The Playwright: The Escapades Of JM
Barrie
Chapter 15
Worry and Regret
A/N: A bit of a short chapter for you. In fact, a very short chapter. Don't worry, the rest of the story will most definitely make up for it.
I watched A Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe last night. Man, was it good. He is such an amazing actor. I'm going to see Cinderella Man again, for my fourth time, on Friday. I'm going to be full to bursting with all of this Russell Crowe, I might explode and not be able to write the rest of the story!
So, all you people, I need enormous support and a lot of reviews to come in so that I can get over 5 to post the next chapter so people that are absolutely estatic about this story can read. Of course, do not review author's notes (KatrinaKaiba, your review has not been counted. haha) and don't review more than once. Person to get me to 100 reviews is special and gets their name at the end! (I know that's not much incentive, but that's okay.) Read. Now. I command you.
BARRIEFACT: J. M. Barrie was once approached by an inexperienced cast member who was anxious to give his (very minor) role the proper interpretation. "I am glad you have asked me," Barrie declared. "I should like you to convey when you are acting it that the man you portray has a brother in Shropshire who drinks port."
OoOoO
December 1904
Charles and I drove back into town to the Duke Of York's this morning for rehearsal. Poor Charles, he didn't cancel rehearsal while I was gone, so he had to rehearse the actors for three hours. It was his fault he scheduled weekends.
I'm finding it hard to concentrate on what's going on onstage at the moment. My mind is back at the cottage with Emma and the boys. I hope she'll be alright. These past few days, I've realized that I don't know what I'd do now without her. I remember the day she came to tell us that we would be moving in with her, and now I can scarcely remember what it was like for it to be just me and the boys at home. Heavens knows if we'll go back home if she ends up...passing away. Mrs. Babcock seems to be enjoying it very much, although the memories that we've left there, I think, are waiting for me to return.
I'd like to take Emma to the hospital for tests, but I'm sure she would object to getting on her feet and into a car. I would think that she would like it very much more to be left alone at this point.
Ah, Lord. These entries are always interrupted, aren't they?
Monday
"James!" James turned around to look at Charles a few rows behind him. He had his arms draped over the back of the seat in front of him, his chest pressed up against it.
"What are you doing?"
"Writing." Charles scratched his head. He couldn't exactly stop his friend from writing, especially because at the moment, James's writing was being recited up on stage in front of them."Alright." Charles stood, and called out to the actors. "Excuse me? Yes - you can all take a break now." Nina Bouccicault nearly jumped out of her leather boots, and jumped off stage to go into the Green Room. Charles walked down the aisle and sat next to James.
"Are you alright?"
"Somewhat, I think." James tapped his pen on his journal, then looked at his best friend. "Are you coming back with me?"
"Oh, no, James. I've got to do budget work. And Gerald nearly split the Darling's bedroom set in half, so that'll have to be repaired, and George needs to have his wig fixed."
"Shelton?"
"Yes..." James nodded vaguely, and Charles sighed, looking up at the set, where Gerald duMaurier was idly reading over his lines.
"I don't want to get in the way is all, James. Emma'll want to be alone with you for the time being. I don't want to interfere."
"You wouldn't be interfering."
"Just spend some time with her. God knows how much longer she'll be here."
OoOoO
James bid adieu to Charles and drove back to the cottage alone. When he got there, Porthos met him at the door, licking and mauling his hands and shoes. James bent down to pet his scruffy fur, and leaned to plant a kiss on his head.
"Where are the boys, Porthos?" The dog barked and tilted his head, leaving his tongue hanging out.
"Oh, they're just around the big tree, eh? Well, we'll just have to go and find 'em!"
"Shall I be coming with you, Peter?" Nibs asked.
"Well, of course! Come on, then, who's missing, Slightly, Curly, and the Twins?"
"And Tootles."
"And Tootles," Peter repeated. "Well, come on, follow me!" The two circled around the tree to find four of the Lost Boys.
"Hey!" Peter called to them. The four turned and smiled.
"Slightly, Curly, and the Twins. That's what I thought."
George blinked, and looked at Porthos, who bent to scratch his neck with his back leg. Michael nudged Peter, and soon they all took on their own roles. Each knew exactly who they were. Michael was Slightly, George was Curly, and Peter and Jack were the Twins. It was usually that way, unless one of them nominated Jack for the role of Nibs, or if George took on Tootles. James was always Peter, though. He objected often, but the rest of the party insisted that he should be the Boy Who Never Grew Up, so he just began being Peter by himself, without the consent of the boys.
"Where be Tootles, Peter?" Slightly said (a bit loudly).
"Where is Tootles, Slightly," Curly said matter-of-factly. "That's how the pirates talk. You don't want to be like them, now, do you?" Slightly shook his head fast-like, and crossed his arms.
"I don't know where Tootles is," Peter said, shrugging.
Nibs frowned. "Well, where would you expect him to be?"
"With Tink, I suppose, since she's gone missing too!" said one of the twins.
"Oh, she is missing, isn't she?" Peter said, looking around himself, disappointed. "Well, come on! We must find them both!"
"Anchors Aweigh!" shouted Slightly, out of excitement and ran into Peter, knocking him to the ground. The entire group started up in hysteric laughter and Nibs began to bark loudly, crawling all over James and licking his face.
"Ay! Get out of here!" He managed to get to his knees, knocked down his dog, and vigorously started scratching his belly. He looked up for a moment, at the cottage, and saw Emma, who was standing in the doorway to the backyard in her nightgown. Her face looked sunken in and exhausted, her hair was coming out of its perfect bun, and yet, she was smiling. James was sure he had never seen her look so happy the entire time he had known her. He looked at the boys, then back at her.
"You can be Tootles."
But Emma chose not to be Tootles, or even Tinkerbell for that matter, and decided to lie down again. James helped her inside, and made dinner. Once the boys came back in with Porthos, he set the table and sat down next to Peter, ready to eat the pasta he had made. He'd stopped at the market before he left Charles at the theater and picked up a few things to make dinner. Among these things were lettuce for a salad, rolls, butter, and pasta. There was no sauce, or no cheese, but they could manage.
Emma held her own pasta bowl in her lap, sitting with her feet up on the couch, and she said grace from the living room in unison with James and her grandsons. She didn't talk for the rest of the meal, and when James checked up on her in the middle of it, she only smiled and commented on the food. He scratched his head, thanking her, and sat back down. Emma was definitely much different when she was ill.
Everyone made the best of being at the cottage another night. James laughed and joked with the boys, and before they went to bed, Emma agreed, after very much prodding and encouraging, to play a game of cards with the lot of them
At nine o'clock, James put the boys to bed upstairs. Halfway through tucking in Peter and George, he caught Michael's gaze at him, while he was getting into his own bed. The youngest boy swallowed sadly.
"What's the matter, lad?" James asked, and sat down on Michael and Jack's bed.
"I'm worried about grandmother," he said.
"I'm worried about her too," Peter said.
"We all are," James said gently, "and we'll get through this. She'll turn out alright, I can assure you. She's a tough old thing, your grandmother."
"I hope so," said George. "Last time someone got sick, it was our mother. And she didn't turn out all right. We're scared that that's going to happen to our grandmother too, Uncle Jim." James bit his tongue. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Don't worry, boys. Goodnight." He kissed them all goodnight and went back downstairs with Sylvia's diary, then sat in the comfortable chair near the couch on which Emma was now peacefully sleeping. He looked at her restful face, and swallowed. He wished that he could clap his hands for her to get better. With a sigh, he opened the diary, turned to the page he left off on, and read.
October 14, 1872
Rehearsals for the school play have been horrible. I go nearly every day, and some days, I don't even get to do my scene! So every day, I go to rehearsal and sit in the auditorium for an hour and a half, watching everybody else say their important lines, and when it comes time to say my line, if the time comes, I go up there, say it, and sit again until the end. I am never trying out for the school play again.
October 15, 1872
I've changed my mind about trying out for the school play again. What if next time I get a better part? Maybe then I can make my family proud. I hope, next time, if I do get a better part, it's bigger than Gerald's.
A/N: Hah, bet you're on the edge of your seat with Emma. Anyway, I think now might be the time to proclaim some the other ideas I had for this that I didn't use. I wanted to use them all, but some of them I had forgotten, and some of them I just didn't have a place in the story for. Some didn't fit with anything. I have a section below the story where all my ideas are written down, beneath the Chapter Summaries I write, so that I don't forget about what I need to accomplish in each chapter. So, here they are. I'll put more in the upcoming chapters.
o I wanted to have something happen with Emma and a clock, as if she was the evil ticking crocodile. Maybe taking James's watch for one reason or another, and having the entire family in the room quietly reading and listening to Emma tick, stifling giggles.
o I thought that maybe it would be okay to hook James up with a girl at the very end, so that you all wouldn't have to suffer through my bad angst writing. So I thought he might see this woman in the park one day, and never get to know her name through all of Spring, but he'd be writing about her all the time in his journal. He'd meet her in the last chapter when he would have been alone in the theater putting on a one-man show for himself on account of boredom. She would have showed up, and would have begun to clap at the end, and he would have been astounded, and glad to meet her for the first time.
Two more chapters (and the Epilogue) to go...
REVIEW REPLIES FOR CHAPTER 14:
Moonjava - Aww you read it right when I posted hehe. I feel special now! Thanks!
ChelseaEvans - Aww! That's so nice! Yeah, there is some bad stuff in here...I'm always thinking about that, if that's driving my own audience away lol. No offense to the other people writing in the category. If I like your stuff, you know who you are. The problem is that the movie is one of those kinds of movies that is just calling out to bad-angsters, as one might call them. Kinda like Harry Potter with the Draco/Harry slash, which I hate. Anywho, I hope to see more reviews in the future, as this comes to a close! I look forward to it!
KatrinaKaiba - I see you're putting up with this penname haha. I'm sorry about making you wait for my posting, but it had to be done. Don't worry, don't worry, I won't ruin my story and make it horrible and hard on the eyes. Thanks again, luv.
Lizella - Hah! You might have to kill me, you might not. We'll see. Hope you liked the update.
Kris - You better not have given me a virus (narrows eyes) haha just kiddin', mate. Thanks for reading again.
XHeartofaDragonX - Yes, there was a line directed to you. That's okay, I showed it to you already lol. And I can't say anything about the end of the story. No way, no how. I love having people yearn for what happens lol. (again..LOLOLOL I'm ok.)
