I Hraet You (3)

Beat 3: Let’s Make a Star Out of You!

Lloyd blinked rapidly.  “Well, this is new.”

               

Once more, he’d ended up in some new territory.  Maybe he’d hit his head harder than he thought; last he checked, he wore a hospital gown, not his regular clothes.  And last he checked the world had other colors besides black and white.

               

He clutched his head.  He never knew he’d see the world in black and white so literally; not a single shade of gray stood before him.  It looked as if everything around him had been outlined on blank paper.  And more to the point, those black lines wobbled like the goo of a lava lamp.

               

So where was he exactly?  He couldn’t say he’d ever been to a place made of lines, but he could at least make out the area’s purpose.  He sat in a director’s chair behind a long desk; a stage lay several feet before him, with colorless curtains hanging on its left and right.  Wires trailed from Lloyd’s side of the room onto and past the stage, allowing each light to -- theoretically -- shine on.  Tall studio lamps stood behind him, balancing on needle-thin tripods; dozens of spotlights hung from the rails above, as well.  A white screen had been propped up in the stage’s center, and far behind it Lloyd spotted a few props -- chairs and cameras, planks and paint cans, even the occasional boulder and tree.

               

Lloyd stroked his chin, more amused than afraid.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this stage was going to be used for an audition.  But that would be silly.  He pressed a hand against the table, hoping that he could push right through to its underside.  Rats.  For a second, I thought I was a ghost.

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