Chapter III: Conversations of the Ballet Rats
". . .and you love my voice so you had to talk to me in person, correct?" Cerridwen was confounded. This was the oddest thing that had ever happened in her life.
Yesterday she was just the pianist at the local theater and now she was being kidnapped (or so it seemed) by a green creature called 'Zim' who answered her question in the positive. The little dog-like thing bobbed its head in agreement.
"But. . .how did you-"
"Enough of your questions!" interrupted Zim. "The time has come for you to leave The Phantom's lair and return to your filthy huuuman house. . .that is filthy."
"Ken I go tooooo?" Gir pleaded.
"Silence! And go ready my ship!"
"Aww. . ." The green dog stuck out its lower lip and pouted. The Phantom Irken gave Gir a 'I mean it' glare and it quickly scurried off to the Voot Cruiser's docking bay.
~*~
At The Mishler all was a tizzy. There was no one to play in the latest prima donna's stead, Mr. Amberson was about ready to pull his thinning hair out, and Tyia had gotten her tiny fingers caught in her flute-that was normal though.
If you were to approach the backstage area you would find that-if it IS possible-even more mayhem was happening among the corpse de ballet.
"Ooo! It's him! That's who did it!" a ballet girl wearing a yellow ribbon claimed.
"The Opera Ghost?" squeaked a pink costumed one.
All at one the mixture of "Opera Ghost!?" "The Opera Ghost is HERE!?" "Where? Where!?" erupted from the crowd of dancers.
"Be quiet!" a girl with a blue tutu hissed at them, "Do you WANT the ghost to hear you?"
There was silence instantly at these words. Blue Tutu, who appeared to be the 'head ballerina' looked pleased at this. "Now, we're not positive that it's the ghost"-she lowered her voice-"but there HAVE been signs of his work."
The corpse de ballet gasped.
"Yes," she said solemnly, "He has been seen."
Yellow Ribbon's eyes widened and she popped the question: "But what does he look like?"
This question percolated around the group of five or six girls.
"Oh! The horrible Death's head!" the pink costumed girl screamed suddenly.
"What did I TELL you about keeping quiet?" Blue Tutu practically snarled. She smiled in satisfaction when the ballet rats, as the actors tended to call them, quieted down. "As Bobbie-"the pink costumed girl-"said RATHER LOUDLY the Opera Ghost has a hideous Death's head. You cannot see his noes or ears and he eyes are great red orbs-completely pupil-less."
The corpse de ballet shuddered as they each imagined their own version of the ghost from these descriptions. Blue Tutu continued. "No hair except for two long black strands on the crown of his head. And if that weren't bad enough, his skin is as green as a decaying corpse's."
"Wait. . .I thought he had YELLOW skin and great BLACK eyes-"
"That just shows how little you kids know," the head ballerina snapped. "It had been said that the Opera Ghost moves around on strange silver spider-like legs that come out of his back."
"Keep your hand at the level of your eyes," warned Yellow Ribbon. "If you don't then he will catch you with his Punjab Lasso!"
"Oh Sandra, that's just a folk lure just like Mr. Amberson being sane."
"Hey! That's my dad you're talking about Abby!" Sandra yelled at Blue Ribbon.
"But. . ." a smaller girl said, "Who has seen him? Have there been other signs?"
Abby and Sandra (known to readers as Blue Tutu and Yellow Ribbon) put a cork in their argument to turn toward the little dancer whose name was Marcy. The little child was well known for her adorable features and not even these two could resist her charm. Sandra smiled sweetly down at the child.
"Well, a few stagehands have supposedly seen him but two of them are alcoholics . . . And then Katie has been having accidents frequently. It appears that someone is trying to kill her. " She glanced around unnerved suddenly.
Abby took this time to step in. "And just the other day a sandbag nearly fell on her and the put the pianist in her place."
They ballet rats all shared a murmur in agreement but that was the end of their little meeting. At that moment Andrea, the instructor of the corpse de ballet waltzed into the room, told the girls they needed to rehearse, and lead the dancers swiftly out of the room.
Abby was the last one in line behind Sandra. She was just about to exit the stage area when a sudden chill filled her body. She whirled around, her skirts fluttered. Was that a flash of metal? Like the kind of appendages the ghost used to walk around on? Decided it would be best not to find out Abby sprinted from the room.
~*~
The Phantom typed quickly upon his computer. The Cerridwen had been taken home and Gir was watching that distasteful monkey show on the TV upstairs. All that was left to do was wait. It wouldn't be long before the Cerridwen- stink trusted him. Then the amazing Zim could bend her to his will. So far her Angel of Music had only told her that from the moment he heard her sing he knew that she was destined to be great and possibly as amazing as ZIM. Ha! Like ANYONE could come close to matching ZIM. It was impossible! Especially for some fiiiilthy, stinking, huuuuuuman worm monkey!
The Invader grinned maniacally as he thought of how easily Cerridwen was manipulated.
All right.
So his violin playing DID have a lot to do with it. And his voice WAS breathtaking. But that's beside the point!
Zim had learned of the violin from the skool's orchestra. It just so happened that Irk had a similar instrument that he, of course, was a master at playing. This vi-o-lin or fid-le as some stink beast called it seemed to be able to enchant the girl so easily. . . It was only a matter of time before she would serve ZIM and then all would bow to his iron fist!
". . .and you love my voice so you had to talk to me in person, correct?" Cerridwen was confounded. This was the oddest thing that had ever happened in her life.
Yesterday she was just the pianist at the local theater and now she was being kidnapped (or so it seemed) by a green creature called 'Zim' who answered her question in the positive. The little dog-like thing bobbed its head in agreement.
"But. . .how did you-"
"Enough of your questions!" interrupted Zim. "The time has come for you to leave The Phantom's lair and return to your filthy huuuman house. . .that is filthy."
"Ken I go tooooo?" Gir pleaded.
"Silence! And go ready my ship!"
"Aww. . ." The green dog stuck out its lower lip and pouted. The Phantom Irken gave Gir a 'I mean it' glare and it quickly scurried off to the Voot Cruiser's docking bay.
~*~
At The Mishler all was a tizzy. There was no one to play in the latest prima donna's stead, Mr. Amberson was about ready to pull his thinning hair out, and Tyia had gotten her tiny fingers caught in her flute-that was normal though.
If you were to approach the backstage area you would find that-if it IS possible-even more mayhem was happening among the corpse de ballet.
"Ooo! It's him! That's who did it!" a ballet girl wearing a yellow ribbon claimed.
"The Opera Ghost?" squeaked a pink costumed one.
All at one the mixture of "Opera Ghost!?" "The Opera Ghost is HERE!?" "Where? Where!?" erupted from the crowd of dancers.
"Be quiet!" a girl with a blue tutu hissed at them, "Do you WANT the ghost to hear you?"
There was silence instantly at these words. Blue Tutu, who appeared to be the 'head ballerina' looked pleased at this. "Now, we're not positive that it's the ghost"-she lowered her voice-"but there HAVE been signs of his work."
The corpse de ballet gasped.
"Yes," she said solemnly, "He has been seen."
Yellow Ribbon's eyes widened and she popped the question: "But what does he look like?"
This question percolated around the group of five or six girls.
"Oh! The horrible Death's head!" the pink costumed girl screamed suddenly.
"What did I TELL you about keeping quiet?" Blue Tutu practically snarled. She smiled in satisfaction when the ballet rats, as the actors tended to call them, quieted down. "As Bobbie-"the pink costumed girl-"said RATHER LOUDLY the Opera Ghost has a hideous Death's head. You cannot see his noes or ears and he eyes are great red orbs-completely pupil-less."
The corpse de ballet shuddered as they each imagined their own version of the ghost from these descriptions. Blue Tutu continued. "No hair except for two long black strands on the crown of his head. And if that weren't bad enough, his skin is as green as a decaying corpse's."
"Wait. . .I thought he had YELLOW skin and great BLACK eyes-"
"That just shows how little you kids know," the head ballerina snapped. "It had been said that the Opera Ghost moves around on strange silver spider-like legs that come out of his back."
"Keep your hand at the level of your eyes," warned Yellow Ribbon. "If you don't then he will catch you with his Punjab Lasso!"
"Oh Sandra, that's just a folk lure just like Mr. Amberson being sane."
"Hey! That's my dad you're talking about Abby!" Sandra yelled at Blue Ribbon.
"But. . ." a smaller girl said, "Who has seen him? Have there been other signs?"
Abby and Sandra (known to readers as Blue Tutu and Yellow Ribbon) put a cork in their argument to turn toward the little dancer whose name was Marcy. The little child was well known for her adorable features and not even these two could resist her charm. Sandra smiled sweetly down at the child.
"Well, a few stagehands have supposedly seen him but two of them are alcoholics . . . And then Katie has been having accidents frequently. It appears that someone is trying to kill her. " She glanced around unnerved suddenly.
Abby took this time to step in. "And just the other day a sandbag nearly fell on her and the put the pianist in her place."
They ballet rats all shared a murmur in agreement but that was the end of their little meeting. At that moment Andrea, the instructor of the corpse de ballet waltzed into the room, told the girls they needed to rehearse, and lead the dancers swiftly out of the room.
Abby was the last one in line behind Sandra. She was just about to exit the stage area when a sudden chill filled her body. She whirled around, her skirts fluttered. Was that a flash of metal? Like the kind of appendages the ghost used to walk around on? Decided it would be best not to find out Abby sprinted from the room.
~*~
The Phantom typed quickly upon his computer. The Cerridwen had been taken home and Gir was watching that distasteful monkey show on the TV upstairs. All that was left to do was wait. It wouldn't be long before the Cerridwen- stink trusted him. Then the amazing Zim could bend her to his will. So far her Angel of Music had only told her that from the moment he heard her sing he knew that she was destined to be great and possibly as amazing as ZIM. Ha! Like ANYONE could come close to matching ZIM. It was impossible! Especially for some fiiiilthy, stinking, huuuuuuman worm monkey!
The Invader grinned maniacally as he thought of how easily Cerridwen was manipulated.
All right.
So his violin playing DID have a lot to do with it. And his voice WAS breathtaking. But that's beside the point!
Zim had learned of the violin from the skool's orchestra. It just so happened that Irk had a similar instrument that he, of course, was a master at playing. This vi-o-lin or fid-le as some stink beast called it seemed to be able to enchant the girl so easily. . . It was only a matter of time before she would serve ZIM and then all would bow to his iron fist!