Everyone backstage peeked through the curtains to look at the crowded hall. This year’s school play attendance was so much better than last year’s.
“Now, now, everyone, get to your positions; we don’t have time for dilly-dallying. Go on now,” urged one of the teachers.
Sierra watched as her twin sister made her final check before stepping onto the stage. As always, Tera was the protagonist, and no one could take her place.
“She was born to sing,” everyone always said.
As the lights went out, one after another, the chatter in the auditorium slowly died with the whole theatre shrouded in darkness.
“Go!” the others cheered, pushing her sister on stage, her brown hair fluttering as she went.
A beam of light shone on her as she stood on the stage in front of the large cheering crowd, her dress glistening under the stunning spotlight. The play had begun, and everyone went to their places, busy with the work they were assigned.
Actors hurriedly put on their next costume, while the prop master carefully supervised the distribution of props.
No one noticed Sierra as she quietly moved towards a secluded room. At last, she came before the door labelled “Sound Room”. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Just as expected, there was no one inside except for the sound engineer.
Her mother had spoken to the principal, her school buddy, and she, in turn, promised the sound engineer would arrange everything.
Sierra trotted towards the microphone placed on a table in the corner, avoiding the multitude of wires that were entwined across the room. She cleared her throat.
Jubilant applause echoed thunderously throughout the auditorium. The resounding applause subsided, and the hall was silent again. The salient part of the show was about to begin.
During the discussion of this year’s play, the committee of teachers proposed a daring plan. To make it more intriguing, they gathered the music teachers and suggested having the main character sing two parts, one of which was a sensational solo.
However, the fact that Tera was anything but a good singer was unbeknownst to the passionate teachers.
She was tone deaf and could not sing a single note in tune, let alone sing a song.
Nonetheless, as their mother’s favoured child, her troubles would be sorted out. It was then decided that Sierra, her twin, would help her once again.
Tera’s mother encouraged her to lip-sync with her microphone turned off, while Sierra sang from the sound room. Their mother was desperate to get Tera on stage and she was willing to have it done at all costs.
“Sierra, you’ll do it for your sister, right?”
“Sure.”
For Sierra, the precious opportunity to use her talent was all that mattered. She agreed to do her part behind the scenes. She also wished for her sister to be in the limelight even if it was under false pretences.
For a few moments, she could forget the deep scar that raked down her face since she did not have to reveal herself to anyone. Only her voice was to be heard. Sierra’s first note began in a silky-smooth syllable and the crowd was immediately hushed.
***
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from ‘Behind the Scenes’ by Carissa De-Ern Stuart. It is part of a series of short stories – Secret & Lies: A Young Writer’s Anthology. Priced at RM31.90, the book is available at BookXcess. Royalties from the sale of the book will be channelled to Thrive Well’s (formerly SOLS Health) community centres.
To give the younger generation an avenue to express themselves, Twentytwo13 has a dedicated space called Young Voices. If you are a young writer (aged 17 and below) and would like to have your article published on our news website, send your contribution to editor@twentytwo13.my.
All articles must be accompanied by the young writer’s full name, MyKad number, contact number, and the mobile number of the young writer’s parents/guardians for verification purposes.
The views expressed here are the personal opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
