Read Online Island of Silence (Unwanteds) by Lisa McMann - Free Book Online
Authors: Lisa McMann
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about their next production, And Then Everyone Dies, The End ,another Appleblossom original’a musical comedy this time based loosely on the Purge, which sounded . . . kind of weird. Samheed, leaning forward in his seat, was nearly drooling over the lead part already.
After the announcement came “spells” time, wherein a few students introduced their latest theater spells to Mr. Appleblossom and the class. A few were fairly useless, but Alex and Lani tended to offer a decent lot that were sometimes practical for everyday life in theater, and sometimes potentially lethal, should Artimé be forced to fight again.
Today Lani’s spell was a practical one. She said it was a seek spell, and explained that if an actor missed his cue and was unable to be found, Mr. Appleblossom only needed to touch something that the actor had created and say “seek” silently, and a ball of light would fetch the missing student. When the actor caught the ball of light it would explode, briefly displaying’like a picture’the created element that Mr. Appleblossom had touched. The wayward actor would then be able to decipher who was summoning, and simply follow the direction from whence the light came.
To demonstrate, Lani picked up one of Mr. Appleblossom’s older scripts that he’d lent her. She closed her eyes, imagined the silent verbal component, and a bright ball of light shot out directly from the script to Mr. Appleblossom. It hovered until the instructor reached out for it, and then it exploded, and a lighted picture of The Astonishing Adventures of Breakfast and Pearflower appeared in the air. It melted away a moment later.
Mr. Appleblossom applauded. “A silent, lighted spell is all the rage,” he cried out, “for it can be so dark behind the stage.”
Lani grinned and sat down.
Alex’s spell was a practical one, too, and not really one of his best, but he thought it would be quite popular in the right niche. He called it the prompter. It was a tiny intuitive earpiece that would whisper the words one needed when performing, in case of stage fright or confusion. “You only have to rehearse with it in place in your ear, and it will memorize the lines you say out loud, in the proper order. When you try to repeat the words later during a performance, it recognizes the context. If you get stuck, just touch the earpiece to signal that you need a prompt and it immediately whispers the next line into your ear.” He demonstrated and offered others a try. “I’ve only made one so far. It took a while, but now that I have it figured out, I can make more when I have time.”
“How very interesting, Mr. Stowe,” Mr. Appleblossom said, but he looked concerned. “As long as all the actors here realize that this is not a substitute, you know, for the old-fashioned way to memorize.” The little man tapped his foot threateningly.
“Of course, sir,” Alex said. “Actors wouldn’t be actors if they had to use it frequently. It’s only supposed to be used for the occasional emergency prompt. In fact,” he said, brightening up, “I think I can alter it so that if too many prompts are needed in a certain period of time, the earpiece shuts down.”
Mr. Appleblossom smiled. “I think that alteration will work well. Congratulations’it’s a brilliant spell.”
» » « «
After class the four friends met up and tubed to the dining room. “So what happened?” Alex asked once they got to a table with their food. “A fight? Who was fighting?”
Meghan spoke up. “Some Wanteds came by pretending to visit, so the girrinos let them in, but they were really here to, um, encourage their Necessaries to go back to Quill and work.”
“Why’d you say ‘encourage’ all weird?”
“Because it was more like force. They were going to shackle them.”
Alex’s face grew troubled. “Oh, no.”
Lani jumped in. “Mr. Appleblossom tried to settle it peacefully, but the Wanteds took a swipe at him, so Meghan and Cole totally
After the announcement came “spells” time, wherein a few students introduced their latest theater spells to Mr. Appleblossom and the class. A few were fairly useless, but Alex and Lani tended to offer a decent lot that were sometimes practical for everyday life in theater, and sometimes potentially lethal, should Artimé be forced to fight again.
Today Lani’s spell was a practical one. She said it was a seek spell, and explained that if an actor missed his cue and was unable to be found, Mr. Appleblossom only needed to touch something that the actor had created and say “seek” silently, and a ball of light would fetch the missing student. When the actor caught the ball of light it would explode, briefly displaying’like a picture’the created element that Mr. Appleblossom had touched. The wayward actor would then be able to decipher who was summoning, and simply follow the direction from whence the light came.
To demonstrate, Lani picked up one of Mr. Appleblossom’s older scripts that he’d lent her. She closed her eyes, imagined the silent verbal component, and a bright ball of light shot out directly from the script to Mr. Appleblossom. It hovered until the instructor reached out for it, and then it exploded, and a lighted picture of The Astonishing Adventures of Breakfast and Pearflower appeared in the air. It melted away a moment later.
Mr. Appleblossom applauded. “A silent, lighted spell is all the rage,” he cried out, “for it can be so dark behind the stage.”
Lani grinned and sat down.
Alex’s spell was a practical one, too, and not really one of his best, but he thought it would be quite popular in the right niche. He called it the prompter. It was a tiny intuitive earpiece that would whisper the words one needed when performing, in case of stage fright or confusion. “You only have to rehearse with it in place in your ear, and it will memorize the lines you say out loud, in the proper order. When you try to repeat the words later during a performance, it recognizes the context. If you get stuck, just touch the earpiece to signal that you need a prompt and it immediately whispers the next line into your ear.” He demonstrated and offered others a try. “I’ve only made one so far. It took a while, but now that I have it figured out, I can make more when I have time.”
“How very interesting, Mr. Stowe,” Mr. Appleblossom said, but he looked concerned. “As long as all the actors here realize that this is not a substitute, you know, for the old-fashioned way to memorize.” The little man tapped his foot threateningly.
“Of course, sir,” Alex said. “Actors wouldn’t be actors if they had to use it frequently. It’s only supposed to be used for the occasional emergency prompt. In fact,” he said, brightening up, “I think I can alter it so that if too many prompts are needed in a certain period of time, the earpiece shuts down.”
Mr. Appleblossom smiled. “I think that alteration will work well. Congratulations’it’s a brilliant spell.”
» » « «
After class the four friends met up and tubed to the dining room. “So what happened?” Alex asked once they got to a table with their food. “A fight? Who was fighting?”
Meghan spoke up. “Some Wanteds came by pretending to visit, so the girrinos let them in, but they were really here to, um, encourage their Necessaries to go back to Quill and work.”
“Why’d you say ‘encourage’ all weird?”
“Because it was more like force. They were going to shackle them.”
Alex’s face grew troubled. “Oh, no.”
Lani jumped in. “Mr. Appleblossom tried to settle it peacefully, but the Wanteds took a swipe at him, so Meghan and Cole totally
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