Emily: Or, What Happened at the Attic

(enchant: ?passage's chars, via (t8n-delay:pos * 30) + (t8n:'instant')) |DIRTY_SECRET2)[(css: "character-left")[This is a secret text only visible after you click on the page.]] (click: ?page)[(t8n: "dissolve")(show:?DIRTY_SECRET2)]\ (click: ?page)[(t8n: "pulse")[(align:"==>")+(box:"===========================XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[Gleep!]]] (css: "character-left;")[What's going on? Where am I?] ...Weather report for the wider Sacramento area, chilly morning coming your way... Fairly cloudly in the low 60s, wind speeds ramping up to 15 miles an hour... Can't see the meteor right now, but it's getting there—around 450,000 miles until impact. That's a little less than a year from now, for you folks at Davis, Yolo, West Sacramento... (align:"==>")+(box:"=========XXXXXXXXXX=")[President Clinton's Impact Initiative Board recommends evacuating as soon as possible, even for those neraing the projected impact zone...] For more assistance, be sure to call 1-800-xxxx... Y2K IS REAL. PREPARE YOUR FAMILY WITH THE MILLENIUM BUG BUNKER KIT, ONLY AT THE LOW PRICE OF $119.99... |1)[This is a secret text only visible after you click on the page.] (click: ?page)[(set: $dialogue_queue to $dialogue_queue + 1)(show:?DIRTY_SECRET)]

|Act>[EMILY: Or, What Happened at the Attic] (align:"=><=")[[[Start ->Intro]] [[Scene Select]]]

Emily Speaking / This is a very long paragraph that will continue on and on and on and I'm wondering if this will be cut off. (align:"==>")+(box:"===========================XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX===")[Sara Speaking / This is a very long paragraph that will continue on and on and on and I'm wondering if this will be cut off.] A.) Solution exists B.) Scalable ISSUE / THINGS TO IMPLEMENT A.) Formatting in general (especially between two sides) A.) Space in-between “Paragraphs” A.) Consistency of Spacing between Panels A.) Keeping previous “paragraphs” on screen A.) Progressing with a click / button (revealing hidden text) A.) Every style/formatting for each "paragraph" nice to haves: Fade-in Text Act Titles Different backgrounds, fonts, etc. for different characters Audio Sounds (primarily for intros to acts - scenes... only implement if time / ease of use allows) TWINE VERSION A.) Moreorless Left / Right Align Black / White Division B.) Use CSS to change font / etc.

Typewriter Effect in Harlowe  (set: $typewriterText to "Hello, world!")  (display: "Typewriter") {  (set: $typewriterPos to 1)  |typewriterOutput>[]  (live: 20ms)[  (append: ?typewriterOutput)[(print: $typewriterText's $typewriterPos)]  (set: $typewriterPos to it + 1)  (if: $typewriterPos is $typewriterText's length + 1)[ (stop:) ] ] }

(enchant: ?passage, (align:"=><="))\ (enchant: ?Em, (t8n:'dissolve')+(text-colour:white)+(text-style:'expand'))\ (enchant: ?Sa, (t8n:'fade-up')+(text-colour:white)+(text-style:'condense'))\ |Em>[== Testing (click: ?page)|Sa>[== Testing 2 (click: ?page)|Sa>[== Testing 3 / "I am a noble one" (click: ?page)|Em>[== Testing 4 (click: ?page)|Em>[== This was Sara. She was a little princess.

(enchant: ?passage, (align:"<==")+(box:"=XXX="))\ (enchant: ?Em, (t8n:'dissolve'))\ (enchant: ?Em, (text-color:'light-grey'))\ (enchant: ?Em, (text-style:'expand','emboss'))\ (enchant: ?Sa, (t8n:'fade-up'))\ (enchant: ?Sa, (text-color:'white'))\ (enchant: ?Sa, (text-style:'condense', 'smear'))\ |Em>[== Testing (click: ?page)|Sa>[== Testing 2 (click: ?page)|Sa>[== Testing 3 / "I am a noble one" (click: ?page)|Em>[== Testing 4 (click: ?page)|Em>[== This was Sara. She was a little princess. (click: ?page)|Sa>[== How far will this go, until it hits the end of the screen? (click: ?page)|Em>[== Will it scroll along with this text? (click: ?page)|Sa>[== Will we hit the bottom? (click: ?page)|Em>[== Not yet, almost there. (click: ?page)|Sa>[== Okay that should do it. Okay that should do it. Okay that should do it.Okay that should do it.Okay that should do it.Okay that should do it. (click: ?page)|Em>[== What a conundrum we found ourselves in.... This is such a troubling piece of software, that it's really hard to be enthusiastic about anything when you're spending five hours troubleshooting and you really should've been doing other work.... Makes me worried about even ATTEMPTING to make a game that's more complex than this. Maybe I should just how to code in general.. [[Testing Ground 4]]

//|Center>[Nobody knew, and in fact nobody cared, whether she was unhappy or happy, unless, perhaps, it was Emily, who lived in the attic and slept on the iron bedstead at night. ] |Center>[Sara thought Emily understood her feelings, though she was only wax and had a habit of staring herself. ] |Center>[Sara used to talk to her at night.] |Center>[“You are the only friend I have in the world,” she would say to her. ] |Center>[“Why don’t you say something?] |Center>[Why don’t you speak? ] |Center>[Sometimes I’m sure you could, if you would try. It ought to make you try, to know you are the only thing I have. If I were you, I should try. ] |Center>[Why don’t you try?”]// |Center>[- from //Sara Crew: Or, What Happened at Miss Minchin’s//] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->Act I - Start]]]

[[Title Screen]] Act I [[scene i ->I, iA]] Act II [[scene i ->II, iA]] [[scene ii ->II, iiA]] [[scene iii ->II, iiiA]] Act III [[scene i ->III, iA]] [[scene ii ->III, iiA]] [[scene iii ->III, iiiA]] [[scene iv ->III, ivA]] Act IV [[scene i ->IV, iA]] [[scene ii ->IV, iiA]] [[scene iii ->IV, iiiA]] [[scene iv ->IV, ivA]] Act V [[scene i ->V, iA]] [[scene ii ->V, iiA]]

|Act>[Act I] (live: 4s)[(goto: "I, iA")]

|Em>[FB left me here.] |Em>[On the side of the street next to a little antique shop, in a small wooden box, perfectly up straight and pristine.] |Em>[The owners were an elderly couple. They must’ve thought it was magic, to have such a perfect doll appear at their doorstep.] |Em>[They picked me up and placed me in the front of their store.] |Em>[It’s been a couple of days now.] |Em>[FB told me to keep watch, of the people and their problems... ] |Sa>[“...oh, papa! There is Emily...”] |Em>[But what was there to watch?] |Em>[Hardly anyone walked into the store. And if someone did, it was always in passing.] |Sa>[“She is actually waiting for us!”] |Sa>[“Let us go in to her.”] |Em>[The jingle of the door.] |Em>[It seemed the two voices I was hearing came inside.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->I, iB]]]

|Act>[Act II] (live: 4s)[(goto: "II, iA")]

|Sa>[“He is on the sea now, Emily.”] |Sa>[“We must be very great friends to each other and tell each other things.”] |Sa>[“Emily, look at me.”] |Em>[Her eyes were always trying to find something on my face.] |Sa>[“...”] |Sa>[“You have the nicest eyes I ever saw, but I wish you could speak.”] |Em>[It had only been a few days since Sara and her father landed in London. Only yesterday her father abandoned her—left her in the hands of an old lady named Miss Minchin.] |Em>[She would speak to me, holding me to her face, so often that I must have been the only one who had seen her up close.] |Em>[This time, her face was scrunched up—a little pout forming. Frustration? Disappointment? Melancholy?] |Em>[At this point, I couldn’t determine what she was thinking about, in her bouts of silence. She would set me down and stare off in the distance, for no reason, nowhere particular.] |Em>[Had there been an “Emily” before me, someone she could talk to?] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iB]]]

|Em>[In two years’ time, however, this problem would be amended: Sara had made friends. ] |Em>[Obtained two of them, anyways.] |Em>[Every now and then, a young girl would come up to the door of her room. They always had a jovial time in conversation, though it seemed to me her friends never truly understood Sara.] |Em>[Ermengarde, for instance, was the earliest guest to show up. She was a stout, graceless girl.] |Sa>[“I’m the stupidest child in the school!”] |Em>[She had said once to Sara.] |Em>[She had no talent, no wits, no interests related to Sara.] |Sa>[“But I—oh, I do so like you!”] |Em>[And that was all it took for Sara to accept Ermengarde’s friendship.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiB]]]

|Sa>["The school ought to be very fashionable now Miss Minchin has a princess for a pupil."] |Em>[Lavinia, an older girl in the seminary, was the closest to tearing down Sara’s patience.] |Em>[Alone in her room, Sara would often speak of Lavinia to me—in a sour, scornful tone.] |Sa>["Sometimes I do pretend I am a princess."] |Sa>["I pretend I am a princess, so that I can try and behave like one."] |Em>[But Sara would never reveal that part of herself, not in front of everyone else.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiiB]]]

|Act>[Act III] (live: 4s)[(goto: "III, iA")]

|Em>[Sara held me tight as she entered her room, slammed the door, and locked it.] |Em>[I couldn’t see her face then, but I felt her erratic movements across the room—back and forth, back and forth...] |Em>[Her voice croaked out words she couldn’t yet comprehend.] |Sa>["My papa is dead...”] |Sa>["My papa is //dead//!”] |Em>[Sara raised me to her face.] |Em>[Her eyes wide open, bewildered and in shock.] |Em>[Miss Minchin had broken the news to her.] |Sa>["Emily! Do you hear?”] |Sa>["Do you hear, Papa is dead?”] |Sa>["He is dead in India—thousands of miles away.”] |Em>[Mariette arrived shortly to change Sara’s clothes, as ordered by Miss Minchin.] |Em>[Sara became completely dressed in black. I too was changed to match her new attire.] |Em>[She was given no time to cry. ] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iB]]]

//|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// |Em>[This was a phrase that Sara would murmur to herself in her bed, in the attic.] |Em>[I would always hear isolated whispers under her breath every night. Most of the time, it was indiscernible, like the sounds of the rats and mice that kept her awake.] |Em>[But there was always one phrase that stood out to me:] //|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// |Em>[This was Sara in the dark.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiB]]]

|Sa>["There’s nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in—that’s stronger.”] |Sa>["It’s a good thing not to answer your enemies. I scarcely ever do.”] |Sa>["Perhaps Emily is more like me than I am like myself.”] |Sa>["Perhaps she would rather not answer her friends, even. She keeps it all in her heart.”] |Em>[Sara would make these assumptions about the world all the time.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiB]]]

|Em>[Later on, Sara had a peculiar encounter.] |Em>[I was there in the attic when it happened, and saw as much as she had.] |Em>[But she loved telling the story to me.] |Em>[As she watched the sunset from the skylight, Sara met the gaze of another watching from their attic too.] |Sa>["A Lascar…”] |Em>[She had said.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, ivB]]]

|Act>[Act IV] (live: 4s)[(goto: "IV, iA")]

|Em>[It was another dreary day.] |Em>[The view of cold mist from the skylight never disappeared.] |Em>[These were the days that Sara would return drenched in rain and mud, exhausted.] |Em>[But this time was different.] |Em>[When the attic door had opened up, she immediately stumbled onto the center of the floorboards.] |Em>[Sara had not said a word.] |Em>[From my view, I saw her kneeling on the floor, hunched over, staring intensely down below:] |Em>[Six, round buns of bread.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iB]]]

|Sa>["Was that a rat?”] |Sa>["Yes; a rat, Sahib. There are many in the walls.”] |Sa>["Ugh! It is a wonder the child is not terrified of them”] |Sa>["The child is the little friend of all things, Sahib.”] |Em>[The skylight mysteriously opened, and I found the Lascar hovering over me. He had brought a companion with him.] |Em>[Sara had been out of the attic, working for Miss Minchin as usual.] |Em>[The Lascar went about the room, inspecting the bed in disdain.] |Sa>["All her life each day I know.”] |Sa>["Her going out I know, and her coming in; her sadness and her poor joys; her coldness and her hunger...”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiB]]]

|Sa>["Emily, I shall tell you a story.”] |Em>[It seemed as if we were in complete darkness.] |Em>[It was hard to determine where I was, or where she was, but I felt her arms locked across my body.] |Sa>["It’s a story about Sara.”] |Em>[Her hand stroked my head, moving across my hair, slowly, endlessly.] |Sa>["Let me tell you about what happened at the attic last night.”] |Em>[I listened to her quiet voice.] |Em>[Even though I knew what had happened.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiB]]]

|Sa>["...Sara..."] |Sa>["...Sara Crewe..."] |Sa>["...Little girl in the attic, Sara Crewe!"] |Em>[There was a loud disturbance the next morning.] |Em>[A rumbling of deep voices below, those I could not readily identify.] |Em>[The rats and mice that were squeaking and moving around me subsided. They retreated back into the walls.] |Em>[I could hear Miss Minchin faintly, arguing with these voices.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, ivB]]]

|Act>[Act V] (live: 4s)[(goto: "V, iA")]

|Em>[I was left outside.] |Em>[On the side of the street next to pieces of trash. Tattered, broken garbage.] |Em>[It’s been a couple of days now. Since Sara’s death.] |Sa>["...oh, papa! Ain’t she pretty?”] |Em>[What was there left to do?] |Sa>["She is actually waiting for us!”] |Sa>["Let us go in to her.”] |Em>[The jingle of the door.] |Em>[It seemed the two voices I was hearing went inside a nearby store.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iB]]]

//|Center>[The children stood and looked at each other for a few minutes; and then Sara took her hand out of her muff and held it out across the counter, and Anne took it, and they looked straight into each other’s eyes.] |Center>[“I am so glad,” Sara said. “And I have just thought of something. Perhaps Mrs. Brown will let you be the one to give the buns and bread to the children. Perhaps you would like to do it because you know what it is to be hungry, too.”] |Center>[“Yes, miss,” said the girl.] |Center>[And, somehow, Sara felt as if she understood her, though she said so little, and only stood still and looked and looked after her as she went out of the shop with the Indian gentleman, and they got into the carriage and drove away.]// |Em>[“I don’t understand.”] |Em>[FB asked me what I didn’t understand.] |Em>[“Every time you rewrite her story, the further you stray away from the truth.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiB]]]

|Act>[Story by SeaCabel] |Act>[Based on //A Little Princess// by Frances Hodgson Burnett] (live: 10s)[(goto: "Title Screen")]

|Sa>[“Dear me!”] |Sa>[“I feel as if we ought to have some one to introduce us.”] |Em>[A deep, resonating voice.] |Em>[Shortly, a little girl came into my view. A tall, young man placed his hands over her shoulders, as if to contain her ecstasy.] |Sa>[“You must introduce me and I will introduce you…”] |Em>[Without warning, I felt my body being lifted from the pedestal.] |Em>[Held under the arms of this little girl. Black, crumpled hair hiding her green-gray eyes.] |Em>[She had a carefree smile.] |Sa>[“...But I knew her the minute I saw her—so perhaps she knew me, too.”] |Em>[I did not, though.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->I, iC]]]

|Em>[The little girl moved around the store, the man following from behind, until she stopped in front of a small mirror.] |Em>[From the reflection, I could see myself, dangling in front of the knees of this little girl. She wore a fur coat, a fur hat, and tiny gloves. ] |Em>[Her attire reminded me of FB.] |Em>[Too much to bear for a child.] |Em>[She opened her mouth.] |Sa>[“Of course, papa, this is Emily.”] |Em>[And this was Sara.] |Em>[A little princess.] |Em>[At least, she tried to be.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->Act II - Start]]]

|Em>[Regardless, Sara never showed this side of her to anyone.] |Em>[Because the moment she heard the door to her room open, Sara sat upright and practiced a polite smile—respectable and unbothered.] |Sa>[“Oh, Mariette!”] |Em>[Her personal maid, Mariette, began to prepare Sara into her school attire. ] |Em>[Sara placed me in a chair across from her own, along with a book.] |Sa>[“What I believe about dolls is that they can do things they will not let us know about.”] |Sa>[“Perhaps, really, Emily can read and talk and walk, but she will only do it when people are out of the room. That is her secret.”] |Sa>[“You see, if people knew that dolls could do things, they would make them work.”] |Em>[Mariette always seemed engrossed in whatever Sara said. Not only because she was required to do so.] //|Sa>[“Elle a l’air d’une princesse cette petite.”]// |Em>[Mariette occasionally remarked, in one form or another, whenever Sara behaved in her kind manners.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iC]]]

|Em>[However, Miss Minchin didn’t share the same level of enthusiasm. Sometimes, she would enter Sara’s room with another lady she called Amelia and make remarks about the large room, the little girl, her father.] |Em>[Her father was very rich, she had said once. Her father’s child—“the show pupil” she would say often—would cement “Miss Minchin, Select Seminary for Young Ladies” in London.] |Em>[It could have been Sara, Emily, Jemima... it didn’t matter who the girl was.] |Em>[Sara pointed in my direction.] |Sa>[“If you stay in the room, Emily will just sit there and stare...“] |Sa>[“But if you go out, she will begin to read, perhaps, or go and look out of the window.”] |Sa>[“Then if she heard either of us coming, she would just run back and jump into her chair and pretend she had been there all the time.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iD]]]

|Em>[Sara was incorrect.] |Em>[Without FB’s blessing, I couldn’t talk or walk. Couldn't go around and look out of the window. Couldn’t run or jump either.] |Em>[All I was granted was to stay put—feel, listen, and observe.] |Em>[Sara’s imagination would always run rampant like this. Making stories, making make-believe. Making a kind of stuffing to shove into her reality, a hard truth:] |Em>[Her father left her, and she was alone.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->II, ii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "II, iiA")]

|Em>[Their conversations always devolved into one-sided talks: Sara would teach her French, lecture her about class lessons, tell her about historical events and fairytales—her absent father in India.] |Sa>[“You have to bear things. Think what soldiers bear!”] |Sa>[“Papa is a soldier. If there was a war he would have to bear marching and thirstiness and, perhaps, deep wounds.”] |Sa>[“And he would never say a word–not one word.”] |Em>[And Ermengarde would always smile.] |Em>[It was hard to know whether she understood a word Sara said. Or if she cared to try at all. ] |Em>[She simply must’ve been glad—that she was no longer alone.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiC]]]

|Em>[Then there was Lottie.] |Em>[A younger girl, a tantrum maker, a child without a mother.] |Em>[Sara loved telling me the story of how she met Lottie. A lonely girl crying, who she calmed down with a story, then a promise.] |Sa>[“I will be your mama.”] |Sa>[“We will play that you are my little girl. And Emily shall be your sister.”] |Em>[From that point forward, Lottie never let go of Sara.] |Em>[Sara said, Lottie repeated. Sara did, Lottie admired. Sara led, Lottie followed in blind faith.] |Em>[If someone else had taken it upon herself to become her mother figure, Lottie would’ve behaved just the same.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiD]]]

|Em>[She, along with Ermengarde, always heaped empty praises toward their new friend.] |Em>[But Sara always tried to reject the pedestal given to her.] |Sa>[“A lot of nice accidents have happened to me.”] |Sa>[“It just happened that I was born with a father who was beautiful and nice and clever, and could give me everything I liked.”] |Sa>[“I don’t know how I shall ever find out whether I am really a nice child or a horrid one.”] |Sa>[“Perhaps I’m a //hideous// child, and no one will ever know, just because I never have any trials.”] |Em>[They would nod at the moment, forget about her words the next day, and repeat their careless flattery.] |Em>[That was Sara and her friends.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiE]]]

|Sa>[“Onct I see a princess.”] |Em>[Becky said to Sara in their first meeting.] |Sa>[“I was standin’ in the street with the crowd outside Covin’ Garden, watchin’ the swells go inter the operer.”] |Em>[Sara was smiling, listening to the girl’s story.] |Sa>[“She was a growed-up young lady, but she was pink all over–gownd an’ cloak, an’ flowers an’ all.”] |Sa>[“I called her to mind the minnit I see you, sittin’ there on the table, miss.”] |Sa>[“You looked like her.”] |Em>[In my time knowing Sara, seeing her up close every day, it was this moment that caught my eye.] |Em>[I saw Sara then—her face frozen solid, in deep contemplation.] |Em>[It was as if she uncovered something monumental. ] |Em>[Sara finished up whatever story she was telling Becky. But a different kind of smile remained on her face.] |Em>[It was prim and proper.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiG]]]

|Em>[But one day, a new girl appeared at her door.] |Em>[Her clothes were tattered, covered in dust and grime.] |Em>[Sara would tell me later her name was Becky. She was a scullery maid for Miss Minchin.] |Sa>[“Have you done your work? Dare you stay here a few minutes?”] |Sa>[“Here, miss? Me?”] |Sa>[“If your bedrooms are finished, perhaps you might stay a tiny while.”] |Em>[Sara beckoned the child into the room. Becky obeyed.] |Sa>[“I thought, perhaps, you might like a piece of cake.”] |Em>[Becky was in awe. She asked if it was truly alright, over and over. ] |Em>[Sara slid the plate of cake towards her, and in no time, Becky devoured it all.] |Em>[From then on, Sara would always have something for Becky, whenever she stopped by.] |Em>[If not for Sara’s stories, the food might’ve been the only reason Becky stopped by.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiF]]]

|Em>[When Becky eventually left to return to work, Sara closed the door of her room shut. She stood at the door, perhaps listening to Becky’s fading footsteps.] |Em>[Then Sara began to walk around, murmuring to herself.] |Sa>[“I’ve often thought that I should like to be a princess; I wonder what it feels like.”] |Sa>[“I believe I will begin pretending I am one.”] |Em>[Usually by now, she would head over to my chair— acknowledge me, talk to me.] |Em>[But for whatever reason, she was especially lost to her imagination.] |Sa>[“If I //was// a princess, a real princess...”] |Sa>[“I could scatter largess to the populace.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiH]]]

|Em>[Sara outstretched her hands, clenching them as if she had something in them.] |Sa>[“But even if I am only a pretend princess, I can invent little things to do for people.”] |Sa>[“Things like this.”] |Sa>[“She was just as happy as if it was largess.”] |Sa>[“I’ll pretend that to do things people like is scattering largess.”] |Em>[She opened her hands, spread her arms across, as if spreading flower petals around her—down a balcony, to the ground and people below.] |Sa>[“I’ve scattered largess.”] |Em>[That was Sara and her friends.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->II, iii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "II, iiiA")]

|Em>[At this time, Sara and most of the girls from the seminary were gathered in the school-room. Lottie carried me around that day, wanting a sister by her side.] |Em>[It was Sara’s birthday, and they were all circled around her presents on the table.] |Em>[They were from her father, still in India. Her father’s discovery of diamond mines had raised even more interest in Sara.] |Em>[As Sara started to open up what she called the Last Doll, Lottie quickly set me aside in order to get a view of this new sister.] |Em>[I could see Sara in my view, her eyes so enamored with this large, decorated doll.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiiC]]]

|Sa>["Suppose she understands human talk and feels proud of being admired."] |Em>[The Last Doll could not. ] |Em>[It wasn’t attached to someone like FB.] |Sa>["You are always supposing things."] |Em>[Lavinia never minced words.] |Sa>["I know I am. I like it."] |Sa>["There is nothing so nice as supposing. It’s almost like being a fairy."] |Sa>["If you suppose anything hard enough it seems as if it was real."] |Em>[Sara was on the brink of anger—her face crinkled in a scowl. The frown of not a princess, but a child.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiiD]]]

|Em>[They began talking about expenses, about Sara’s presents, a Captain Crewe.] |Em>[This Mr. Barrow always seemed to be looking in my direction, or perhaps the Last Doll, in disdain.] |Em>[Eventually, the two of them got into what seemed to be a heated discussion. Words of confusion, ire, and disgust.] |Em>[Miss Minchin appeared indignant to what Mr. Barrow was saying.] |Em>[After a few more exchanges, Mr. Barrow left her. ] |Em>[She was completely distraught.] |Em>[Shortly, Amelia entered the room, asking what had transpired.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiiF]]]

|Sa>["Sara."] |Em>[An older voice entered the room. ] |Em>[Amelia, if I recall.] |Sa>["Your papa’s solicitor, Mr. Barrow, has called to see Miss Minchin, and, as she must talk to him alone."] |Sa>["You had all better come and have your feast now, so that my sister can have her interview here in the school-room."] |Em>[Very quickly, Sara and the girls were dismissed to another room. ] |Em>[Lottie left me behind with the Last Doll.] |Em>[Shortly, Miss Minchin came into view. She was with a man with a dignified look.] |Sa>["Pray, be seated, Mr. Barrow."] |Em>[He did not sit down.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->II, iiiE]]]

|Sa>["Captain Crewe is dead."] |Em>[Miss Minchin said to Amelia.] |Sa>["He has died without a penny."] |Sa>["That spoiled, pampered, fanciful child is left a pauper on my hands."] |Em>[Her voice was more irritated than it was concerned.] |Sa>["Hundreds of pounds have I spent on nonsense for her. And I shall never see a penny of it."] |Em>[Miss Minchin got a hold of Amelia. ] |Em>[Her eyes were cold.] |Sa>["Put a stop to this ridiculous party of hers."] |Sa>["Go and make her change her frock at once."] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->Act III - Start]]]

|Sa>["Put down your doll.”] |Em>[Miss Minchin had said, when she brought Sara to her office.] |Sa>["What do you mean by bringing her here?”] |Sa>["I will not put her down. She is all I have.”] |Sa>["My papa gave her to me.”] |Em>[Miss Minchin’s face hardly cared for whatever Sara was saying.] |Sa>["You will have no time for dolls in future.”] |Em>[The older lady told Sara what she now was: a beggar with no relations, no home—no one in the world to take care of her.] |Sa>["You are not a princess any longer.”] |Sa>["Your maid will be dismissed.”] |Sa>["You will wear your oldest and plainest clothes. Your extravagant ones are no longer suited to your station.”] |Em>[Sara remained silent throughout Miss Minchin’s explanation.] |Em>[She might’ve still been processing her father’s passing.] |Sa>["You are like Becky—you must work for your living...”] |Em>[Before Miss Minchin could continue, Sara ran out.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iC]]]

|Em>[I felt her tight grip as she dashed across the hall, up the stairs.] |Em>[She looked down at me, tears forming in her eyes.] |Sa>["I wish she could talk.”] |Em>[Her voice was so quiet, so coarse.] |Sa>["If she could speak—if she could //speak//!”] |Em>[Those strained breaths never left her, not even when she reached the entrance to her room.] |Em>[Amelia was standing in front of the door.] |Sa>["You—you are not to go in there...”] |Sa>["Not go in?”] |Sa>["That is not your room now.”] |Em>[Sara was rendered silent.] |Em>[I felt her grip around me tighten.] |Sa>["Where is my room?”] |Sa>["You are to sleep in the attic next to Becky.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->III, ii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "III, iiA")]

|Em>[In the daytime, she never showed that side of her to anyone.] |Em>[Not even to me. Whenever Sara intended for her words to be heard by me, she always went forth with that respectable, dignified persona of hers.] |Em>[She would detach from herself, her experiences. Speak matter of factly—about working in the kitchen, cleaning the floors, running errands on foot.] |Em>[She would tell me that she was not bothered. ] //|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// |Em>[Sara told me this every day, for two months straight.] |Em>[And then one day, she stopped.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiC]]]

|Em>[From that point forward, a different kind of story arose.] |Em>[She would tell me about how she tried not to be a bother, tried to stay silent, tried to appease the cook and Miss Minchin.] |Em>[But it didn’t change anything.] //|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// |Em>[In fact, it made things worse.] |Em>[The more willing she was to work, the more reprimand she received.] |Em>[The strain in her muscles as she matched the cook’s pace—disregarded.] |Em>[The stress in her mind as she kept every floor clean—belittled.] |Em>[The shivers in her body as she endured cold mornings and evenings—neglected.] |Em>[There was nothing she could do.] //|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiD]]]

|Em>[Then there were the other girls. The peers she used to know.] |Em>[It was awkward with them. They didn’t know how to approach her anymore.] |Em>[Her frocks were short and shabby. Her shoes had holes. She was a servant to them.] |Em>[She tried to ignore it, saying that soldiers don’t complain. She was going to pretend she was deep in war. She was going to follow her father’s footsteps.] //|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// |Em>[At least, Sara would tell me, she still had her friends. Ermengarde, Lottie, Becky...] |Em>[But they never truly understood what she was going through.] |Em>[She never told them.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiE]]]

|Sa>["Sara, do you think you can bear living here?”] |Em>[Ermengarde said once to her, visiting her attic.] |Sa>["Other people have lived in worse places.”] |Sa>["Think of the Count of Monte Cristo in the dungeons of the Chateau d’If.”] |Sa>["And think of the people in the Bastille!”] |Em>[Sara explained, distant and detached from her circumstances.] |Sa>["Yes, that will be a good place to pretend about.”] |Sa>["I am a prisoner in the Bastille.”] |Sa>["I have been here for years and years—and years; and everybody has forgotten about me...”] |Em>[Sara went on with her storytelling and theatrics. It easily distracted Ermengarde, and herself, from the truth.] |Sa>["I shall pretend that and it will be a great comfort.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiF]]]

|Em>[That must’ve been a lie.] |Em>[Because I continued to hear her in the dark, muttering those same words, over and over:] //|Sa>["...my papa is dead...”]// (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->III, iii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "III, iiiA")]

|Em>[It first began with the rats. ] |Em>[She fabricated a friendship with a rat, one she named Melchisedec. She would make up stories about his family, his children, his troubles.] |Sa>["There! Take it and go home, Melchisedec!”] |Sa>["Go home to your wife!”] |Em>[Sara would say, sharing crumbs, shouting commands.] |Sa>["He is very nice. He only eats the little bits.”] |Sa>["After he goes back I can always hear his family squeaking for joy.”] |Em>[Melchisedec didn’t have a family—didn’t have a name for that matter. To me, those sounds were rats fighting over food.] |Em>[The Melchisedec she saw could’ve been different rats, but Sara didn’t—perhaps refused to—notice.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiC]]]

|Em>[Then there was The Large Family, as she called them. They were a wealthy family of many children. She watched them obsessively from the skylight.] |Em>[Sara made names for all of them: ] |Em>[The Montmorencys, including Ethelberta Beauchamp Montmorency, Violet Cholmondeley Montmorency, Sydney Cecil, Vivian Montmorency, Lilian Evangeline Maud Mario, Rosalind Gladys, Guy Clarence, Veronica Eustacia, Claude Harold Hector...] |Em>[Her love for rats, sparrows, strangers—they were all her fantasies. They didn’t even know she existed.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiD]]]

|Em>[Finally, there was me, the one she called Emily.] |Em>[She found many ways to pretend a doll could be her friend.] |Em>[A friend who could sympathize with her.] |Em>[A companion who could feel and hear everything.] |Em>[A good witch who could protect her.] |Em>[With FB’s blessing, I could very well do all of that.] |Em>[But in any other case, Sara would be speaking to an ordinary doll—waiting for an inanimate object to respond. Always waiting for an answer.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiE]]]

|Sa>["I don’t answer very often. I never answer when I can help it.”] |Em>[Sara would say, to justify my silence.] |Sa>["When people are insulting you, there is nothing so good for them as not to say a word.”] |Sa>["Just look at them and //think//.”] |Em>[Pretending that a doll could be alive.] |Em>[Sara engaged with those kinds of "pretends”, to keep herself away from reality for as long as she could.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiF]]]

|Em>[She fell to her knees.] |Em>[She reached out to touch me. Her face inches from me, I saw her green eyes and the darkening circles surrounding them.] |Sa>["I can’t bear this. I know I shall die.”] |Em>[Her voice trembled as she spoke.] |Sa>["I’m cold; I’m wet; I’m starving to death.”] |Em>[Her body shivered violently.] |Sa>["I’ve walked a thousand miles today, and they have done nothing but scold me from morning until night.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiH]]]

|Em>[But one day, she couldn’t escape.] |Em>[I was seated at my usual place in the attic, a molding wooden chair.] |Em>[I could hear the howling wind and rain hitting the roof, the attic’s skylight.] |Em>[Quietly, I heard the attic door open. Sara must’ve crept inside, later than usual.] |Em>[When she entered my view, I saw her clothes. Soaked, muddied, torn apart.] |Em>[She stood frozen in time, almost petrified. ] |Em>[Her face was gazing somewhere on the wall, nowhere in particular. Nowhere at all.] |Em>[Then her body shifted. She turned around. She was staring at me.] |Em>[She tiptoed toward me, staggering from her own weight.] |Em>[Sara stood above me, looked into my eyes.] |Sa>["I shall die presently.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiG]]]

|Em>[Her hands moved across her tired face.] |Sa>["And because I could not find that last thing the cook sent me for, they would not give me any supper.”] |Em>[She clutched her body, curling into herself.] |Sa>["Some men laughed at me because my old shoes make me slip down in the mud.”] |Em>[She tried to contain herself, the venom in her throat.] |Sa>["I’m covered in mud now! And they laughed!”] |Em>[Sara looked up.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiI]]]

|Em>[What happened afterwards was a blur—all I heard was an anguished scream, before I felt my entire body flying in the air, falling onto the attic ground.] |Sa>["You are nothing but a //doll//!”] |Sa>["Nothing but a doll—doll—doll!”] |Em>[I could only see the attic’s ceiling, a wooden cage of planks and beams.] |Em>[I could only hear Sara’s hoarse voice.] |Sa>["You care for nothing.”] |Sa>["You are stuffed with sawdust.”] |Sa>["You never had a heart.”] |Sa>["Nothing could ever make you feel.”] |Sa>["You are a //doll//!”] |Em>[What remained was a passion of sobbing and bellowing cries.] |Em>[This carried on into the night.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, iiiK]]]

|Em>[When the morning came, I was still on the floor.] |Em>[I watched a figure loom above me.] |Em>[I watched as it picked me up, moved around one of my arms intensively. It must’ve been torn open.] |Em>[I watched the figure open its mouth.] |Sa>["You can’t help being a doll.”] |Sa>["Any more than Lavinia and Jessie can help not having any sense.”] |Em>[This was Sara.] |Sa>["We are not all made alike.”] |Em>[And she had a wry smile.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->III, iv0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "III, ivA")]

|Em>[This Lascar had a monkey, and upon losing his grip on it, the monkey fled from his hand.] |Em>[It jumped across, into the skylight, and onto Sara’s shoulder.] |Em>[Sara said the monkey loved her.] |Em>[As the monkey moved about the attic, Sara would communicate with the Lascar in his native tongue.] |Em>[The Lascar slipped through his own attic window, crossed many roofs, and entered her room through the skylight.] |Em>[After a few more difficulties, he had finally retrieved his monkey.] |Em>[The Lascar thanked her.] |Em>[The Lascar //spoke// to her.] |Sa>["As if I was a daughter of a rajah...”] |Em>[Sara would dwell on this point, over and over.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, ivC]]]

|Sa>["It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”] |Em>[She would move about the attic during moments like these, strangely serene.] |Sa>["There was Marie Antoinette when she was in prison and her throne was gone.”] |Sa>["She had only a black gown on, and her hair was white, and they insulted her and called her Widow Capet.”] |Sa>["I like her best then.”] |Sa>["Those howling mobs of people did not frighten her.”] |Sa>["She was stronger than they were, even when they cut her head off...”] |Em>[Sara would speak of figures like Marie Antoinette, as the sky fell into night, as she fell into bed.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, ivE]]]

|Em>[She would talk to me about her life in India, where everyone treated her the way the Lascar had.] |Em>[Where the populace would salaam where she walked, where her servants and her slaves would bow their foreheads down to the ground.] |Sa>["A daughter of a rajah!”] |Em>[Sara was reanimated.] |Em>[She had an intense realization.] |Em>[She told me that the people here in London—Miss Minchin, the cook, her former peers—had been treating her incorrectly.] |Sa>["Whatever comes cannot alter one thing.”] |Sa>["If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, ivD]]]

|Em>[Ever since her encounter with the Lascar, those midnight murmurs had changed.] |Em>[Sometimes, I could hear Sara, whispering. ] |Em>[Hissing to someone who wasn’t there, perhaps Miss Minchin.] |Sa>["...You don’t know that you are saying these things to a princess...”] |Sa>["...if I chose I could wave my hand and order you to execution...”] |Sa>["...I only spare you because I am a princess...”] |Sa>["...and you are a poor, stupid, unkind, vulgar old thing, and don’t know any better...”] |Em>[She would laugh to herself endlessly.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->III, ivF]]]

|Em>[Sometimes, the giggles would come to a sharp stop. From my chair, I would see a dark figure emerge slowly from the bedsheets, green eyes glancing in my direction.] |Em>[The figure would then disappear into the bed.] |Em>[A hushed voice would murmur to itself.] |Sa>["...A princess must be polite...”] |Sa>["...A princess must be polite...”] |Sa>["...A princess must be...”] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->Act IV - Start]]]

|Em>[She snatched one of them, and crammed it into her mouth with great wolfish bites.] |Em>[Then she got the second bun, and did the same. Then came the third.] |Em>[Her hoarse, ravenous voice could not contain itself.] |Em>[She was on the fourth, then the fifth. Snatching and devouring, crumbs falling to the floor.] |Em>[Her fingers shoved the sixth down her throat. It was a massacre.] |Em>[She was only a poor little wild animal.] |Em>[She was out of breath, out of food.] |Em>[Only then did her fervorous trance fade away. ] |Em>[Sara then raised her head.] |Em>[And she found me.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iC]]]

|Em>[She was staring.] |Sa>["I—I found a fourpenny piece in the mud."] |Sa>["It was lost. No owner could be found."] |Em>[She let out a little laugh.] |Sa>["Why, yes—I got six buns."] |Sa>["The baker spared some extra for me. It was her blessing."] |Sa>["I—I didn’t steal them."] |Em>[She kept staring at me, in silence.] |Sa>["..."] |Sa>["I was hungry."] |Em>[There was an agitation growing in her voice.] |Sa>["I couldn’t pretend, or suppose, or think anymore."] |Sa>["I was hungry too!"] |Em>[She crept towards my chair, crawling over in complete disarray.] |Sa>["If you only saw and smelled the buns, you’d understand."] |Sa>["They were delightful... I was going to faint."] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iD]]]

|Em>[She began to shout.] |Sa>["I didn’t have dinner either!"] |Sa>["No breakfast, no supper, //nothing//."] |Sa>["I had to eat something, anything!"] |Em>[When she reached my chair, she took hold of me.] |Sa>["I //know//!"] |Sa>["I know she was hungrier than I am, I know!"] |Sa>["I know that poor beggar girl was suffering more than me!"] |Em>[Sara violently shook me as she spoke, her eyes searching for something, anything from me.] |Sa>["She needed the buns, but—I needed them too!"] |Sa>["Don’t—! Don’t look at me like that!"] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iE]]]

|Em>[All I heard was a harrowing shriek, when I felt my body lift from the chair.] |Em>[When I felt parts of my body being torn apart:] |Em>[Strands of hair, my clothes, my limbs, the stuffing inside.] |Em>[Pummeled to the ground over and over, by a growling voice.] |Sa>["I know! I know they always shared!"] |Sa>["Princesses always shared with the populace!"] |Sa>["Those poorer and hungrier than themselves, I know!"] |Sa>["I was going to share, I was going to..."] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iF]]]

|Em>[The destructive onslaught slowed, the shouting and striking turned into broken, miserable sobs.] |Em>[I could only hear the tiny, gasping voice of a frail girl.] |Sa>["But I was hungry..."] |Sa>["So, so hungry..."] |Sa>["Please..."] |Sa>["Let me be a beggar just this once..."] |Sa>["Let me be..."] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->IV, ii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "IV, iiA")]

|Sa>["If she were ill I should know, and I would come and serve her if it might be done.”] |Em>[So he says.] |Em>[But he hadn’t seen her sleepless nights, the isolated terror she experienced outside of the skylight’s view.] |Em>[The Lascar began talking about his discussions with a certain Sahib Carrisford on this little girl in the attic. Talking about Sara’s suffering seemed to amuse them.] |Em>[They were planning something special tomorrow night, to make her dreams real.] |Sa>["I think I have made notes enough; we can go now.”] |Em>[The Lascar went back to the skylight, looked around one last time.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiC]]]

|Sa>["The Sahib Carrisford has a warm heart.”] |Sa>["It is a thousand pilates that he has not found the lost child.”] |Sa>["Where else must we look?”] |Em>[The Lascar had noticed me on the ground. Whatever condition I was in, I was not worth picking up.] |Sa>["We had searched throughout Russia to no avail.”] |Sa>["Sahib Carmichael had suggested we search the schools in this city of London, but Sahib Carrisford disapproved.”] |Sa>["We are making preparations for Paris instead.”] |Em>[The Lascar and his companion went out through the skylight—their words more distant, ephemeral.] |Sa>["In the meantime, we can place our magic for this girl.”] |Sa>["A parting gift, until we can meet again.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->IV, iii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "IV, iiiA")]

|Sa>["It had been a miserable night.”] |Sa>["Ermengarde had been having trouble reading books.”] |Sa>["She was a stupid girl, asking Sara about the attic again.”] |Sa>["Ermengarde never saw the unbearable side of life in the attic.”] |Sa>["She did not know what Sara had suffered in there.”] |Sa>["In fact, dumb Ermengarde asked Sara if she was ever hungry.”] |Sa>["Ever hungry? ‘Of course!’ Sara had said.”] |Sa>["Sara imagined how quickly her hunger would disappear, if only she could eat Ermengarde.”] |Sa>["How foolish those thoughts were! Of a desperate street beggar!”] |Sa>["...”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiC]]]

|Sa>["So Sara, Ermengarde, and Becky had their pretend party.”] |Sa>["They had turned the Bastille into a banquet-hall.”] |Sa>["A vaulted roof, a minstrels’ gallery, a huge chimney filled with blazing oaken logs...”] |Sa>["Waxen tapers twinkling on every side...”] |Sa>["Sara could pretend to be a princess, one last time.”] |Sa>["In this royal feast, with her maids of honor.”] |Sa>["It was a fun fantasy.”] |Sa>["...”] |Sa>["Then Miss Minchin found them out.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiE]]]

|Sa>["But then Ermengarde remembered:”] |Sa>["She had a box of goods. Cake, meat-pies, jam-tarts, buns... Oranges, red-currant wine, figs, chocolate... Everything.”] |Sa>["Sara begged Ermengarde to bring in that box.”] |Sa>["Sara then proposed that they have a pretend party.”] |Sa>["She would invite Becky, and the three of them would enjoy a secret feast.”] |Sa>["‘The worst thing never //quite// comes,’ Sara had said.”] |Sa>["That’s what Sara wanted to believe, at the time.”] |Sa>["...”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiD]]]

|Sa>["She broke the door open, a pale monster deep in rage.”] |Sa>["‘I have been suspecting something of this sort,’ she had said.”] |Sa>["‘With the Princess Sara at the head of the table… It is your doing, I know.’”] |Sa>["She banished Ermengarde, she sent Becky away.”] |Sa>["She then looked at Sara and said:”] |Sa>["‘I will attend to you tomorrow. You shall have neither breakfast, dinner, nor supper!’”] |Sa>["Then the attic door slammed shut.”] |Sa>["All that remained were old handkerchiefs, scraps of red and white paper, discarded artificial flowers all scattered on the floor...”] |Sa>["...”] |Sa>["Do you remember what I said to you, Emily?”] |Sa>["‘There isn’t any banquet left.’”] |Sa>["‘And there isn’t any princess.’”] |Sa>["‘There is nothing left but the prisoners in Bastille.’”] |Sa>["...”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiF]]]

|Sa>["That night, Emily, I had a dream.”] |Sa>["That I woke up in blankets and satin-covered quilts.”] |Sa>["That there was a crackling, roaring little fire.”] |Sa>["And a brass kettle hissing and boiling.”] |Sa>["A warm crimson rug, a folding-chair, cushions. A folding table with white cloth, covered dishes. A cup, saucer, tea-pot...”] |Sa>["A bed with warm coverings, a silk robe and quilted slippers, books...”] |Sa>["...”] |Sa>["It was a wonderful fairyland.”] |Sa>["It felt all so //real//.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiG]]]

|Sa>["I remember seeing a little note:”] |Sa>["‘To the little girl in the attic. From a friend.’”] |Sa>["I remember saying:”] |Sa>["‘I don’t know who it is, but somebody cares for me a little.’”] |Sa>["‘I have a friend.’”] |Sa>["...”] |Sa>["For a moment, all of those things existed.”] |Sa>["Tonight, it disappeared.”] |Sa>["Miss Minchin must’ve appeared in my dreams, and took it all down.”] |Sa>["Even the sky is gone.”] |Sa>["...”] |Em>[She grew quiet then, stroking my head still.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiH]]]

|Em>[Everything she said had happened.] |Em>[The Lascar had renovated her attic that night.] |Em>[But Miss Minchin uncovered it the next morning, and seized all of it.] |Em>[Miss Minchin then boarded the skylight with planks of wood.] |Em>[Only slabs of moonlight seeped through now.] |Em>[She must’ve not realized that the dream was real.] |Em>[Or maybe she already had.] |Sa>["There isn’t any banquet, any princess, any prisoners in Bastille.”] |Sa>["It’s just Sara, Emily, and the attic.”] |Sa>["...”] |Sa>["Just me and the attic.”] |Sa>["...”] |Sa>["And there’s nothing left for me.”] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, iiiI]]]

|Em>[Sara remained silent for the rest of that night.] |Em>[Her hand, however, continued to caress my head, as if finding comfort in the motion—a lingering hope that this time, her doll would respond.] |Em>[So her hand kept going, stroking over and over, ever slower, and slower, until it all came to a stop.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->IV, iv0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "IV, ivA")]

|Sa>["This is all preposterous, barging into my seminary like this!"] |Sa>["Where is this girl?"] |Sa>["Y-You see, she is right above. But if she does not respond, then she must be resting."] |Sa>["Sahib, I am certain that this is the girl we’ve been looking for!"] |Em>[I recall this was the voice of the Lascar.] |Sa>["All these years, she was //here// in London!"] |Sa>["Carmichael, we must—!"] |Sa>["You know you are not in good health, Carrisford. You should’ve stayed home."] |Sa>["Carmichael, I have to—! I have to see the child!"] |Sa>["C-Carrisford! Ram Dass, why don’t you go ahead and check?"] |Sa>["Yes, she knows me. I will not frighten her."] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, ivC]]]

|Em>[I could hear footsteps on the ladder—heavy steps, one after another.] |Em>[I could hear Miss Minchin shouting in protest.] |Em>[I heard the click of the attic door. Then the flow of light illuminated the room, the jutting head of the Lascar.] |Sa>["Little girl, are you awake?"] |Em>[The Lascar entered the attic. He peered toward my direction.] |Sa>["Do you remember me? The owner of the monkey."] |Sa>["What must you be doing, sitting on the floor—"] |Em>[Then for whatever reason, the Lascar let out a horrid gasp.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, ivD]]]

|Em>[As he reached over, perhaps to touch Sara’s shoulder, I saw how pale his face became.] |Em>[As he shook Sara gently, I felt myself loosen from the tight grip that held me. And so, I fell onto the attic floor.] |Em>[I was now staring at the ceiling. Staring at a peculiar figure that loomed over me, completely frozen.] |Em>[The skin on its face, pale and slightly sagging.] |Em>[The skin on its arms, nibbled and torn apart.] |Em>[A pair of green-gray eyes, wide open. ] |Em>[A pair of pupils, empty and lifeless voids.] |Em>[A decaying doll.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, ivE]]]

|Sa>["...Carrisford, come down!"] |Em>[A commotion was happening downstairs again.] |Em>[I could hear someone was at the entrance of the attic. The voice of a sickly man.] |Sa>["R—Ram Dass, what is the matter?"] |Sa>["How’s the girl, Ralph Crewe’s girl?"] |Em>[The Lascar turned around.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, ivF]]]

|Sa>["She is dead."] |Em>[I could hear the confused stammering of the sickly man.] |Em>[I could hear his haphazard steps into the attic. He had to see the girl’s body.] |Em>[When he did, examined and confirmed for himself, I saw his face burst into a furious sob.] |Sa>["She was... the other side..."] |Sa>["Just on the other side of the wall..."] |Em>[In tears, the sickly man held onto the dead girl’s body.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->IV, ivG]]]

|Em>[So this was Sara.] |Em>[A little princess.] |Em>[At least, she tried to be.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->Act V - Start]]]

|Em>[These were the kinds of voices that would fade in and out.] |Em>[They were not searching for a doll like me.] |Em>[One that was broken, ugly, and torn.] |Sa>["It’s been a while, has it not?”] |Em>[I was surprised to find a figure in front of me.] |Em>[Was it speaking to me?] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iC]]]

|Em>[I saw the figure come close and I felt my body being lifted from the ground.] |Em>[Held under the arms of an older lady. Black, swirling hair hiding her green-gray eyes.] |Em>[She wore a fur coat, a fur hat, fur gloves... Extravagance, expenses overflowing.] |Em>[This was FB.] |Em>[She opened her mouth.] |Sa>["What stories do you have for me this time?”] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ >>>>>->V, ii0]]]

(live: 2s)[(goto: "V, iiA")]

|Em>[She and I were seated on a bench outside.] |Em>[Around us were flowers of every kind—white and pink roses sprouting from the walls, wisterias and foxgloves and purple irises scattered about the grass.] |Em>[This entire area was enclosed by brick walls, further secluded by the tall trees surrounding it.] |Em>[FB loved to visit this secret garden.] |Em>[I tossed aside the manuscript in disdain. FB let out a small laugh.] |Em>[She was more than comfortable with my reaction. She was used to it.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiC]]]

|Em>[I was in rough shape after my latest venture in Yorkshire. FB stitched me back together seamlessly and thought I should take this period to relax and read her most recent draft.] |Em>[During these times, she would grant her blessing, reanimate me with my abilities to talk, walk, and interact with reality.] |Em>[“This is still not Sara.”] |Em>[FB already had written Sara’s story into a novella, a stage play. Now, she was preparing for a full-fledged novel. ] |Em>[And for the third time, I said, she failed to capture the real Sara.] |Em>[Well, this is //my// Sara, she said.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiD]]]

|Em>[I was always critical of her stories, her process of butchering all the observations I provided her.] |Em>[She always took apart the reality, inserting her own idealistic details. Always making up fantasies.] |Em>[I told her she was a hypocrite. ] |Em>[She herself was no stranger to the harsh machinations of reality:] |Em>[A dead father, strains of poverty, struggles to earn money. ] |Em>[Household duties, divorce, exhaustion. ] |Em>[A dead son, chronic depression, loss of meaning.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiE]]]

|Em>[“Why then, must you always overlook the troubled details of Sara?”] |Em>[Children do not need those details, she said.] |Em>[“So you are content to give out false hope, for a fantasy that doesn’t exist?”] |Em>[FB shrugged nonchalantly.] |Em>[It’s still hope nonetheless, she said.] |Em>[She told me—as she had before countless times—she was not bothered to change her outlook. She already had her reasons:] |Em>[She had been writing to support her family, ever since she was nineteen.] |Em>[She knew the power of fantasy. It was an absolute necessity to survive.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiF]]]

|Em>[Before I could argue any further, she waved her hand in front of me. ] |Em>[I then felt my limbs, my entire body crumble under its own weight. She had revoked her blessing. ] |Em>[FB had to resume a session back inside. She was a busy writer—she had notebooks of my past experiences and observations that have yet to be constructed into novels.] |Em>[Oppressive realities that have yet to be rewritten in the optimistic fantasies she envisioned.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiG]]]

|Em>[As she carried me under her arm, FB told me she was going to send me to another shop, another city. ] |Em>[To gather more stories. To look into the eyes of children. To watch reality slowly creep up to them once again.] (align:"=><=")[[[_____ >>>->V, iiH]]]

|Em>[After all these years, I never forgot those eyes of Sara Crewe.] |Em>[Not the little princess in her stories, but the mere child I once knew.] (align:"=><=")[[[_______ END->Credits]]]