect, the way she had always imagined it when she was younger. His arms pulled her closer to him and they reveled in the warmth of each other's bodies. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of bliss, Katie pulled away.
"I don't understand, this is all happening so quickly" she said "How can any of this be true? You should be up on the screen and I should be back in the theater"
Christian took her hands in an attempt to calm her down "But it is real and so was that kiss"
Katie's hand went to her lips, reminded of the perfection of his movements in that wonderful kiss. "I don't know Christian, what do you want to do? Your not real."
Christian straightened "I'm here aren't I? How more real could I be?"
"I-" Katie started but Christian interrupted "Then we'll go where I am real"
-Unexpected Encounter-
Katie got out of her green Explorer and slammed the door shut. She walked away from her car and headed up the steps of the movie theater. **I hope the same guy isn't working as yesterday or all the employees are going to think I'm psycho.**
She had tried to spread out her twenty viewings of Moulin Rouge over as many theaters as possible, but it's not easy when you see it this many times.
At one of the theaters that she went to three times it had been the same person, and he looked at her with a very quizzical glance and questioned as to why anyone would want to see this movie more than once. Katie simply said she thought it was good. She hated it when people judged her.
She loved movies though. She went almost every Friday to a matinee for a movie that opened that weekend. They were much too expensive to go to the night showings. Hell they were too expensive to go every weekend, but she loved them too much.
Moulin Rouge, however, was very different from the movies she usually saw. Most were only good enough to see once or twice, but this one she had to see more. The first day she saw it, she loved it so much that she went to a record store, which was next door to the theater, and bought the soundtrack right away. For some reason she hadn't expected a musical, but was very pleased with it. In fact, she was so pleased with it, that she went to see it again the next day and every day of the following week. Something was special about this movie.
She bought her ticket for number twenty-one and put it in her wallet with the rest. She then cruised right past the snack bar, (if she had gotten snacks every time she would be broke) passed through the doors of theater number five, and took a seat around the middle. Today was a bit of a special day, as it would be the last time she would see it in the theater. She had promised herself that she wouldn't see it more than twenty-one times, but it was going to be enforced upon her, as it was leaving the next day. Luckily, her favorite theater was the last to close on it so she could at least enjoy it the final time.
She had been to this one ten times out of the twenty-one because it had the best sound, picture, seats, and price. Who could pass up a combination like that?
The lights dimmed and the previews started, Katie had been so many times that she had now memorized not only the previews but the order they came in as well. It was kind of sad. Finally, after the eighth preview faded away, the familiar sound of an orchestra tuning met her ears.** I can't believe I'm seeing this not only for the twenty-first time but also my last.**
The curtains opened on the screen and she sat in awe, soaking up every aspect of the cinema experience to remember till it came out on video.
She had the whole movie memorized, and mouthed the words as each line was spoken or word was sung.
" There was a boy"
She loved every aspect of the film, the way the camera moved in on Christian and he slowly raised his head from behind his arms. Scruffy and broken hearted he stared into the camera right at you. **Wait, did he always seem to look right at me?** Katie thought hard for a moment then dismissed it **He must have.**
She was used to finding out something new about the film every time she watched it. That's what she loved about it; it was so intricate that you could never catch all the details in a hundred viewings. Still, she thought she would have noticed if a character looked right into the camera.
"I first came to Paris one year ago"
Her favorite part was coming up soon, when Christian bursts out into The Sound of Music. Very soon now…
"Before I knew it, I was upstairs, standing in for the unconscious Argentinean"
Now Toulouse was singing his wordy rendition that didn't quite seem to fit.
"There seemed to be artistic differences over Audrey's lyrics to Satie's song"
Next they are all trying to think up a better line and Christian would silence the commotion with his perfect voice, but something was wrong. He never sang. Instead he seemed to look right at Katie again, **what was going on?** Then he spoke. "You must really like this movie".
Katie looked around, **what's this now?** "Sorry?" she replied.
Again he spoke right to her "You must really like this movie, I've seen you here about ten times"
Everyone in the audience was now looking at her. **What is going on? Is this a dream?**
Now those on the screen had noticed that things were amiss.
"Excuse me Miss," said Toulouse "but we have a movie to do here. Christian if you please, I believe that you were about to-"
But Christian stopped him. "Actually, I really would rather learn more about this charming young woman." He turned to Katie. "What is your name?"
Katie looked around, then back to the screen. "Well… ah, Katie"
Christian smiled, "Well hello Katie, my name is Christian"
Katie laughed, "Yes, I know."
"Oh, right," said Christian "I guess you would. We should talk. Hmm… I've got it, come here."
"Sorry?" Katie still couldn't understand what was going on.
"Wait" Christian changed his mind "I'll come to you." And at that, he stepped to the edge of the screen and walked right through. The audience watched in amazement as he then proceeded to make his way over to Katie's row and giving her his hand, escorted her out the theater.
A thousand things ran through Katie's mind as they left the theater; **what is going on? How is this happening?** But mostly she assumed she was dreaming.
Katie noticed that Christian had a puzzled look on his face and decided to speak first. "Where do we go from here?" she asked.
He didn't seem quite sure. "Actually I was hoping you would know."
"Well, there is a park about a block from here, we could go there."
"Alright then my dear" said Christian "you lead the way."
Soon the two were at their destination and neither knew what to say. Finally Katie broke the silence. "I'm afraid I sill don't know what happened"
"Well" said Christian "I've seen you in the theatre all those times, and I just couldn't help but ask why you came so often."
"Oh" said Katie.
"I was very interested," said Christian "no one else seemed to enjoy it as much as you."
"Well" said Kate "I don't know, the movie was just so beautiful and intricate and well, you were so great in it"
"Thank you" said Christian " But I just had to get out of there, doing the same thing over and over hundreds of times just took all the fun out of it"
"Oh but how could you think so," Katie burst in "everything was so perfect and you sang so beautifully with Satine. With someone as gorgeous as her waiting for you how could you leave?"
"Yes Satine, well I was getting sort of tired of her, she always dies in the end and it just breaks my heart I don't think I could take it anymore."
"I'm sorry" said Katie "I guess that sort of thing is not fun after a while"
Christian smiled "Besides, I couldn't think of her as fondly as I did after I saw you in the theater."
A puzzled look spread across Katie's face "Are you saying that I distracted you from Satine?"
"Well" said Christian "You were different from everyone else who came to see the film. You always had a look of awe on your face, and laughed at the jokes no one else got. I found I couldn't ignore your every reaction."
"Oh" Katie blushed "I guess I kinda got into the movie a bit"
"Your awe inspired me," he said, "I decided today that I had to meet you."
Katie shook her head "That's crazy though, you can't just leave the movie just to talk to me."
Christian caught her flaring arms "I couldn't stop myself, I found I couldn't think of anything but you… and this." Christian pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. She was surprised at first but then gave herself into the kiss and lost the rest of the world. It was so perfect, the way she had always imagined it when she was younger. His arms pulled her closer to him and they reveled in the warmth of each other's bodies. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of bliss, Katie pulled away.
"I don't understand, this is all happening so quickly" she said "How can any of this be true? You should be up on the screen and I should be back in the theater"
Christian took her hands in an attempt to calm her down "But it is real and so was that kiss"
Katie's hand went to her lips, reminded of the perfection of his movements in that wonderful kiss. "I don't know Christian, what do you want to do? Your not real."
Christian straightened "I'm here aren't I? How more real could I be?"
"I-" Katie started but Christian interrupted "Then we'll go where I am real"
