To:
Maranya Valkonan, Chief of Staff
Riverview Clinic, Rhydin
RE: Children's Day

Dr. Valkonan,

This year, I have made arrangements with Mataya DeLuca, founder of the Shanachie Theater, for a recording of the recent production, Matilda, to broadcasted to the local hospitals as part of the Children's Day celebration.  Arrangements will also be made for ambulatory patients and children in the care of various local organizations to attend the festival in Dockside. Part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to various children's charities in the city.

Thank you for the support that you and your staff have given to this event over the years.

Sincerely,

Mairead E. Harker

″‘A precocious child,’ Miss Honey said, ‘is one that shows amazing intelligence early on. You are an unbelievably precocious child.‘”

Before each rehearsal and performance of Matilda, Maggie spent time in one of the Shanachie’s practice rooms. First, it was time with her fiddle; it helped to settle her mind. Her elder sister, Pearl, came in to play piano and sing the other part of a duet that had become an anthem for the teenager. 

“Can we take this from here and in the key it’s written?” Maggie gestured to the place on the sheet music. Pearl started with a few chords before beginning the piece as Maggie sang. Her young mezzo-soprano voice was clear and strong.

I'm through accepting limits
'Cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know

In recent days, she had come to understand her grandparents more and more. Her Harker grandparents represented what was normal for her human side. They had encouraged her to play the piano and violin when Maggie was not so sure of her own abilities. Richard Harker relished bragging about the medals his grandchildren were winning in equestrienne events. Sports were a way of life for many a Londoner. Catie’s gymnastics and dancing prowess were a topic of conversation at the ladies tea circle; she was the sensitive, artistic one. Rick was quickly becoming a chessmaster and loved kicking a ball about the field. Like his Uncle Bertie, he had a head for math and figures. Aunt Tilly enjoyed boasting about the children as well. After all, her son had a hand in their upbringing. As a first child and grandchild, more had been expected of Mairead. It was true of most first children as parents never knew if it would be their only chance to get things right. It was Colleen and Tass that encouraged her to embrace the nonhuman part of her being. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t, it was that the elders had been through it before with others.

Despite her penchant for dueling and using weapons, the theater had become one of her happy and safe places. No one ever told her she wasn’t capable of giving a good performance because she was too young. Her best was always expected. Unlike sports where one competed as an individual, theater productions were a team effort. If one person was off, others were off or needed to compensate for the change.

And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me

Maggie paused in her singing to study her elder counterpart. “Pearl, how did you get them to understand?”

“Which who do you mean?” Pearl slid her hands from the keyboard and turned her upper body to face Maggie.

Maggie made air quotes with her fingers. “Adults.”

“Oh,” Pearl said quietly, “some never will.”

“Somehow, I thought you would say that.” Maggie chuckled as she traded places with Pearl. The elder of the pair did her dance warm up as Maggie played the piano. Her favorite classical piece was  Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20. The music flowed into a more modern tune called Could It Be Magic.

“Age is not a true constant, Maggie. Take Aunt Mara for instance. She was born like most humans are, carried within her mother. But.” Pearl held onto the barre for balance as she went through her routine.

“There’s that infamous big little word again.”

“Mhm.” Pearl nodded. “After being exposed to a certain type of magic, she was no longer the baby her mother was planning to raise.”

“Which is how she became our aunt.” Maggie nodded.

“Right, but my point is that chronologically she was a few months old, but physically, she was about sixteen.”

“Gives a different meaning to growing up fast, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but how should she have been treated? Like the few months old person she truly was or like the sixteen year old body she was inhabiting?”

“I guess that depends.”

“On?”

“She would still have had to learn to read and all.” Maggie had a puzzled look on her face. “I guess it would be expected that she would have already known how to walk by someone that didn’t know her story. It’s like a newborn foal that has to learn to run or get left by the herd.”

“Now you’re getting it.” Pearl nodded. “You can’t actually tell how old a horse is by looking from afar.” She finished her stretches. “I know the issue isn’t that you want to be treated like an adult, but I’ve already lived through that.”

“Lucky you,” Maggie quipped. “You’re right, it’s not about age. It’s about having my accomplishments diminished because someone thinks I’m too young or because I’m female.”

“Ooof.” Pearl chuckled. “Don’t let Gran hear you say that bit.”

“You know as well as I do that it still happens, even in Rhydin.” Maggie began to run her fingers over the keys again. “I guess that’s why this show means so much to me.”

A wry smile drifted across Pearl’s lips. Dahl’s Matilda had been a childhood favorite. “Go on.”

Maggie’s laughter filled the practice room. “You know the book as well as I do, maybe better! It’s that whole, I’m right and you’re wrong, I’m big and you’re small, and there’s nothing you can do about it business that’s the problem. So, I did something about it, but not to prove anything to them, to prove it to myself.”

“Which is, as we were taught, all that we need to do.” Pearl did a few slow spins. She talked while she did as it helped with her breath control. “For some people, it will never be good enough.”

“For some people, nothing ever is.”

The rapping of knuckles was heard. “Curtain in ten, Maggie.”

“Thank you!” she called back. “It’s showtime!” Maggie grinned and tied the bright red ribbon into her hair. Before leaving the room, she paused to give Pearl a hug. Once she hit the stage, she would bring the precocious Matilda Wormwood to life. If anyone understood how Matilda felt inside, it was Maggie.

((Lyrics are from the musical, "Wicked" and the opening quote is from Matilda by Roald Dahl))

To the Management of the Shanachie Theater,

In the past, the Shanachie's management, acting and ballet troupes have generously given their time to be a part of Rhydin's Children's Day celebration. I am hoping that tradition can continue, now and in the future. I would like permission to record the final performance of Matilda. Several of the city's hospitals, including Riverview and Dockside Medical Center, have a broadcast feed. I thought it would be fun to share this show with the kids that are confined and will not be able to attend any of the live performances. Since the show ends before Children's Day, recording it seems to be the best option.

Sincerely,

Mairead E. Harker

Personal Vlog - 5 Dec 2019

The camera clicked on, The Shanachie Theater's backstage area was where the viewing had begun. The sounds of the voices speaking or songs being sung faded as Maggie entered one of practice rooms and closed the door behind her.

Lately, I spend a great deal of time backstage and here in the practice rooms.  I hand out props and otherwise make myself useful. No one complains as long as don't get underfoot. In the theater, that can have whole other meaning than simply being in the way.   You can literally be under someone's feet if they are dancing!

I enjoy dueling and I've been doing it for a long time, but unlike the majority of duelists, the people at the theater have been welcoming to having some kids and teenagers working among them. They want us to learn our lines, our songs, and the dance steps. In short, we're expected to put forth our best effort like any other member of the cast or crew. It's a team effort and if one person is off, it puts everyone off.  It's a family in that way that families should support and help each other. Maybe the reason I feel happy here is that's how my one family works. Families have their squabbles, that's normal, but underneath it all is a sense of belonging and feeling like I'm home. I don't feel like I'm on the outside looking in

The STARS helped me to be comfortable with speaking publicly. Mama says I don't lack confidence and never have, but there's a difference in being able to talk to people and giving a speech about some cause or other.  I think  Doran and I might have been the first kids to have applied to play children's roles. I like watching the little kids practicing their poems and all. Madison is a lot less shy thanks to STARS. Abby, though, is a born ham! Catie is concentrating on dance, she lives and breathes it.  Rick seems to like that whole speaking thing.

As for dueling, some people are just ... well, the phrase I once used to explain was something like, they act like cranky babies with a mess in their diaper that no is coming to change for them. They don't have any idea what it's like to be in my shoes, but want to be critical of everything. I suppose one day they might understand, but some adults are pretty self centered and never will get it.

Then are people like Rachael that have made the effort to learn why I'm different and help me cope with some parts of it. I've been able to help with some of the missing children cases and to identify some of the unnamed victims. I don't go to the morgue, not because I can't cope with seeing dead bodies, but because I don't want my visitors frightened away. It's hard to get some of them to accept that they are dead, I really don't want them to be forced into remembering how they got that way. I do work with artists that create pictures of the spirits that visit me. Some can give names and details. They sometimes name others that are still alive and in need of help.

I keep asking myself if that's what I'm supposed to do. Why should I have to limit myself to only one thing?

I guess this is the place for notes! The family is coming to meet Dai!
https://www.dragonsmark.com/red-dragon-inn/forum/index.php/topic,7302.msg81421.html#msg81421

Company Applied for (Theater/Repertory/Ballet/Band):Please include a preference to be a regular or guest performer. Also, if applying for the Band, please specify instrument.
Theater: guest

Name (inc. title):
Mairead “Maggie” Harker

Address:
Harkers’ Island

Is there anything concerning your medical history or state of health that is relevant to your application? Yes*/No (*If you answer Yes, please give details):
No.

How much notice do you need to give to your current employer, if currently employed?
My school schedule is attached. Classes for me are generally half-day morning sessions and I do peer tutoring in the afternoons. My teachers have agreed to provide work at home packets if I am invited to perform during the school year.  The school administration has also agreed to count my participation as credit toward art and music classes or an elective subject.

Previous training pertinent to this application (if any):
Music theory, dance (including ballet and tap), gymnastics training, and weapons training. Piano and violin lessons. Experience with training dogs. (This helped when I played the lead in Annie!)

Previous experience pertinent to this application (if any):
Acted in school plays, dance recitals, member of the Shanachie STARS for several seasons, several seasons as a guest performer at the Shanachie Theater, and a reporter for Channel KIDS.

Do you have any criminal convictions? Yes*/No (If you answer Yes, please give details):
No

Please note - The positions offered by the Shanachie Theater are full time and salaried. Members of the Company and Band will be expected to keep to a strict rehearsal and performance schedule. Sick and holiday pay is non-negotiable and subject to duration of employment. The
directorship withhold the right to terminate employment, should contractual obligations not be met.

She had come a long way since her first audition for the Shanachie; if she had any nerves on edge, she didn’t show it. For her audition pieces, Maggie had opted to wear a pair of black jeans, red blouse, short black boots, and a black fedora with a red silk band around it.  The song she chose was Roar.

For her prepared piece, she chose a monologue from “Stop Playing the Victim.”

Sally visits her best friend and is yet again met with her friend’s negative attitude that she is sick of dealing with for so long.

Sally:  I’m trying to understand something.  Why is it that when I talk to you about things that make me happy you always get down?  Whenever I talk to you about things that upset me, you always get so involved.

Do you want me to be miserable in my life?  I feel as though the only way for us to have any relationship is when things are bad.  I don’t want things to be bad.  I want to talk about good things.  I want to hear you tell me good things.  Why is that so hard for you?  Do you realize that every time I come over here you have nothing nice to say.  You are always complaining and moaning about your work, your boyfriend, your family, your apartment…you never have anything happy going on it seems.

It’s like the only way you can exist and communicate is by raging against something.  Doesn’t that exhaust you?  It takes more energy to be miserable than be happy.  Try being happy and stop playing the victim all the time.

The camera did a fade in on the Channel KIDS logo.

Hello, everyone! I'm Maggie Harker.

Something weirder than usual is going on in Rhydin. I keep hearing people going on about how some or all of the town feels deserted. I guess they have forgotten that Rhydin is a Nexus point. Don’t get upset about this, kids! If you can find your home, your family and friends, you’re fine. If you can’t find them, that’s another kettle of fish as my Gran likes to say. There are safe places to go if this happens to you. A list will be shown and read off at the end of this broadcast.

The thing about living in or near a Nexus point is that we are all going on about our lives. Some might be five minutes ahead or years ahead. They might be streets away or miles away, but that doesn’t mean they are gone. They’re just where you can’t see them right now. The thing is, that’s how things have always been.  Just because you can’t see someone on the other side of a wall doesn’t mean that aren’t there. It’s like a baby looking in a mirror. Babies don’t usually understand that there might or might not be a whole other world behind that mirror.  Kids in Rhydin adjust because that’s what’s normal to us.

I read a book by Charles Addams where one of his characters, Morticia, says, “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” This is a perfect way to explain life in Rhydin! Someone might be sitting next to you. You might not see them or they might seem ghostly, but it doesn’t always mean you are truly alone or that the ghost is really a dead person. It’s like trying to listen to a radio broadcast or watch a TV show, but you aren’t tuned in properly.  Give yourself a little time to think and it will help you avoid panic attacks.

Until next time, this is the World According to Maggie!

A list of safe havens for children and teens scrolled on the screen as it was narrated.