True Story

TRUE STORY

By

Jennifer Ballie

“Once again we have rendered ourselves useless to the night.”

Sometimes Simon was so dramatic. Especially when he is preparing for a lead role. I quietly sighed and went back to my set design. He knelt beside me. “Consuming the drink much too early we have empowered ourselves to be incoherently sedentary.  As the darkness covers us in its warm embrace, we hope that what lies behind the veil, should it decide to choose us, does so swiftly. For when we wake, alive or dead, I pray we awake in peace.”

His words were captivating, and I caught myself staring into his brown eyes. They had a different look about them tonight. Gold flecks and a black outline that I never noticed before. I shook my head trying to throw off the fog. “Is that a line from your new role. I swear Simon, sometimes you become your character way too much.” I scrambled to my feet and allowed my voice to trail off as I exited stage left.

Being a set designer was cool. It allowed me to be artistic…to an extent. My parents never really considered it a career. I made enough to live on my own and was doing something I enjoyed. Can’t beat that. Besides, I made a lot of new friends in the theater industry. Some of them, like Simon, had even become family.

“Hey Simon!” As I walked back onto the stage, I looked up to find it empty. “Simon!” No answer. “Ugh. He must be in the bathroom practicing his facial expressions in the mirror again.” Chills coursed through my body as the ringtone from my phone pulled me from my thoughts.

“Hello”

“Hey Jewels.” The voice on the other end was way too familiar.

“Simon. Where did you go? Did you leave me here by myself?” There was anger in my voice and he knew it.

“Jewels. Calm down. What are you talking about? I haven’t even been there yet. I’m on my way now.” I paused as I let Simons words sink in. “You haven’t been here.” My voice was shaking.

“Jewels you’re scaring me. Is someone there with you? Hang tight. I’m almost there.” The line goes dead but I continue to hold the phone to my ear. I was too afraid to move. I was alone in a theater known to be haunted with something that was very much real. At least I thought it was.

I sprinted off the stage and headed toward the auditorium doors. I was safer outside on the city street than alone in this theater. Just as I passed the last row of seats the doors flew open, and I ran into what felt like a brick wall. It turned out to be Simon’s very broad chest. As I looked up, Simon grabbed my arms. “Jewels. What is wrong with you?”

“Simon” I said between shallow breaths. “Are you the real Simon?”

“The real Simon? Jewels what are you talking about?” He knelt beside me as I sat in one of the uncomfortable theater seats.

“Take a deep breath and tell me what’s got you so frightened.” His voice was calming as it always had been.

I told him what happened. How he was right next to me just 30 minutes ago uttering the most enthralling words. He looked confused. “I think you’ve been working way too hard. Why don’t you take the night off. Go home and get some rest.” Simon pulled me to my feet allowing me to set the pace as we walked toward the stage. I quickly gathered my things and grabbed Simon’s hand as we made our way toward the exit.

“Wait. I need to leave the theater a note that I’ll be back tomorrow.” I let go of his hand and quickly walked toward the ticket booth. I jotted down that I had an emergency and would be back tomorrow morning. I posted it on the communications board. As I turned to walk back to Simon a black paper with gold lettering caught my eye. The words on it read…

“For when we wake, alive or dead, I pray we awake in peace.” – Unknown

I ran my fingers across the gold embossed letters.  Simon placed his arm around my shoulders. “What are you looking at?” I pointed to the quote. “This is exactly what you…whoever was pretending to be you…said to me up on stage.”

“I remember hearing about this quote. A lot of actors claim to hear it whispered on stage after a production.” He continued to tell me that no one knows who originally said the quote only that it’s been heard for decades by hundreds of actors. “Some say it’s the ghost of an old actor. Others believe it’s the fan and acoustics playing tricks on your ears. There are a small few who claim that it’s the words whispered by something supernatural and sinister just before you die.” He grabbed my shoulder causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. 

“Don’t do that!” I screamed as I slapped his arm. “I’m telling you whoever said that to me was very much real. I looked into their eyes. I could feel their breath.” I rolled my eyes at the confused look he had on his face. “Can we go now? Please.” I begged. He chuckled and grabbed me by the hand. “Absolutely my dear.”

The cold air outside was bone chilling. I fished my keys from my bag, shut the main doors, and locked it up tight. Simon was always a gentleman. He opened the truck door for me, and I hopped in quickly. As he made his way to the other side, I stared into the dimly lit lobby. It was 12:52 am. I hadn’t even been at the theater for an hour, yet it felt like an eternity. I took one last look at the place that had just shaken me to my core before turning my attention to the road ahead.

“Do you think a ghost can be so powerful that it can, like, manifest itself to appear real? Like a real human?” It was a weird question but at the time it was the only explanation that I could come up with to make me feel better.

“I guess it’s possible. But I don’t think it’s a ghost you saw.” His words were certain. I can bet it was something much more sinister.” As he turned his head to look at me, a glint of light flickered off the gold flecks in his eyes.

**********************************

Lily slammed the book shut as quickly as she could. Sure, she wanted to know how it all ends, but not tonight. She would do much better to finish it tomorrow in the daylight. She didn’t want to scare herself awake.

Every hair on Lilys body stood on end as she ran to turn on the fan. Background noise was a necessity to ensure sleep tonight. She placed the book on her nightstand, jumped into bed, and quickly pulled the covers up over her shoulders. Sleep was not coming easy. After a few deep breaths and a quick inner monologue convincing herself that it’s just a book and not real, Lilys eyes began to grow heavy. 

But in her dreams, she found herself longing to be someone else. Jewels, maybe?  Fantasy always seemed so much better than reality. Her eyes flew open as she turned to face her nightstand. Lily needed to know how it ends. Scared or not. She pushed herself up on her bed and turned to where her bookmark sat between the pages. As she began to read on, the voice in her head began to repeat “Once again we have rendered ourselves useless to the night.”