"Oh Romeo, Romeo, where art thou, mine Romeo?" Greta quietly repeated the lines to herself as she flipped through the script, her blue eyes gazing over the familiar phrases. The dress' corset was making it hard to breath but Greta ignored it. As a young actress of great potential, she had decided that small discomforts shouldn't stand in the way of her performance. Besides, she was bold enough to admit to herself that she loved dressing up in the old renaissance styled garments. The feeling of power and splendor that accompanied this velvet creation forced her to endure every pain with pride, helped her get into character. Even now, she wasn't reviewing her lines; she was simply keeping herself occupied just as Juliet would have done.
"Greta, you nervous?" Anthony, the assistant director asked walking over. Greta looked up, her gaze calm and naive. Anthony smirked. The girl definitely showed promise and she was quite a looker with fiery red hair and the sea blue eyes. Too bad she was only fifteen although most forgot her age. Greta always acted much more mature. "Come on girl, we're almost to the scene with you and Romeo."
"Yes seignior," Greta dipped into a small courtesy before passing her battered binder to Anthony with a small smile and moving toward the back of the set from where a small latter led to the balcony of the Capulet mansion, the next scene. She slowly disappeared from this world and engulfed into old Verona, the audience disappearing before her eyes until all she could see were dark gardens and far away fireworks. She thought about the pain of losing her loved one, of not seeing him again and a sigh of helplessness escaped her.
"O Romeo, Romeo, where art thou, mine Romeo?" her voice carried over the garden, the trees slightly muffling it and the leaves adding almost a melodic sound to it. She could feel all the pressure of being a Capulet, all the responsibility. She thought about the upcoming marriage to Paris and slowly she became Juliet. The lines trickled out of her mouth as easily as if they were her own, not memorized.
Out of the blue, someone else's voice sounded, pleasant and so sweet that Greta's breath caught in her chest. She froze, the garden before her eyes swimming in vivid blobs of color. The young man before her was neither extraordinarily handsome nor witty enough to be considered a "hot" guy but something about his face, the deepness of the dark eyes and the shaggy brown hair made her forget that the world could hold anyone better.
From then on, the play passed in a flash, the love and pain so vivid that when Greta recited the final monologue before impaling herself with a high tech prop knife, she could barely keep herself from weeping. Thunderous applause made the small theatre shudder as Tim, her co-star Romeo helped her to her feet and held her hand as the pair bowed. Greta slowly was coming back to reality, barely able to catch her breath or calm her galloping heart.
"Great job Greta," Tim whispered with a charismatic, crooked smile on his face as the curtains closed for the last time. The girl smiled and looked down, her blush revealing just how blissful of a moment she was in. Her first show, her first big show and she already was a success. None of the cast had to tell her that.
"Great job sweetheart!" Mark Mc-Cowen enwrapped Greta in a bear hug, his white beard tickling her cheek. Mark was the director of the plays, an actor in almost all of them, the mastermind behind the small theatres outstanding success but most importantly, he was the one who glimpsed Greta's talent, hunted it down, perfected the raw product into a polished performance and gave her a chance to shine. As the father of the company, Mark was strict but fair and praise was rarely heard from the giant of a man. "That was fantastic!"
Following the lead, all the other players slowly came forward, smiles and hugs being exchanged as Greta stood there, dazed. Over the past months, no one thought she would be ready. All seasoned actors, even Tim who just turned twenty, they had their doubts when Mark cast the inexperienced teenager with a fear of people as the lead heroine. Greta feared everyone and everything, getting her to so much as speak up and look at the other members of the cast required prompts, constant reassurances and tons of time. Although Greta had been accepted into the family of Star-Nord Theatre weeks ago, the transformation from an ugly duckling into a powerful swan forced the older members to look at her with respect and those closer to her age -- with interest.
Mark's strong baritone brought everyone back to reality. "Alright people, stop crowding! We still have costumes to put away and a list of improvements for tomorrow to go over. We don't have all day!"
*****
"You sure you can get home Greta?" Tim asked as the two walked out of the back of the theatre into the grey parking lot. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the hills, the sky a bloody red drape over the horizon.
"I'll be fine Tim," Greta still couldn't look him in the eyes even after the play and the numerous rehearsals. "My grandmother's house isn't far."
"But it's getting dark," Tim pulled out his phone, checking the time. "I don't think you should be walking alone."
"I'm not that young," Greta whispered, turning bright pink. Tim laughed, fixing his bag more comfortably onto his shoulder.
"Whatever you say princess," he grinned. "Actually, I have something to give you." Spinning her around, he took her towards a small black mustang, an old car that miraculously still managed to endure the rough roads of Lincoln. Greta had seen the car before, had been desperately jealous of it and had wished to one day be a passenger in it -- just like in the movies that she watched about love. Tim just seemed like a perfect hero -- caring, funny, attractive and smart. And Greta knew that she would never be the lucky girl who he would drive anywhere with. That was why she had refused an offer of a ride in the mustang every time Tim offered. Better never to taste the forbidden fruit than to forever crave more.
"Here, I know you probably have so many already but I actually thought you'd need the support. Guess I was wrong," Tim opened the passenger door and with a single movement scooped up a bouquet of white lilies. "For you, Juliet, on your opening night."
Greta smiled, accepting the flowers, blushing so much she thought Tim would sense steam coming off her skin. How did he know that lilies were her favorite? They complimented her hair and eyes, a simple tinge that unified all her features. They were elegant and strong, not like the roses with fragile, paper thin petals and thorns. A lily was all grace -- Greta secretly always wanted to be just like the water flower.
Looking up from the flowers, Greta suddenly realized that Tim was standing a lot closer to her than he was before, his crooked smile still there but something in his eyes changed. It was almost as if all the life was taken out of them, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. And he wasn't looking at her, he was looking past her.
Spinning around, Greta herself froze with awe. In the evening dark red sky, somewhere nearby the world erupted with a green stream which spread, thinning out into the world. Something about it felt strange. Disturbing. Wrong. The contrasting feeling, the seizing amazement with such a phenomenon and the creaking pain, Greta couldn't think properly. She couldn't think at all. The only thing she could feel was someone yelling "run". Run Greta, run! Run! Run, Run, RUN!
A hand on her shoulder made her scream, something she couldn't hear as she spun around to see Tim. He was shrieking at her and through the rising panic, she could hear him yelling for her to run. Panic replaced her senses, fear of the world made her take a step back before spinning around. Run? She ran, ran for all that she was worth, away from the fear, away from Tim, away, away, away. Greta didn't know where she was going; branches from trees slapped her face, loose pebbles flying from her frantic run flew at her face, the dark forest where she ended up seemed to glow green. She ran, breathing heavy but the panic didn't shrink -- it grew instead. She felt chased, she couldn't understand by what or who, her heart skipped beats every other step, her head pounded.
She tripped over a twig, falling face first into the leaves. She couldn't move. Something bit her, she screamed but she was all alone. Her body exploded in flames, consuming her as she struggled to breath. Death come quickly, she thought closing her eyes and falling still....
