Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update. School's been keeping me very busy, and cutting down on writing-time.
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I present to you today's topic, as suggested by Ready to Fly!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
School Play
Grade Three
May (8), Drew (8), Dawn (8), Gary (9), Misty (9), Ash (9), Paul (9)
"Today's the day!" Dawn said to everyone excitedly. "Mrs. Primm tells us our roles for the play today! Oh, I hope I got the starring role of the princess!"
"I'm probably going to be the main hero, the prince!" Gary bragged. "I'm the best one to play it!"
"Aw, but I want to be the prince!" Ash said. "I never get those kinds of parts! Remember last year? I had to be a tree!"
"And you messed that up!" Gary laughed in remembrance. "Didn't you trip, and make all the other trees fall too?"
"No need to worry, Ash!" Dawn quickly assured the black-haired boy. "I'm sure you'll do much better this year!" She was feeling empathetic, as she too had ruined a play back in kindergarten, when she had had to be a Slowpoke. Something she would have liked to forget.
"But everyone's gonna get so many lines to memorize," May reminded them. "So everyone's gonna get to be on stage!"
"That's only because we all have to sing so much, no matter what we are," Drew pointed out. He flipped his hair, smirking. "You know, I really don't get how trees would sing, but the only reason we'll have singing trees and singing Pokemon is because there aren't enough parts for all of us. Some of us are going to end up being something boring. You guys shouldn't get your hopes up! There are so many of us, but too few main roles. None of us might end up getting to be anyone important!"
"That's good. That means I'll probably end up being a rock or something. And I don't wanna be some pretty-boy prince," Paul said, shrugging.
"At least I might not end up being something girly, like a princess or anything. Or else I might have to wear a frilly dress!" Misty shuddered. "My sisters would never let me hear the end of that!"
"She's here!" Dawn quickly hushed everyone when their teacher entered the room.
After greeting everyone, Mrs. Primm began announcing the roles. Some students ended up being peasants, while others became Pokemon, or things like trees.
"Drew Hayden," Mrs. Primm said suddenly, catching the boy's attention. "You will be playing Tree #3."
Drew blinked. "Wait, I have to be a tree?" Gary snickered.
"Yes. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of lines for when you sing. Now Gary Oak," - Gary immediately ceased his snickering and became alert - "you will be peasant #5."
"WHAT?! I have to be a boring peasant?!"
"Gary, please behave. Ash Ketchum, you will be the main villain."
"Yes!" Ash punched the air. "I get a main part!" Gary looked shocked.
"May Maple, you will be playing the princess."
"Yay! I get to be the princess!" May cheered. Dawn looked a bit disappointed at this, though, while Misty looked relieved.
"Dawn Berlitz, you will be the princess's loyal talking Skitty."
"Okay..."
"Misty Waterflower, your part is to be one of the main villain's henchmen."
"Hm. Fine by me."
"Paul Shinji, your role is the prince."
"The- wait, the... the prince?"
"And the role for the wise Noctowl goes to..."
As Mrs. Primm continued telling everyone their parts, the seven friends became engaged in a silent discussion.
"I can't believe it!" Gary muttered furiously. "I have to be a peasant. A peasant!"
"I get to be the villain!" Ash said excitedly. "And Misty, you're my henchman! You have to help me rule the world! Muahahahahaha!"
"Sure," Misty rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "It'll be pretty fun, though! And I think there is someone else you need to be your second henchman. Who do you think that's gonna be?"
"Yes! I get to order two people around!"
"And you're a tree, Drew!" May said, giggling. "I think you already look like one! Your hair's green, like tree leaves!"
"Well, you're the princess! The princess is gonna be pretty clumsy this year!" Drew retorted, as he flipped his hair, smirking, acting as if he didn't care. But really, he felt a bit disappointed that he had to be a tree while most of his friends got nicer parts.
May held herself up proudly. "No, she won't! The princess is going to be the most beautiful princess in the world! Dawn, you get to be my Skitty!"
"Yes, that's... nice," Dawn replied, forcing a smile on her face. She would have preferred being the actual princess rather than just her pet.
"Drew," Paul faced his friend seriously. "Do you want to ask Mrs. Primm if she can switch us? I don't think she was thinking properly when she decided to make me the prince of all things!"
"Sure!" Drew agreed, acting casual, though he wasn't able to keep his eyes from brightening up a tiny bit.
"Hey, why aren't you asking me to switch?" Gary demanded. Paul just ignored him.
Later, after class, the group joined up at recess.
"Well? What did Mrs. Primm say?" May asked curiously.
"She said no. We aren't allowed to switch our parts," Paul explained glumly. "Why am I the prince? I don't wanna be the prince!"
"Being a tree won't be that bad." Drew shrugged as if it didn't matter.
"We have a lot of lines to memorize," Dawn said, looking a bit worried. "We should get started as soon as we get home. I'm just a Skitty, but I have a whole song I have to sing with the princess!"
"We can practise together!" May exclaimed enthusiastically. "You can come over to my house, if you want!"
"Sure! That would be a lot more fun!"
"Hey, can all of us come too?" Ash asked, with equal eagerness. "We can all practise our parts, and sing and all! And since some of us got the main parts, we'll have a bunch of scenes together!"
"Great idea! Everyone can come to my house, then!"
And so to May's house they went. They each took turns practising scenes and scripts. But the most challenging part was the singing. They came over to practise singing almost every single day.
The days passed by quickly, and soon, there were only a few more days left until the play. But their opinions on one another's singing abilities clashed.
"You're not sounding right," Drew said critically to Paul. "The prince is supposed to sound very strong and brave. He's not supposed to be muttering!"
"What about trees?" Paul shot back. "Trees aren't supposed to talk at all! You're being too loud for a tree."
"I'm supposed be a singing tree!"
"Because he's a magic singing tree!" May came to his defense.
The others stared at her, as there were no magic trees in the play. The plants and Pokemon were just supposed to sing alongside the peasants to make the songs sound louder and better.
"They should have just given me a main part," Gary complained. "I mean, Ash doesn't even sound scary like he should."
"I sound perfect! You don't sound like a peasant! You sound like... like a Loudred! You're that loud!"
"All of you guys, stop arguing!" Misty ordered, hands on her hips. "We need to think about exactly how we sound, and then think of how we can improve. It's like swimming. You can't swim perfectly unless you know what you're doing wrong, so you can fix it."
"I think May and I sound the best so far," Dawn declared, referring to the duet the two had to perform. "But I think you guys need to sound a little more like your characters."
"Yeah," May agreed, nodding. "Why don't we all try singing that very long song together? The one almost all of us have to do? Then, we can see who's in tune."
And so they tried, their practice stretched for days. After many more complaints, whining, adjustments, criticisms, more adjustments, suggestions, more criticisms, and finally, more adjustments, the group finally decided that they were perfect. It was a good thing too, because their singing had been taking days to master, and the play was going to be the next day.
The seven of them found themselves practising one last time. They all ended a song together, gasping for breath since they had so much to say, but pleased.
"Mommy! Daddy!" May suddenly noticed her mother, Caroline, and father, Norman, had entered the room. Caroline was smiling, while Norman was rubbing his ear for some reason, and looked irritated.
"Mommy! Daddy! Did you guys hear us practising?" May asked as she ran up to them, a huge smile on her face. "Weren't we good? Didn't we sound amazing, like the stars of the show?"
"Of course, dear!" Caroline didn't even bat an eyelash as she complimented them cheerfully. "You all sounded like such sweet angels!"
Norman gave his wife an 'Are you serious?' look.
"What about you Daddy?" May directed her attention to the man. "Did you think so too? Did you? Did you?"
"Well, actually- oomf!" Norman glared at his wife, who had given him a hard kick to stop him mid-sentence. She looked him in the eyes warningly, though her face continued radiating a super-happy look. Norman got the message, and awkwardly coughed.
"Yes, Princess, you and your friends sound absolutely... ahem, fantastic!" he praised.
May, who had missed the exchange between her parents, beamed. She ran back to her friends.
"Did you hear that? My parents thought we sounded great! Let's all sing like this at the play tomorrow! Okay, one more time. A one, two, three, FOUR!"
With their motivation and enthusiasm hitting the maximum, they continued their practise, not hearing the groan from Norman, or even noticing him leave the room in a hurry.
"Oh, I'm so excited!" Dawn squealed. She was wearing a pink Skitty costume that her mother had sewn for her. Admittedly, it looked really nice.
"I know! It's gonna be so amazing!" May exclaimed. "I'm still a bit nervous, though..." She adjusted the glamorous crown on her head, which went with the beautiful princess dress she was wearing.
Meanwhile, Drew was scolding Paul. "Paul, the prince should be standing up straight, and looking rich and fancy! Not slouching like you are! Come on, just try to do a good job!"
And Paul couldn't care less. "Hn."
Drew was wearing a foam tree costume, and because of that, his arms were within the tree trunk, and couldn't be used. Drew was walking quickly, but carefully, so he wouldn't fall. If he did, he might not be able to get up, since his hands were pretty much useless at the moment.
Paul was dressed up as the prince. One would say he looked quite handsome, if it weren't for the scowl on his face. And the fact that he was slouching. And looking around with distaste. He just didn't seem to match his costume.
Gary was dressed as a peasant, but he still appeared to stand out from the other peasants. After some negotiating with the teacher, he had managed to convince her to let him be a peasant who was wealthier than the other people, allowing him to wear a more attractive costume that stood out a lot more.
And then there was Misty. She was wearing a henchman attire, as was the other henchman, who was played by a girl named Angie. They stood on either side of Ash.
Ash had clearly gotten into the spirit of his character. He was wearing the villain's costume, as well as an evil grin. He had had his mother apply a tiny bit of face paint on his face to enhance his villainous appearance. It was his first time getting such an important role to play, and he wanted to be at his best.
They were all standing backstage, but they could hear the audience's chatter growing louder as more and more people filled the seats. May peeked from behind the curtain to see if she could spot her parents. Sure enough, she could see both her mother and father, as well as her little brother, Max, sitting in one of the middle rows alongside Ash's mother, Delia, Dawn's mother, Johanna, and Gary's grandpa, Professor Oak.
"Okay, everyone, places!" Mrs. Primm said. Everyone quickly got into position, and the curtain lifted.
It started off really well. The princess and her Skitty were captured by an evil villain who was laughing manically (too manically...), and were restrained by the henchmen as they begged to be released. The prince declared that he would save her, even if it cost him his life. Paul did a surprisingly great job for his part, even impressing Drew. No one guessed that the reason his quality of acting had drastically improved compared to practice was because his brother, Reggie, hadn't been able to make it, which mean he wouldn't be watching nor recording (which, apparently, made it less embarrassing).
Drew had to stand on stage for a long time with very little to do. It would have been boring, if he hadn't found it enjoyable to be able to watch the play the whole time, kind of like a spectator. But his arms were still feeling very cramped.
When the time came for the peasants (and Pokemon and trees) to sing a song about how they needed to protect the princess and assist the prince, Gary made sure his voice was the loudest, and could be heard the most among the rest. This, unfortunately, threw the whole song off tune, though Gary was deaf to his blunder.
The scene in which the princess and her Skitty were in the cell came, and the two sang a duet about how the prince would come and save them. Both were very proud of their performance, convinced that they sang beautifully, but May couldn't figure out why her father had an odd look on his face. She decided not to think much of it. He had probably been too amazed at their singing to react.
Later, they came to a scene where the princess was running through the forest with Skitty, having escaped the cell. The villain was in pursuit of them.
"Get her! Get her!" Ash (the villain) commanded his henchmen.
"Right away, Master!" Misty and Angie obeyed, picking up the pace.
"Hurry!" Dawn the Skitty called to the princess as she ran ahead, leaving the stage.
"You will never catch me!" May yelled over her shoulder at the villains. "The prince is on his way, and once he gets here, he's going to sav-"
And then she slipped. The hem of May's dress got caught in her foot, and she slipped.
Drew, who was the tree standing close by, saw it all happen in slow motion. May was about to hit the ground! He regretted calling her clumsy, because now, it looked like she was actually going to fall down. She'd be embarrassed if she fell in front of everybody in the middle of the play! And what if she got hurt?
With these thoughts running through his mind, the green-haired boy dove forward, landing on the ground right beneath May. The girl fell right onto Drew's foam tree costume, which cushioned her fall.
Getting over her surprise, May stood up quickly and awkwardly, and said thank you. This part was not in the play, and she had no idea what to do in the situation. Neither did Drew, so he decided to improvise.
"I-er-I'm the magic tree that helps the princess!" he blurted out. "I fell so I could save you!"
"Oh yeah!" May quickly caught on. "Yes, thank you magic tree! I have to run now!"
She hopped over him, and disappeared offstage, as she was supposed to. Ash, Misty and Angie got into the act too. They stopped when they reached the fallen Drew tree (who felt really uncomfortable in that position).
"Arg, this tree is in the way! We can't reach the princess! She escaped!" Ash hissed in an angry voice convincingly. So convincingly, in fact, that Misty and Angie began wondering if this were the same Ash Ketchum from their class. The scene ended, and the curtains closed briefly while they got ready for the next scene, with some of the actors having to help Drew stand up.
Later, they all (well, most of them) found themselves backstage, as the peasants sang a song about how they hoped the prince would successfully defeat the villain. May noticed that she could hear Gary's voice the most. Hm, maybe he was being a bit too loud...
"I don't feel like continuing," Paul complained moodily. His character changed every time he was offstage. "Why do I have such long parts? I feel like hitting something!"
"You will, pretty soon," Gary said, as he joined them, having finished singing. "The next scene is the prince fighting the villain! And you're supposed to win, so Ash has to let you hit him!"
Ash gulped, seeming more like himself rather than the villain for the first time since the play had begun. "Y-you're not supposed to hit me that much," he said cautiously. "I mean, I know it's a toy sword you're using, but it might still hurt, so could you please only do it lightly?"
The smirk on Paul's face clearly said no.
Much, much later, the play finally ended. Everyone stood onstage as the audience treated them to a thunderous applause. After they got offstage, May hurried to her parents.
"Was I good?" she asked excitedly. "I think I sung the best I ever did before!"
"Of course you were, sweetie!" Caroline complimented, smiling. "And when you sang, I thought I was watching a real singer!"
"You were excellent, Dawn!" Johanna said to her daughter when the blue-haired girl ran up to her. "That's my daughter!"
"Ash, you did wonderful, dear!" Delia was saying to her son proudly. "I recorded the whole thing!"
"Fantastic! Best acting I've ever seen!" Professor Oak praised Gary, though the old man had actually dozed off halfway through.
"How is it that you people could stand that singing?" Norman muttered to himself.
"What, Daddy?" May questioned brightly, as she hadn't heard what the man had said (fortunately).
"Er, I said... I said, 'How is it that you kids could sing so well?'," he answered quickly.
"You really liked it? You really liked our singing?"
"Yes. Yes, yes I did."
"I know! We should all have a concert!" May exclaimed. "We can all go to my house and sing for our parents! Can we, Mommy? Can we?"
"Of course, dear! It would be lovely to hear you sing again!" Caroline agreed. Norman stared at his wife skeptically.
"Sounds like a plan!" said Professor Oak.
"Yes, it would be great!" Delia chimed in. "You coming too, Johanna?"
"Sure! I'm free for the day."
"Wait-!" But before Norman could say what he wanted to, everyone had already begun heading for their cars, the children hurrying excitedly with them.
And now, let's draw the curtains on another chapter!
Okie dokie, let's see... I'll try to update next during the weekend, but no guarantees, with school being so busy. But honestly, I think my updates have become pretty random and inconsistent... Oh well, as long as I manage to get you guys a new chapter at least once a week.
Please review, and thanks for reading!
Bye bye for now! Have a fabulous day, and smile all the way! :)