“Cut!” yelled the director offstage. Gaston got himself up, and brushed off his costume. “Alright, take five people. Remember, the mostrar is about a week away- we have to start getting our act together today!”
Oh please, thought the bimbette in green as they filed backstage. This musical is a disaster! We’ll never be ready in time, and if we are, then little Miss popular will steal the show. She looked pointedly at Jessica Marcos as she passed. Snobby perra got to be Belle, and was making everyone aware that she was the star.
“Lilli, tu are so sharp, it isn’t even funny!” Jessica told the rosado, rosa bimbette. “And what are tu giggling about Cathy?" she said, turning to the bimbette in yellow. "You were way too low!” Then she turned to the green bimbette. “And you, Allie,” she began. Allie braced herself. “Be a dear and cover for these two incompetents will you?”
“I don’t really think-” Allie began. But it was too late; Jessica had gone running off to her boyfriend Mike, to yell at him for tripping onstage. That stuck up bitchy wannabe! Allie thought. I could’ve been Belle if I had wanted to. And she really could’ve- she had a wonderful canto voice. But tu see, Allie absolutely HATED the spotlight. She hadn’t even tried out for the play- her música teacher volunteered her for it.
The rest of practice went just as badly. It ended with a bunch of disgruntled teenagers who barely knew their lines complaining about having to come to school on a Saturday for this shit. Allie got out of her ridiculous outfit, grabbed her backpack, and started to walk inicial alone. The cold air blew through her wavy, so-dark-brown-it-might-as-well-be-black hair, and stung her tan skin. She liked walking inicial alone- she didn’t need her fail at life classmates who thought she was just some permanent shadow that wandered the halls. I can’t believe we’re even DOING this, she thought. I mean, Beauty and the Beast? Get real. Life doesn’t have happy endings like that. The bad guys don’t just fall off a cliff and rot. Why couldn’t we just do a tragedy?
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
After getting home, eating a cena of pizza with her family, and flipping through her homework that she probably wouldn’t do, Allie decided it was about time she got to bed. She took the book off her nightstand and put it back on the shelf- she didn’t feel like lectura tonight. Then Allie threw on her Jack Skellington PJs and hopped in bed, and fell asleep a few minutos later.
Allie opened her eyes to a yellow light. She was in some sort of vast, oro nothingness. “Hello?” she called. “Is anybody here?” There was no response, just the eerie echo of her own voice. When she looked down, her pajamas had been turned baby blue, and they had a slight shimmer. “I must be dreaming,” she thought aloud. She pinched herself, hard. “Ow! Wait, how did that hurt?”
She wandered the nothingness for what seemed like forever, calling out to anyone that might be there. Then, suddenly, she noticed a small ball of white light coming towards her. It got closer and closer until she could almost touch it, and then, she did.
Instantly the ball of white light transformed into a beautiful winged woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, a blue dress, and a wand.
“Who are you?” Allie asked, convinced that, although she could pinch herself, she was dreaming.
“I am the Blue Fairy,” she replied. “And tu must be Allie Knox. We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, let’s hold on a segundo there. tu mean Blue Fairy as in Pinocchio Blue Fairy? And you’ve been waiting for me? And how the hell do tu know my name?”
“There isn’t much time,” responded the fairy. “Yes, it was I who turned the puppet Pinocchio into a boy,” she said. “Why I know your name isn’t important- what is is that there are many people in grave danger who need your help, and if they don’t get it soon, we may all be doomed,” Then the blue fairy waved her hand, making a glass door appear. “I will explain all on the way,” she said, and with that she grabbed Allie and pulled her through the door.
They emerged in a glass castle. Everything was made of glass, and gave off colores that Allie didn’t even know how to describe. But she didn’t have time to gawk. The Blue Fairy dragged her through the halls, speaking quickly- Allie almost didn’t catch it all, and, not wanting to ruin the dream, didn’t interrupt her.
"There are dark forces at work in the stories of the nine princesses,” she began, “and not the normal ones either. Someone has turned back the clock, and is trying to make it so all of the villains win. And if they win, they might be so powerful that they break into this very castle, which is the fairy council. All of the worlds of the princesses, and many others, can be accessed through here, including the golden portal to your world that we were just in. tu must protect the nine princesses and make sure that their stories go smoothly,” Finally, the fairy stopped in front of a red, wooden door. “This is your first destination.”
"This dream is getting too complicated for me,” complained Allie “I must’ve eaten too much pizza o something.”
"Dream?” asked the Blue Fairy. “You think this is a dream? Please believe me when I tell tu that this is no dream. This is very real, and I oblige tu to take it seriously.”
“Prove it,” challenged Allie. So the fairy opened the door.
Through it Allie saw a lovely magnolia árbol in full bloom. She felt the breeze that blew through it’s branches, and saw a dog barking at it and running around the stone bench beneath it for no reason. This seemed almost too real to Allie, but she still wasn't phased. Very realistic, Allie thought, but I have an overactive imagination. I’m still not believing this. Might as well play along though. It’s just a dream- what could go wrong?
“Fine, I believe you,” she lied. “But why me?”
The Blue Fairy laughed “Allie, tu are much más special than tu give yourself credit for. tu must have a bit más confidence in yourself,” she dicho as she conjured up a silver bracelet with a single estrella charm. She fastened it on Allie’s wrist. “With this bracelet, tu will look like the other people in each of the princess’s stories. If there is dark magic around, the charm will turn black, and when tu are done protecting a story, this charm will glow white and bring tu back here.”
"So, I need to attempt to protect the princesses and their stories, Got it. Anything else?” she asked, leaning on the doorframe.
"Just one thing,” dicho the Blue Fairy. “If tu get harmed there o die there, it’s for real.”
Then she shoved Allie through the door.
★☆ To be continued . . . ☆★
Allie Knox in her final dress, which will be fully revealed in the final chapter.
