Fun In the OLT Light Booth And Other Stories Of Gracie's Weekend

Friday night, Natalie and Michael weren't gonna be at the theatre because of a thingy going on at their church. I was a terrified of being in the light booth all by myself because I didn't think I could do things right. And I thought I'd ruin the show and make everybody mad at me because I messed up. So, I got my friend Amanda to come help me up there. We had a good time. I think she really enjoyed the show. Soon, I came to realize that maybe...just maybe....I didn't really need help. Maybe I COULD do it all by myself. So, I told Amanda to just let me try. And what do you know? I did it! I really really did it!! Except for one time in Act 2 when, instead of a blue spot light to make it look like night-time, I accidentally put a green one... But I still wasn't nearly as nervous about messing up on Saturday night because Mikie and Natalie would be gone again.



Saturday, I woke up and did some chores...which weren't too fun. Then I went and ate lunch at Natalie LaCombe's house. I hadn't seen her in awhile. That poor girl is always either at work, or at Cosmetology School. I miss her! So, that was fun. Then she had to leave to go to work at the Dollar General...



So, I came home and I decided to write the story that I've had in my head for awhile. I spent the entire afternoon writing my story. It's been in my imagination for a few weeks and I like it alot and I didn't want to forget it. So, I'm writing it down.



Then Natalie Sibille's dad, Mr. Kent called. He and Mrs. Tara were gonna be at the theatre helping with concessions, even though their kids wouldn't be there. So, since Natalie and Mikie usually pick me up and give me a ride to the theatre, they offered to pick me up. I knew that Mom would greatly appreciate not having to get out to bring me there, so I said, "Sure!"



About 30 minutes later, Mr. Kent called again. This time he was asking if I wanted to go spend the night over there. Well, of course I did! I asked Mom, and she said that it was fine. Then I told Mr. Kent to keep it a secret and not tell Natalie or Mikie. They had both been gone all day at a very boring thing at their church. They had to go early in the morning and were gonna be until quite late at night. So, it would be a wonderful surprise for Natalie to see me, because she was miserable, listening to people talk to her all day. She needed fun!



So, finally it was time to go to the theatre. I went backstage to socialize with the backstage people and the actors until it was time for the show. Casey told us a hilarious story about some people scaring him with a ginormous water beetle thing inside a movie case..... Me and Jay were just laughing and laughing. We had a good time...



Then it was time for the show! I went up in the light booth, flashed the lights, and then dimmed them. The curtain opened, the lights came up, and Duncan started talking. The show was starting off flawlessly! I knew I could do this!



A little while later, I heard a strange scratching noise over to my right...I wasn't really sure what it was, but I happened to glance over to that corner and what did I see? A HUGE rat!!!!!!



No, I'm not afraid of rats, I just think they're germy and dirty and gross. So, I didn't really want him to come by me. Plus, I just really didn't know what to do if the rat started crawling all over the floor in the light booth....or chewing on wires or something.... So I went over by the ladder and told Mrs. Sonja. She said, "What, honey?"



I whispered, "There's a rat in the light booth!!"



A few minutes later, up comes Mr. Jeff with a broom. I'm not sure exactly what he planned to do with it, but nevertheless...he had a broom. Then, all during the show, me and Mr. Jeff are up there hunting for a rat. Finally we figured out that it must have gone in a hole in the wall, so we should plug up that hole and maybe the rat wouldn't come back for now.



So, we filled up the hole with paper bags and plastic Wal-Mart bags. And the show went on without any other strange events...



During intermission, I went backstage and said, "I had a friend up there in the light booth!"



Casey said, "Oh. Really?"



I said, "Yep! A rat! A big one!"



Casey and Jay started laughing at me! Then one of them...I don't remember whether it was Jay or Casey, but they said, "So, did you name him Templeton?"



I hadn't...but that was his name after that...



Act 2 went great. I did everything, without any problems! I even put a blue spot light for the night-time scene! Then near the end of the show, Mikie and Natalie got to the theatre! They got out of their church thing earlier than expected!!

So, after the show, me and Mrs. Tara started getting creative. Since Mrs. Tara's dad was there, Mrs. Tara had to leave pretty quick to get him home, so we told Natalie that my mom said she wanted me home as soon as the show was over, so I had to go with Mrs. Tara.

Natalie wasn't buying that.

She said, "Well why don't I just come with ya'll?"

So we told her that we didn't have enough time for her to get her stuff. So, I hugged her and told her to call me when she got home and we'd talk then. I knew that Natalie had had a long, boring day, and that this was just making it worse, but I also knew that she'd be so happy that I was at her house that she wouldn't even care about this.

So, when we got to the Sibille's house, me and Mrs. Tara talked for a little while. Then we heard them get home. So, I went in Natalie's room, shut the door, turned off the light, and stretched out on her bed.

When she opened the door, she had the most overwhelmed expression on her face.

Then she sort of collapsed on me, "I love you..." she muttered.

The rest of the night we had a fabulous time. We watched "Little Women: The Musical" and we talked and talked late into the night in her bed...It was wonderful.

In the morning, we went to church. Then we ate lunch at her grandparents house. They made some sort of enchilada something casserole, which sounded really yummy to me. But then when I tasted it, I didn't think it was so great...

When we arrived at the theatre. I discoverated Jay and Duncan up in the light booth crawling around doing something....I'm not very sure what. But I think maybe they were checking the rat traps that Mr. Jeff had set the night before, after we met Templeton.

Duncan turned around when he saw me. He said, "That was a big rat!" and he motioned with his hands how long it was, "and that's not even including the tail!"

And Jay said, "I respect you, now. That was a big rat. You were very brave." or something like that.

So, apparently, they had caught Templeton in one of the rat traps. Mrs. Angie was pretty impressed, too. She said that it was a good thing it was me up there and not her because she would have screamed!

We went backstage before the show, like we usually do. Jay let me play the funnest game ever on his phone! It's a maze with a ball and you actually tilt the phone and the ball rolls in the direction that you tilt it. It's quite frustrating. But, I enjoyed it and I plan to play it some more on Thursday when we go.

The show went great....Natalie LaCombe was there. I do believe she enjoyed it!

After the show, me, Natalie L., and Megan went to Sonic and got drinks, then for some reason, Natalie and Megan wanted to go to Stage. Since I never say "no" to shopping, we went! We had a pretty fun time. They had a couple of cute dresses.

Then we decided to to home. On the way, we passed in front of Quizno's, which is where Ashley Brown works. We saw her car in the parking lot, so we stopped there to say hello to Ashley. And I got this AMAZING double chocolate chip cookie! It was so so SO delicious!

And finally, we came home.

And that was my weekend! :-)