Chapter
2 – Who Doesn’t Have More than One Dream?
Today, Delilah goes to perform in
the musical and performs well for a raving audience. When the reviews for the
musical come in tomorrow, Delilah reads about how the critics and audiences
loved her performance, but her singing was subpar.
“What were you expecting?” the dark
voice inside of her says, “You’re not that good of a singer.”
“I wasn’t that good of an actress.
That’s why I put that orb inside my chest.”
“What are you going to do now? I
already have a good idea of what you should do, and I know you do as well.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Because I am you, remember? You
could always choose not to act in musicals.”
“But I want to. I want to act in
every kind of story to bring happiness and joy to everyone!”
“Then you know what you have to do.”
Delilah considers her options and decides
to go with the only idea that she feels any comfort in doing. She goes back to
the Hall of Dead Dreams with Fidato and Onesta by the door as if they were
expecting her.
“Hello again, my dear. I trust that
you are achieving your dream?” Fidato asks.
“Kind of,” Delilah says.
Fidato and Onesta kneel to Delilah’s
height with a worried expression on their faces.
“What’s the problem? Are you not wooing
the crowds with your amazing acting?” Onesta asks.
“I am, but I can’t sing well in musicals.”
“Oh, I see now. Singing is
considered a separate skill from acting. I’m sorry that it wasn’t included with
your dream,” Fidato says.
“But we can make it up to you with
another orb. You will lose another part of yourself as a result. Are you willing
to do that?” Onesta asks.
Without much thought, Delilah says,
“Yes, I will.”
“You’re such a good girl.”
“Sacrificing yourself for the happiness
and entertainment for others is truly a selfless action. I wish we had someone
like you as our daughter.”
Onesta goes to get a few orbs and
brings them to Delilah.
“What are all these? Shouldn’t
there just be one?”
“There are many different genres of
music and different kinds of acting. I thought that you would want to be a
master in everything. That is what you wanted, right?”
“…you’re right. Thank you for
getting these all for me.”
Delilah puts all the orbs inside of
her chest and feels an intense and sudden rush of power. Before she knows it,
she has taken on at least three different acting roles during the day. She’s
praised more than ever by everyone in the town and word of her acting gets the
attention of neighboring towns that gather for one late afternoon musical.
After it’s finished, Delilah is hailed as the greatest puppet alive and given a
celebration that lasts until the next morning. The people in the town rest from
the large party, but part of Delilah is still wide awake. She awakens along
with it as it walks through the town with a poisoned blade that’s coming out of
her left hand.
“What are you doing?” she asks
herself.
“I’m thinning the competition again.
I am the greatest actress in the history of the world. There is no need for anyone
else.”
“No! You can’t do this!”
“You’re right. I’ll only hurt the girl
puppets. I need boy puppets to act with me and one to marry.”
“Wait! Stop!”
“Watch and learn. This is how you
secure your place in showbusiness.”
Unable to do anything, Delilah
watches herself hurt other puppets in their sleep by breaking them apart or
cutting off the strings between their limbs.
“When they wake up, they won’t be
able to act much less move around and with the poison in their systems, we have
secured our roles in the future.”
Delilah cries within herself as she
is unable to make herself cry on the outside.
“It’s okay. Don’t cry. They aren’t
dead. I just wouldn’t call them fully alive.”
A nearby noise alerts her to see
that her parents have woken up. They see her and are shocked by what they see.
“Who are you and what have you done
to those poor girls?” Delilah’s mom says.
“Mom! I didn’t mean too! I’m sorry!”
Delilah says within herself as she is unable to speak through her mouth.
“What does it matter to you?”
Delilah’s dark voice speaks out loud.
“They were innocent and hard
working girls!” Delilah’s dad says.
“You’ll soon be glad they’re like
this.”
Delilah’s parents don’t recognize
her dark appearance and grab nearby sticks to defend themselves with.
“Mom! Dad! It’s me! Your daughter!”
Delilah says within herself.
“Don’t worry about them. I’ll make sure
this is quick,” Delilah’s dark voice says before she knocks out her parents. “They’ll
be okay. They’ll wake up tomorrow with a headache.”
“I’ve made a mistake.”
“What?”
“This is all wrong.”
Delilah struggles for control for
herself and manages to get control of some of her body. She walks to the Hall
of Dead Dreams only for it to grow four legs and run away.
“Wait!”
Running with everything she has,
Delilah reaches the railing and manages to get on it. Going into the hall, she
sees that the place has become more expansive. The dreams that were once contained
within the orbs are now free and have their own area within the large hall.
“Hello! Onesta! Fidato!” Delilah
calls out. “Where could they be?”
“You shouldn’t worry about finding
them. I cemented your dream into reality.”
“No. I need to fix this.”
“Even it means giving up your
dream?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, so heroic! How are you going
to find them? The dreams here are set free, which means you’ll have to find
them in this mess. Some of the dreams even look dangerous.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll go through
it all.”
“Let’s see how brave you are when
you actually start going through the dreams.”
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