The next morning, Elaine left her small apartment and decided to walk down to Gotham City Orphanage instead of driving or riding her bike (driving would have been a nightmare; traffic is always hell in Gotham, plus she needed the exercise anyway). Every Monday morning she made the time to go to the Gotham City Orphanage and teach them about music and singing. As she walked, she kept on thinking about her nightmare she had last night. She knew it was just a silly nightmare probably from that green tea she drank before she went to bed, but it still scared her. Elaine was about a couple of blocks away from the orphanage thinking about the nightmare, when she realized something.
"Merde," she cursed in her head, "I forgot to pick up some more sheet music from Papa Bob's."
Papa Bob's was Elaine's favorite music store. It had everything she could ever want or need that she couldn't find at any other store. If there was a piece of sheet music she needed for anything, Papa Bob had it. Right now, it was 10:00 in the morning and her classes at the orphanage didn't start until 11:30. She looked in her messenger bag to make sure she had some money to pay for the sheet music. She had money, but it wasn't enough to get enough the sheet music she needed. Luckily, there was a bank right across the street from Papa Bob's.
She quickened her pace and made her way to the Gotham Bank and Papa Bob's Music Store. Luckily, the bank was pretty empty and Elaine was able to get in and out in a matter of minutes. Once she had the money to get the sheet music, she left and went across the street to Papa Bob's music store.
Once Elaine she had walked into Papa Bob's, a suspicious white van parked next to the bank, but none of the people walking down the street didn't notice it or think it was suspicious. However, if they knew who was inside said white van, they might have changed their minds.
"Again, tell me why we're robbing a bank? Isn't that a little, I don't know…low…even juvenile maybe?" Johnny inquired as he peaked out of the back of the van to look around the street through the windows.
"Yea, it may be a little bit juvenile but it's oh so much fun. Besides, we haven't messed with the mobs in a while. They need a little shaking up." A dark shadow replied as he came up to where the light from the windows showed his make-up and outrageous purple suit. True, the Scarecrow and the Joker hadn't done anything for a couple of days and the mobs were starting to get a little power hungry again, so they needed to be taught that Gotham belonged to the Joker and the Scarecrow.
Just then out of the corner of Johnny's eye he caught a glimpse of something very familiar to him, in Papa Bob's Music store he saw her. Elaine. The woman who had been plaguing his wet dreams ever since he first laid eyes on her when she was on TV. Screw the bank, he was going to get a closer look at the woman he intended make his. Well, his and the Joker's, he was going to have to share Elaine with the Joker like they shared that one chick. What was her name? Polly, ah, Polly. That was fun. It's a shame, she was a good fuck. But she had to go and try to run away, they couldn't risk her telling the cops where their hideout so they had to kill her. Oh well…
"You go on ahead and have your fun causing chaos, anarchy, and what not. I see something much more interesting than robbing a bank that I want to do." Johnny said as he started to get out of the car and walk toward the music store. He didn't even wait for the Joker to reply or even try to stop him. He didn't even care to be honest.
The Joker was slightly confused at to what would be more interesting, he sure as hell couldn't think of anything besides blowing things up, but then he looked over at where Johnny was going. When he saw who was in there, he couldn't help but laugh. Johnny boy was truly obsessed with the girl, pretty much head over heels for her. It was too funny. He couldn't wait until they had her at the house; she was going to so much fun.
"Alright boys," The Joker smirked at the men with the clown masks surrounding him in the van. "Let's go have some fun." With that he and his henchmen jumped out of the van and entered the bank.
The first thing Elaine did when she got into Papa Bob's was look for the sheet music she was looking for. She was so determined in her mission that she was unaware that she was being watched and stalked by a pair of blue eyes. She had wandered the aisles of sheet music looking for about 5 more copies of the sheet music for the musical Cats that the Orphanage had decided to put on for the public.
She searched all of the shelves for the box that had the sheet music in it. (Which was a lot of shelves, every single wall in the store was covered with shelves of sheet music) Fifteen minutes later, she was about to give up and find one of the employees to see if they knew where it was or if they had some available in the back of the store (there were even more shelves of sheet music back there).
She sighed and looked up at the very top of one of the shelves to find the box of sheet music she was looking for.
"Yay," she said to herself as she mentally jumped up and down for joy. She reached to grab the box from the shelf. There was only one problem; she was too short to grab the box from the top shelf.
"Merde," she cussed silently as she got on her tip toes to see if she could reach it better. That was unsuccessful.
She looked around to see if anyone was around to help her out a bit. Unfortunately, they were none where to be seen. "Great," she huffed. She looked around to see if there was a stool. Nope, none whatsoever.
She was desperate now, she jumped up to try and grab the box, but ended up making the boxes on the shelf fall down on her face. Consequently, she fell right on her ass and the sheet music was scattered around her. She looked at the sheet music to see if she got the box she needed. She couldn't find the box on the floor, but then she looked up. There on the top shelf was the box she needed. She got up on her hands and knees to clean up the mess she made and let out a frustrated sigh.
Unknown to Elaine, Jonathan had been following her around in the store. He saw her whole dilemma with the sheet music on the top shelf. The poor girl was too short and petite to reach the top shelf. He thought it was cute how determined she was to get that box of sheet music. He almost laughed out loud when she fell on her cute little ass, making sheet music fly out of the boxes they were in and falling all over the floor. He almost lost it when she got on her hands and knees with her ass sticking out in the air like a naughty girl. His member twitched in excitement.
He could easily take her now, she would be easy to subdue into submission, no one would notice her absence until it was too late, and the van was right there. Then he could do with her what he pleased. Nah, there wasn't any fun in that. Besides, he wanted to see her perform Violetta in La Traviata. And there was no telling what crazy thing the Joker was thinking about doing to abduct her during or after her performance, something extremely dramatic more than likely.
But for now, he would have to do with just watching her, couldn't he? Unlike the Joker, he could go out into the public without anybody noticing. The Scarecrow was just a mask he could take off whenever. Nobody knew Jonathan Crane was the Scarecrow anyway (alive that is), whenever Batman left him for the police the Joker would get to him first and they would escape. So, technically, he could go up to her and talk to her. Where was the harm in that? None.
So that's what he did, he walked over to Elaine, who was still on her hands and knees picking up the sheet music and putting them back in order. Slowly, he bent down closely next to her; she didn't even notice his presence she was so focused on putting the sheet music back in perfect order. Then he put his lips next to her ear and, in a husky voice, offered, "Need some help?"
Elaine, frightened by the voice, jumped away from Johnny, fell back on her ass as she stared at Johnny with her eyes as wide as a deer in the headlight.
"Wow, she's easy to scare. I may not even need to use the fear toxin on her," he thought to himself as he looked at her. She was even prettier up close and personal. He had his work cut out for him, with her looking all cute, frightened, and that gorgeous rack of hers heaving up and down, it was hard for him to keep himself from pouncing on her and having his way with her now.
"Quit it Johnny," he scolded himself, "You can look but you can't touch…yet."
"Oh I'm terribly sorry miss. I didn't mean to frighten you," he lied as he stood up and offered her his hand, "Here let me help you."
For a moment, Elaine just stared at him dumbfounded. Never in her life had she seen eyes so blue, she was entranced. As if her body was moving on its own will, her hand rose up and took the man's hand in front of her. With an almost ethereal grace and strength, she was lifted up to her feet by him. It's wasn't that hard for him to lift her up, she was as light as a feather.
They both stood there for a while, staring into each other's eyes and her hand in his. When Johnny realized what he was doing, he let go of her hand, looked away, and coughed breaking the trance Elaine was in. Embarrassed by her actions, Elaine looked away as well, putting the sheet music on one of the lower shelves she could reach and finding the shelf next to her to be quite fascinating. After a very awkward silence, Elaine broke the ice, "Thank you," she meekly replied still not having the courage to look at him.
"No problem," his silky voice murmured into her ear from behind, causing her to jump a little and turn her face beet red. He smirked at the effect he was having on this girl. She was going to be a lot of fun to have around. "So," he continued smoothly, walking up next to her so he could see her face, "Which of the boxes were you reaching for?" he indicated toward the top shelf where the box of sheet music she was looking for still laid upon. She pointed to the box she needed and he easily reached up, grabbed it, and handed it to her. When she grabbed it, he made sure his finger slightly brushed hers "accidentally." When he did so it made her shiver and blush even more which made him delighted that he could have so much power over the girl and they just met.
"Perhaps it's just my mojo, baby," he thought playfully to himself.
"Um," Elaine started shyly, breaking Jonathan out of his thoughts. "Thank you Mr. …"
"Crane. Dr. Jonathan Crane," he introduced himself like James Bond. Oh yeah, he was smooth alright. Not one woman could resist the doctor title. There was something about being a doctor, even if it was of psychology that made women go crazy for him. Elaine would probably be no different.
"Oh, well. Thank you Dr. Crane," she thanked him once again. Elaine then realized she didn't even introduce herself. How rude. "I'm sorry, but I've forgotten my manners. I'm-"
"Elaine DuMont," Johnny finished for her. Elaine tilted her head in confusion, surprised he knew her name. "I recognize you from the charity concert you did on the television a few nights ago." he clarified for her. Oh yeah. She completely forgot that the concert was live on television.
"And please, call me Jonathan," he continued, smiling at her the entire time. She didn't know why, but she was getting a little uncomfortable being alone with this guy, but he was so darn handsome. What time was it anyway? She checked her watch, it was 10:45. She probably needed to get going soon, probably now.
Jonathan noticed her uneasiness, "So," he began to break the ice, "Cats, huh? Didn't know the Gotham Opera did musicals. I thought musicals would be too unsophistacated for an opera singer as yourself," he inquired.
"Actually, I don't just sing opera. If you were listening to what I was singing at the concert, you would have noticed that I sing songs from just about every genre there is out there. As for the sheet music, I'm buying it for a music class that I teach." Elaine retorted. Elaine noticed though that she did sound a little bitchy towards the poor guy, she did notice him flinch a little when she made her comment. What Elaine was unaware of was how her bitchy comment she made was a turn on for Jonathan. Like the Joker, he liked it when a woman had a little feistiness in her, made making her submit to their will so much more fun.
"Me-oww, aren't we a feisty little kitty," he stated as he cornered her between bookshelves with hooded eyes. He wanted her so badly right about now it was killing him. 'Screw it! I'm going for it.' He could see and smell the fear coming off the girl and it was turning him on even more.
"This is going to be so much fun," he thought as he lowered his face towards Elaine's. It was exhilarating and intoxicating. Just when he was about to go in for the kill, his cell phone rang. He made a frustrated sigh as he pulled back from Elaine's cowering body and read the text message on the screen of his cell phone.
Hey! Winnebago b here in 2 mins. Get ur horny ass over here and help. ~ J
"A Winnebago? How in the hell did the Joker get a fucking Winnebago," Jonathan thought. He turned back to Elaine, who was breathing hard, blushing, and looking at him curiously. That intrigued him a little bit; she was going to be fun to have around that's for sure.
"As much as I would love to continue our conversation, Miss DuMont," he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, "I'm afraid I have been called away on other business. I'll catch you later," He smirked at his pun and winked at her.
With that, he left the store and went across the street to the bank. Leaving Elaine to wonder what the hell just happened. She looked at the time on her watch. It was 11:00.
"Damn it," she cursed in her thoughts as she weaved through the mass of shelved to get to the cashier's counter. She paid for the sheet music and quickly left the store for the Orphanage, her mind still reeling over what had happened with Dr. Crane.
"Did I almost just get kissed by the guy," Elaine pondered as she walked. She wasn't well versed in flirting in the real world but she wasn't blind to the fact he was flirting heavily with her, not that she didn't mind a cute doctor flirting with her but at a music store. How weird is that?
What did he mean that he would catch her later? Did he plan on seeing her perform on opening night. Sure, he was kind of creepy with his overbearing flirting but Elaine did find him attractive and charming in his own way.
"Too bad he didn't ask me for my number. I would kind of like to see him again," she thought.
The Joker was never a patient man, unless it was part of the "plan", like say when they captured Elaine. But right now when he and Johnny boy were supposed to be robbing a bank, he wasn't in the mood to be patient. Where the hell was Johnny boy anyway? He better not be tainting their soon-to-be pet before the right time, that wouldn't be very nice of him to hog the girl to himself. Then again, the Joker could understand not wanting to share something as good looking as her. Even he, the Joker, was somewhat stunned by her beauty and talent. That didn't happen that often mind you. The Joker wouldn't have Johnny boy hogging the prize though. The girl was much as his as she was Johnny boy's. If anyone wasn't going to share her, it was going to be him.
Speaking of Johnny boy, here he comes now. Correction: here comes the Scarecrow. He apparently put on that potato sack he calls a mask on before he came in. Just when all the dirty work of getting the people to get down on the floor, disarming the alarms, opening the safe, packing as much cash into the bags they brought was over, and waiting for the Winnebago to arrive, he comes strolling in like a love sick puppy humming some song. The song going on about feeling Elaine, stealing her, and being buried sweetly in her brunette hair. That made the Joker a bit curious and a bit…jealous.
Could the Joker be jealous that Johnny boy can stroll around in the open without people staring at him and that he could go up to Elaine and have a normal conversation with her without her knowing who he really was? In a way…yeah. The Joker didn't ask for the scars that marred his face, at least he didn't remember asking for them. He's told people so many different stories as to how he got his scars; he just doesn't remember which story is the real one. It was so long ago anyway. He knew he was a strapping young lad before he had the permanent grin put on his face. Surely, no one in their right mind would want to give himself or herself a Glasgow smile he reasoned. Way too painful, even deadly, this is why he used it to kill people most of the time.
Even though people say he's insane for killing people and blowing up buildings, he's not…well not as insane as most people think. Insane suggests that he doesn't know right from wrong (legally insane), but he knows what he does would be considered wrong in the eyes of others. Does he care? No. Besides, could an insane person have been able to do the things he's done over the past year? Probably not.
"So. Where's this Winnebago you texted me about," Scarecrow inquired as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Joker, irked at the Joker for calling him away just when he was about to make a move on Elaine, but was keen on hearing how Joker got a Winnebago.
The Joker waltzed over to where the sack of money was laying, "It should be here in about, oh…" He pulled his left sleeve up to look the wristwatch, with the knives as hands on the clock face of course, he was wearing. He lifted his right hand into the air and counted down, "In five. Four. Three. Two. One. And…" He lifted his eyes from his watch and looked toward the glass doors that was the main entrance to the bank.
CRASH!
"Perfect timing," Joker giggled to himself as he happily sauntered over to where a black Winnebago (a very nice luxury Vectra, if anyone's interested to know) covered with blood red over exaggerated Glasgow smiles had just crashed into the main entrance to the bank. The driver of the Winnebago, another one of the Joker's henchmen (all of the ones he had for the robbery were all killed already), came out of the vehicle, opened the outside storage compartments, and started to pile in the bags of money Joker and Johnny were throwing at him.
Once all the bags of money were packed away into the Winnebago, the henchman was about to say something to his bosses, but before he could utter one syllable Joker took the gun in his hand and shot the henchman right in between the eyes of the clown mask. Johnny, used to Joker killing his henchmen left and right, just stood over the body and examined the dead clown henchman with a break in his mask. It was a pretty nice shot. If Johnny took of the mask he probably would have just seen a slushy of brains, blood, and fragmented skull, not a nice little clean bullet hole like in the movies and on TV, that's just for dramatics. Real heads just go bye-bye when shot at close range.
"Where the fuck did you get a Winnebago," Johnny asked as he looked at the away from the dead henchman to go and examine the inside of the smile strewn RV. The inside was really nice. First off it was quite spacious for an RV. All the seats in the living room area were all Wakefield dark leather and all the wood cabinets were concert cherry, and the floor was a ceramic tile. In the kitchen there was stainless steel appliances (fridge, stove, and microwave) and a nice u-shaped dinette with a sliding tabletop. Next to the sink was a really nice 37-inch LCD TV. He looked into the bathroom to find that it wasn't cramped like most RV bathrooms were, it had what a normal bathroom would have, a shower that was actually pretty spacious, a sink, and of course a toilet. Johnny's favorite room had to be the bedroom just for the fact that it had a Sleep Number bed and it was king sized. He would definitely have to christen this baby with a certain Prima Donna. That is if Joker hadn't blown this thing up before they got their prize.
Once Johnny was done touring the inside of the Winnebago, he walked back to the front where the Joker was just getting himself settled into the driver's seat. Really the Joker didn't care about how luxurious the Winnebago was; it was transportation that would take him point A to point B. He did notice it was nice, but worldly possessions didn't really matter to him. In the end they would all just crumble to dust.
"That's for me to know and you to never find out Johnny boy," The Joker replied to Johnny's question, laughing as he started up the Winnebago, revved it up, put it and reverse, and left the bank in shambles.
As Elaine was walking down the sidewalk to the Orphanage she heard behind her a couple of blocks away a loud crash like a car of some sort crashing into something big, like a building. She stopped to see what the commotion was. It turns out a big Winnebago smashed into the bank and was being used by the Joker and the Scarecrow to load up the cash they just stole.
"What the heck," she said to herself. She didn't know what just happened. Why would a Winnebago crash into the bank? That's when she saw the smiles that covered the RV and instantly knew what was going on. The Joker and the Scarecrow were in there robbing the bank. That's scary; she was just in that bank not even half an hour ago.
"How in the world did they get that Winnebago?" Elaine asked no one in particular, frozen to the spot she was standing at by shock and amazement. She could guess that either they stole it from an RV dealership or they hijacked it from some unsuspecting person or persons. She didn't really want to think about the latter. This was the time when ignorance was bliss.
Elaine was starting to get a little uncomfortable just standing there so close to where carnage and mayhem were taking place. She seriously wanted to leave and go on to the orphanage. Now. She wasn't going chance it that once the Winnebago gets out of the bank, with her luck, the Joker and Scarecrow would kidnap her or shoot and kill her. That would not be a good thing. Nope, not at all.
So Elaine turned around and quickly headed toward the orphanage. Luckily for her, the Winnebago was headed off in the opposite direction as she was going.
Elaine made it to Gotham Orphanage in impeccable timing. She arrived at 11:15, which gave Elaine fifteen minutes to get settled and look over the sheet music she just bought for the kids. She really enjoyed Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals and Cats was one of her favorites. The kids seemed to enjoy it too and were having fun learning the songs. Next time the Gotham Opera has a charity event, she ought to get the kids to perform some of the songs she's taught them or put on Cats at the opera house.
It's only been a year since she started volunteering and Elaine was amazed how much the kids had been learning about music and all the fun it was to teach such a group of wonderful children.
At least it gives them something to do instead of thinking about their current predicaments. It's sad really. Not all, but most of these kids have been in horrible conditions in their past lives before they were taken to the orphanage. Some were badly abused by their parents who were drunks, druggies, or just plain sick people, while others had their parents killed in a crime. One little girl, Jeanie is her name, was the daughter of EMT and a police officer. Her mother, the EMT, was killed when a criminal had a concealed knife when he was taken in the ambulance truck. Her father was killed in the blast caused by the Joker when he escaped the police station the first time. Jeanie was only five years old and she's already lost her parents and is stuck here waiting to be adopted like the rest of the kids here.
Elaine hated criminals like the Joker and the Scarecrow for what they had done to some of these kids. How could someone take the life of a person who could possibly have a family? Did they ever think that the EMT or that police officer might just have a little daughter like Jeanie waiting for their safe return home? Of course not, they don't have a conscious. To Elaine, they were just sick monsters.
Elaine stopped thinking these thoughts as she sat down to her favorite instrument, the piano. She began her usual routine of warming up her voice and her fingers with some basic scales, arpeggios, pronunciation warm-ups like "My mommy made me mash my M&Ms", jumps from one note to the same note an octave higher with ni and nah, and other various warm ups.
Once she was finished warming up her voice and her hands, she noticed she still had about five more minutes till the kids would come in. With those five minutes, she decided to play around a little and warm up her vocals a little bit with some songs. Elaine started to play the intro to Macavity: The Mystery Cat, and instead of saying Macavity she was singing The Joker. She wasn't sure why she did, but the song seemed to fit him well.
The Joker's a mystery man
He's called the Clown Prince of Crime
For he's a master criminal who can defy the law
He's the bafflement of Gotham Police
The FBI's despair
For when they reach the scene of crime the Joker's not there
The Joker, the Joker, there's no one like the Joker
He's broken every human law
He breaks the law of gravity
His powers of levitation
Would make a fakir stare
And when you reach the scene of crime, the Joker's not there
You may seek him in the basement
You may look up in the air
But I tell you once and once again
The Joker's not there
The Joker's wears a purple suit
He's very tall and thin
You would know him if you saw him for his eyes are sunken in
His brow is deeply lined in thought
His head is highly domed
His coat is dusty from neglect
His whiskers are uncombed
He sways his head from side to side
With movements like a snake
And when you think he's half asleep
He's always wide awake
The Joker, Joker, there's no one like the Joker
He's a fiend in clown makeup
A monster of depravity
You may meet him in a by-street
You may see him in the square
But when a crime's discovered then the Joker's not there
He's outwardly respectable
I know he cheats at cards
And his footprints are not found in any files
Of Gotham PD
And when the larder's looted
Or the jewel cases rifled
Or when the money is missing
Or another Peke's been stifled
Or the Gotham Bank safe is broken and city hall's past repair
There's the wonder of the thing, Joker's not there!
The Joker, Joker, there's no one like the Joker
There never was a cat of such deceitfulness and suavity
He always has an alibi and one or two to spare
Whatever time the deed took place, the Joker wasn't there!
And they say that all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention the clown henchmen)
(I might mention the Scarecrow)
Are nothing more than agents for the cat who all the time
Just controls the operations, the Napoleon of crime!
The Joker, Joker, there's no one like the Joker
He's a fiend in clown makeup
A monster of depravity
You may meet him in a by-street
You may see him in the square
But when a crime's discovered then the Joker, Joker, Joker
When a crime's discovered then the Joker's not there!
Once she finished her singing the song, she looked up to find the kids sitting in risers, all in their assigned spots based on their vocal range, all staring at her weirdly.
"When did the kids get in here," Elaine thought to herself and looked at the clock that hung on the wall next to the door. It was 11:31.
"Oh. My, aren't they punctual," She blushed, not used to having these kids look at her like that. "Um…good morning class," she greeted, hoping to break the awkwardness.
"Good morning Miss Dumont." the children greeted in unison.
"Let's start with our warm-ups, alright. Sit up straight, feet on the floor, hands in your laps," She looked around the class and noticed one of the kids had a piece of gum in his mouth, trying to hide it.
"Gum out of your mouths. I don't feel like giving the Heimlich maneuver or CPR today," Once Elaine said that the kid slyly took the ABC (already been chewed) gum out of his mouth and stuck it under the chair. Gross.
With that out of way, they began warming up the same way Elaine did when she came into the music room. Once they finished warm ups, she grabbed the sheet music she just bought and handed them out to the kids who had to share last time she was there.
"Last time we were looking sight reading the song Jelicle Songs for Jelicle Cats, let's see how much we remember from last week," She stood in front and center of the risers so her students could see her. "What key is this in, folks," she quizzed. A few hands shot up into the air, eager to answer her question. "Um…yes, Gerald." she pointed to him.
"Um…F?" the young boy answered, a little unsure if he was right.
"Correct, Gerald." Elaine praised. "So, now what does that make F in this sheet of music? Yes, Heidi?"
A little blond girl with forget me not blue eyes answered, "It means that F is do (said as doe)."
"Right Heidi. So, now I want you guys to get into a circle with the rest of you to get into your sections, sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses, and I want you to figure out the rhythms in the music, and then figure out the notes using the sol-fa. We'll do this for about 15 minutes, and then we'll see if we can sing it." Elaine instructed, using the same methods her parents and teachers taught her when she was little. "I'll be walking around to help you guys out."
Once she finished with her instructions, the children divided into sections and started working on figuring out the song. Occasionally, Elaine had to come over to one of the sections and help them with a certain phrase in the music. The kids were pretty good at sight-reading. Once the time was up, Elaine gathered the children back to their seats and she went to the piano.
"Fantastic job sight reading you guys. Now, here's the F scale, sing with me." She played and sang the scale with the children. "Here's do (doe)." she hit the F note on the piano. "Now use do (doe) to find your first note." she instructed. Elaine gave them a few seconds to find the notes. "Alright, let's check and make sure you guys got it. Sopranos, here's your note," Elaine hit the key on the piano for the soprano's first note. She did the same thing with each section. "Ok. Ready? Let's do it! And…" she then nodded and began to play the song with the kids singing it. For their first time, it sounded pretty good. Yay!
The rest of the time of the class was spent tweaking certain spots in the music and helping the kids memorize the lyrics to the song. With only about five more minutes before they had to leave to go to lunch, Elaine used this time to ask the class if they had any questions about the music or if there was something they needed help with concerning the music. There weren't many questions, but something struck her as odd. One little boy, Randy, had a tear running down his face and looked like he was about to bawl.
"Randy, what's the matter with you?" Elaine inquired. Did one of the older kids start teasing him again? Then he did the unexpected, he ran down the risers and grabbed onto Elaine for dear life crying his poor little eyes out. "Shh. It's ok Randy." she cooed. "What's the wrong?"
Randy sniffled and said between sobs, "I had a scary dream last night, Ms. DuMont. You were in it and you were being hurt by bad people." Once he said it, he started to bawl again, grasping her even tighter.
"Randy. Those were just scary dreams. Dreams can't hurt you, hun," she stated.
"But the older kids said that Freddy Kruger can come into your dreams and chop you into chips Ms. DuMont," Randy sobbed, still upset.
"That's not what they said!" One of the other boys in the back piped in. "I heard that he guts people like a fish with a knife and play jump rope with their intestines." Elaine cringed at the gory image.
"Nuh-uh!" one of the other kids in the middle cried out. "I heard he puts a bomb in their bodies and make a building explode! Like the Joker did!"
"You're all wrong!" Dainty little Heidi chimed in. "Freddy Kruger whisks pretty princesses, like Ms. Dumont, away from here to somewhere over the rainbow and rides off into the sunset on a white horse and live happily ever after at the Emerald City…and then eats their brains," Ok, that one was a little odd. Seriously, these little tykes have some creative imaginations, disturbing, but creative imaginations.
"Well," one of the boys scoffed. "I heard that-"
"Children!" a shrill voice that could only belong to cranky ole Mrs. Burke filled the room. "It's time for lunch. Let's go!" With that all the children ran to the door and started to stampede to the lunchroom, except a little raven haired and blue-eyed boy, Randy, who was still holding onto Elaine for dear life.
Elaine pried Randy's arms from around her, bent down onto her knees, and placed her hand on his cheek to comfort him, "It's alright, Randy. What those kids are saying isn't true, ok. Nothing is going to get me. They're just dreams and nothing more. Ok?"
Randy sobbed again, trying his hardest to dry his tears. He really loved Elaine, she was pretty and very kind, like a mommy should be. He hoped that she would maybe adopt him one day and really be his mommy. Not like his real mommy who left him alone in the streets when she left to go to "work" and never came back.
"You promise," he questioned her.
"I promise," she swore as she pulled the little boy into a hug. They stood there for a minute, before Randy's stomach broke the moment with a ferocious growl. Elaine laughed as she stood up.
"Run along now and get some lunch, ok. I'll see you next week." Randy nodded and happily trotted off to the lunchroom. Elaine gathered her things and straightened up the room before she left to go get herself lunch, then go to the gym to workout and keep herself toned, and back to the opera house for last minute fittings before dress rehearsals started the next day. She had thought about the dream Randy had and the dream she had last night as well and wondered if she was right about dreams not being able to harm her.