THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part 5

Rapunzel on her journey home

The Forest Fairies arrived early the next morning to rescue Rapunzel.  They stood by while she cut off her braid and nailed it to the windowsill.

"Your hair is still very beautiful," said Arabella softly. 

Rapunzel nodded and wiped away a tear.  The sisters hovered near her while Rapunzel climbed down her braid and then jumped lightly to the ground.

"I'm free," she said.  "I can go home at last and see my parents.  Lead the way, my friends, and I will gladly follow."

The journey home was long and exhausting, but at last the fairies glimpsed Rapunzel's cottage through the trees.

"There is your true home, Rapunzel.  Go, your parents are waiting for you," said Annalisa.

"Thank you, thank you; I will never forget what you have done for my parents and me.  We are friends forever!"

And Rapunzel ran up the path; the door flew open and she ran into her mother's arms while her father embraced them both. The sisters watched the joyful reunion and congratulated themselves that for once their efforts to help had not produced disaster.

"We should be home just in time for dinner," said Annalisa.

"Let us hope that Father is still awake," said Arabella and away they flew to their fairy home.

That evening when the old witch arrived at the dark tower, she saw that Rapunzel's hair had already been thrown down for her.  Eagerly, she climbed the long braid, not realizing that the tower was cold and empty and Rapunzel was long gone.

RIVERVIEW HIGH SCHOOL 1958

In 1958 we sophomores who lived in the south part of Sarasota left Sarasota High forever and entered the County's brand new high school--RIVERVIEW!  We were top dogs for two years and in 1960 we formed the first class to graduate from Riverview High.  A few years ago most of us met again to celebrate our 50th reunion.  Riverview looked very different and so of course did we (except for Rosie who looked pretty much as she did when Elvis Presley kissed her many, many years ago.)  But in 1958 the campus was fresh and new and I was so impressed.  Junior high had been a nightmare for me and I thanked God daily that it was over.  Having started school in New York when I was only five, I was always a year younger than my classmates.  To make matters worse, I was a late bloomer and emotionally immature.  So while other girls were developing breasts and social confidence, I was developing an inferiority complex.  I was short and painfully thin.  My mother wouldn't buy me a bra because she said I didn't need one which I didn't, but I was the only girl in the gym showers who didn't wear one.  I looked like a homely little boy.  Then when I was fourteen, I suddenly grew six inches in an unbelievably short time.  Unfortunately, I gained no weight and still had the flattest chest in America.  So now I resembled a tall homely boy.  I was teased and bullied which was to be expected.  Even worse, I dressed like a child.  My mother still bought my few clothes and they were always pink dresses for six-year-olds.  In brief, I was a mess in junior high.  I had pity friends and I am grateful for them even today.

But Riverview ushered in a new era.  I bought a bra with my babysitting money and stuffed it with tissue.  It was the smallest bra in the world and it supported nothing, but at least now I had bra straps.  I shaved my skinny legs regularly and wore cheap lipstick.  Best of all, I now had many friends.  While I was never, ever to be part of the In Crowd, its members now began to talk to me.  I was their confidante.  The boys never thought of me romantically (much to my sorrow), but they liked me.  Some of them shared their thoughts and feelings with me.  I was funny and the kids laughed, but in a good way.  I still had no figure, but I had joined the club at last.

THE FOREST FAIRIES, Part 4

Rapunzel in her dark tower

Annalisa and Arabella flew by the Dark Tower several times and saw Rapunzel sitting in the window gazing at the night sky.  How she must long to be free!  They must approach her at once and set forth their simple, but spectacular plan.  The fairy sisters flew right up to Rapunzel and asked if they could speak to her inside.  Having never seen fairies before, Rapunzel was taken aback, but she was thrilled to have any sort of company at all.  She bid them come in and and the fairies hovered in the air as was their wont.

Annalisa - "The old woman who visits you is not your real mother, Rapunzel.  No, she is a witch who stole you from your genuine parents when you were but an infant!  There was some silly argument over root vegetables--or something like that."

Arabella - "We have found your parents, dear Rapunzel, and they were overjoyed to hear you were alive and well.  They desperately want you to come home so that you can be a family!"

Rapunzel was stunned to hear this news.  "But how can I escape this prison?  There is no door."

"We have a plan," the sisters cried.  "You have only to braid your hair, cut off the braid and nail it to the window!  Then you can climb down your braid and we will guide you to your parents!"

Rapunzel turned pale.  "Cut off my hair?  But I........"

"It will grow back, you silly girl," said Arabella.  "Of course, it will and even thicker than before."

"Now we must fly home to dinner and you must get ready for the old witch's visit.  We will be here in the morning to guide you home.   It will be a long journey, so sleep well!" said Annalisa.

Rapunzel watched the fairies fly away and she knew in her heart that she would not sleep a wink.

NIGHT MUST FALL

                               

At the end of my sophomore year at Sarasota High, my drama teacher, Paul McClure, decided to direct Night Must Fall which had been a huge theatrical success.  The play had atmosphere, mystery and fantastic parts for actors. He knew he was fortunate enough to have exactly the right cast in his group of graduating seniors.  Ellen Geer, who was to have a career spanning fifty years, was given the meatiest role.  The leading 
role, a charming, manipulative young man
who manages to worm his way into the affections of a wealthy old widow, her young, bored companion and Dora, her maid, was played by the school's finest actor, the charismatic Terry Shank.  Dora, the none-too-bright servant girl, is pregnant, the result of a brief liaison with our leading man who has a way with words.  Since I was in awe of the entire cast and had that "deer caught in the headlights" expression, I was perfect for the frightened Dora, who probably knew as much about sex as I did, which is to say, very little.  Rehearsals were grueling and all too brief, but we all knew that something extraordinary was happening, one of those rare times in the theatre when everything comes together in exactly the right way--when something magical is born and every person in the audience feels it.  The young cast bonded in a way I have never experienced since.

We gave two performances at the Palmtree Playhouse. an Equity theatre we were able to rent as their season was over.  We had a large, responsive audience the first night who must have spread the word as the next performance was completely sold out.  During our final scene that last night I realized that there was no sound in the theatre but the actors' voices; the audience was spellbound, completely caught up in what was happening onstage.  I suddenly realized that I didn't want this experience to end.   But of course it did.  The audience streamed backstage but no one quite knew how to express their powerful and unexpected feelings.

There was a party afterwards.  And as I looked around at the faces of these actors who had become my friends, I realized that they were far more important to me than I was to them.  They would all graduate in a few days and I would probably never see them again.  I started to cry and couldn't stop.

And I never did see any of them again.