Players

I hated them. At that moment, I really, truly hated them. Her long blond hair and her lithe body, looking too adorable in the blue dress she'd bought to play Snow White in.

She turned to me, wringing her hands, and declared in a high voice I'm sure he found adorable, "It's half an hour until..." she choked.

I rolled my eyes and donned my black cloak. As I adjusted it, I said, "Oh, don't worry, dearie. You'll be the belle of the ball." Yes. Getting right into the evil queen persona. It wasn't much of a problem when Becky was Snow White and Chris was playing Prince Charming.

We were playing almost true to life roles. I almost had Chris. He was mine, until Becky showed up. Now, they were engaged and I was left to play the evil queen outdone by Becky's blond beauty.

I looked at the clock and grinned. "Actually," I said sweetly, "ten minutes."

I delighted in seeing her panic.

Ten minutes passed quickly and we opened the play. I frowned as my part came up. I looked at Dave, who was manning our homemade curtain.

"Where am I?" I whispered.

"Huntsman," he prompted with a grin.

I nodded as he opened the curtains. I stood on the edge of the stage and yelled for my huntsman.

I was in shock when Chris trotted out, hair askew and carrying a child's bow and arrow set. I thought he was Prince Charming. I grinned maliciously as I gave him my orders, like any Evil Queen should.

We worked through our scene just fine. Tension was there, but that was good. He was supposed to fear me. I mean, fear the Evil Queen.

"I want her heart on a platter," I said viciously. I was evil, after all.

"Will a box work?" he asked straight faced. "Cause, you know, a platter might get a little messy, what with her heart sliding around and all..."

There were chuckles from the audience. I narrowed my eyes. So, I thought, he wants to ad lib. I picked up my long skirt and stepped down from the stage.

"I want her heart," I said, leaning so I spoke directly to him. I circled him, making sure my hands were clenched and my voice stayed low and, I hoped, threatening. "I will have her gone. She will not take what's mine." Well, that sounded corny enough, but it got the point across. I stepped front of him. "I don't care how you bring me her heart, whether wrapped in a box or sliding around on a platter, so long as I see her blood." I straightened, smoothing my skirt and attempting to look regal. "Go now. Do as I will."

Chris smirked at me and winked before sauntering backstage with a jaunty "Yes, your evilness."

I turned to step back on stage. Aaron, in his Magic Mirror regalia which consisted of an easel draped with a dirty blanket, grinned at me. "I do believe he was appropriately intimidated, your Evilness."

"At this point," I said, "my luck is so that I would have no compunction whatsoever against shattering your smiling face."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dave struggling with the curtain. He tugged at it and I winced at the sound of plastic tearing. When he finally closed them, I sighed and muttered a brief "Oh, God." It was more prayer than curse. Aaron heard me and said, "Amen."

I helped him pick up the easel. "Play's just starting."

We muddled through the rest of the play without many more problems. The curtain drooped and tore even more every time Dave moved it. The only ad libbing we did was when we forgot our lines.

And I got to try to kill Becky. Those were, by far, my favorite scenes. They'd've been better had I actually succeeded.

My personal favorite was the new dress. My role was to dress as an old woman and bring Becky, or Snow White, a new dress.

"My, that shade of blue really does bring out your eyes," I told her as I tied the sash around her waist.

"Yes, well," Becky stammered. I wasn't exactly quoting my lines word for word. "It does, doesn't it?"

"It wouldn't flatter me at all," I continued. "My eyes are too green for it. Besides, blue is just too, well, it's boring, dearie." I fingered a strand of her perfectly blond hair, knowing full well it came from a bottle of Clairol. "And blond hair with big blue eyes. Isn't that just a bit cliched." I sighed. "Do turn around, my dear, so I can see you."

She did slowly with a look on her face that told me I had better lay off.

I was never one to pick up clearly on facial expressions. "Sash needs to be tighter, don't you think, dear? You should be showing off that perfect figure."

"I think I should, yes," Becky replied, turning around so I could retie the knot. I did, yanking the ends harder than strictly necessary.

She replied by running her hands down the front of her body and saying "I do have a perfect figure, don't I? Better than some old woman's." She faced me. "How much do I owe you?"

"Consider it a gift," I replied and strode out our makeshift door.

Chris met me backstage. "Getting crueler, Carrie? Or is it just me?"

"Back off, Chris."

"I thought you were sweet. Nice. All that rot. I was surprised when you got the Evil Queen role."

"Yeah, well, Snow White can only take so much before she turns to the dark side," I griped as I straightened my tiara and then grabbed my black cloak. I settled it on my shoulders and grabbed Aaron's easel for the next scene. "Now back off. I've got lines to recite."

"Carrie-"

"Look, Chris, if it makes you happy, this is my death."

Chris cocked his head, looking decidedly bewildered.

"It's my death scene," I clarified curtly. "I die in this scene, remember? Then you and Snow White get your grand finale."

And they did. In the last scene, Chris picked Becky up. The curtains finally decided they'd had enough. The heavy plastic shower curtains fell with a loud tearing sound and a thump. Chris started, dropping Becky. A befuddled Dave, black plastic pooling around his legs, bowed to the audience.

I groaned from my vantage point backstage. I'd worked so hard on those curtains.