"Yes! Oh no! I can't believe it!" My worst nightmare had come, true. I, Tassja Kemp-Jackson, had gotten the part of Clara in my dance camp's production of the Nutcracker but my arch-enemy Michael was playing the Nutcracker Prince!!!! I ran to tell my best friends Megan and Katrina what I found out. They screamed and congratulated me when they heard which part I got and there was more screaming, when I told them which parts they had gotten. Their parts were the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen.We are all 13 years old in case you're wondering. Megan was happy because her boyfriend Emery was dancing the Caviar while she danced the Snow Queen and Katrina was happy because her boyfriend Nicholas, was playing the Master of Ceremonies while she played the Sugar Plum Fairy.
We started rehearsals the next day. We must have worked for 12 hours. By the time we were finished, Megan, Katrina, and I had almost passed out about three times! The last time I did pass out and I had to be carried from the practice room to the dorm I shared with Megan and Katrina. The next morning we were back at it again from morning until night and well into the night because the next morning (after about 4 hours sleep) we would start practising on the stage.
We got up early the next day and went right back to work, setting up props and scenery because we had no stage crew. I sure wish we had gotten a crew because both Michael and I almost got hit twice in the head with lights! The strange thing was that whenever we checked it was always just carelessness.
The next evening it was the Performance! We checked and double checked the lighting, the scenery, and props. After that we hurried to get dressed. The First Act went fine and so did most of the Second Act did too, but during Finale we had a little problem. An electrical fire!
At first I didn't notice anything, but when a funny smell came into the air, I knew something was wrong. I caught Michael's eye and raised my eyebrow as if to say, "Do you smell it to ?" He nodded yes. Suddenly a shower of sparks came shooting down. I am happy to say that no one got hurt, but I am sad to say we could not stop dancing. So Michael leaped across the stage and off the stage, pulled the plug, grabbed a box of rosin, threw it in to the flames and extinguished the fire. As the flames went out and the music was ending, we (the dancers) got into our final position. As soon as we finished our curtain calls, I turned to Michael and said, "Thanks, you were really brave!" and for some very strange reason after I said that, I kissed him right smack on the lips!
