I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I know I haven't worked on this in, like, FOREVER, but I finally summoned up the energy and had the time to get on the computer and type. Sorry about the reeeeeeeally long wait.

It was an exciting day. Creatures were almost bouncing with excitement in Cavern Hole. They were getting costumes today! The rest of the sets were arriving! It was dress rehearsal day! The ensemble was getting costumes first.

"ENSEMBLE! LINE UP TO RECEIVE COSTUMES!" Ambrose yelled into a megaphone.

"Who gave him the megaphone?" Sam asked. The ensemble scrambled, pushing and shoving, into line.

"CUTTER!" Mattimeo sulked accusingly at Redtooth.

"Losers, weepers!" Redtooth stuck out his tongue as he grabbed his costume. Everyone started admiring their costumes.

"It's so shiny!" Mangefur giggled. Jess stared at him weirdly.

"This color is hideous! Doesn't the author know that I can't wear beige?" Sister May complained.

"Stop complaining!" Ironbeak snapped. He had to wear the most ridiculous outfit.

"Why you!" Sister May tackled him.

"Mercy! Please! Stop!" he gasped, shocked at the ferocity of the attack. It took five people to pull her off. The ensemble rushed off to get changed.

"CONSTANCE AND SLAGAR!" Ambrose yelled into the megaphone. They walked up and then headed off.

"CLUNY AND MATTHIAS!" Cluny turned around, did a pique arabesque, tour jete, soutenu, and grabbed his costume. Matthias gave him an odd look and calmly got his costumes.

"TESS AND MARTIN!" Martin almost fainted when he heard he had 6 costumes.

"CORNFLOWER!" She also had six costumes to carry. The pile was so high, she couldn't see over it and almost walked into a wall.

"AND ROSE!" She had five costumes. "AND I THINK YOU'LL BE NEEDED IN MAKEUP!" Ambrose yelled into her ear.

"Geez! You don't need the megaphone! I'm right here! You're worse than Cluny!" she scolded as she walked off.

"HEY!" Cluny yelled from a dressing room. Everyone got in their opening costume.

"I can't walk in this!" Cornflower exclaimed as she attempted to walk down the narrow hall with dressing rooms and departments on either side in her bubble gown to Wigs department.

"I'm losing my manhood every second in these pants!" Martin exclaimed, tugging at his tight pants. "Soon I'll be drinking light beer, and, being in musicals... oh wait, I already am," he glared at the author. She grinned back at him. She continued down the hall. She stopped by the door that said 'Makeup'. Rose was being greenified. Instead of using makeup, which wouldn't really stay on, they were dying her fur. She looked rather peculiar.

Cornflower came out of the Wig Department with a curly blonde wig.

"Try tossing your hair to see if it's secure," the author told her.

"Toss Toss." She tossed the wig and it stayed on.

"Good," the author said busily. Rose came out of the Makeup Department. Everyone gasped, then there were a few snickers. She stuck up her nose as she went to Wigs. She literally bumped into Constance. Constance, who was not one to outburst, screamed like a little girl. Rose did likewise. This went on for awhile.

"Oh it's you! I didn't recognize you," Constance said finally.

"I didn't recognize you either," Rose replied, looking at her wig. After her own wig was secure, it was costume check. Everyone lined up for examination.

"Good, good. Yes, ok," the author mumbled as she walked down the line. Then she came to Cluny. "Cluny, what the *beep* are you wearing?" the author asked. He was dressed in Cornflower's pink Popular dress.

"So that's where it went!" Cornflower exclaimed, "I was looking for that!"

"Cluny, take it off right now. You're messing it up and you're messing up our minds. Now go get in the right outfit," the author said, shielding her eyes from the awful sight. He saute arabesque, glissade, assemblie, saute arabesque, pique turn, grand jete-d off to the dressing room, the dress flouncing and bouncing behind him. Everyone shuddered. After passing inspection, they started the dress rehearsal.

Without going into unnecessary detail, which most of we went through already, here are the highlights *cue William Tell Overture*: bad singing, Cluny screaming while doing a petit allegro which by the way would be difficult to scream through, wigs falling off, fist fights, forgotten lines, and people generally constantly spacing out. For a rousing grand finale, Cornflower fell out of her bubble and was caught by Martin, which caused yet another fight in the wings. *cue grand fermata cutoff* Brilliant performance! This made the author feel really confident! Hopefully it would all pull through.

Before the big opening night, the author suddenly became seriously organized. She put props in boxes labeled by character and put in sections within the boxes by scene. Sets were lined up in order of appearance. Everything was tested and re-tested to make sure it worked every time. Wigs were toss-tossed over and over again. Accessories and corresponding costumes were put in garment bags. Everything was labeled multiple times. (This is soooo unrealistic right now) The cast was called for a pep talk.

"Now, you guys have worked so hard these weeks. Not only have you put on a play, you put up with me," the author smiled. "Let me give you a few tips. No matter what happens out there, the show must go on. Make something up. Disguise your confusion. Smile. Pretend nothing's wrong. If you don't show it, the audience won't know it." The author stopped to giggle at her own rhyme, but as no one else did, she moved on. "In my theatre camp, someone said a line that was supposed to be said later on." The author paced up and down the auditorium. "People then started saying lines that came after that. We missed out a big part of the script, but the audience didn't know that because we acted like nothing was wrong. Do the same. Tomorrow, report here at 7 am sharp!"

She dismissed them and sat thinking. She heard a crash. She cringed then sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a loooooooong day.

Yes! I finished! One more chapter to go and I PROMISE that it will be up much faster than this one was. My excuse? Well, ballet performance, the holidays, school, and I sort of couldn't get around to it. Yeah. Sorry about that.