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A Day In The Life: Abandoned-By-The-Sea -- Part Eleven
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Posted by tomasi Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:43:59 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Since it was Hemmings' practice to allow anyone in free after the ticket booth closed, there were now more people crammed into the lobby than before.

I went back inside and helped serve popcorn until Hemmings came downstairs and asked me to follow him. This was the first time he had actually addressed me by name, although he did call me Tom instead of Joe.

At the top of the stairs was a battered wooden door with the words "Projection Booth" stenciled on the wood. I followed Hemmings into the small dark room. If I had thought the theater was creepy, then the projection booth was doubly so. I swear that the ceiling was only inches above my head, and the only light was from a pair of red light bulbs. I had never been in a projection booth before and was stunned by the size of the projectors. That’s right, there were two of them set in front of their own windows. There was also a sulfur-like smell that I couldn’t identify.

Hemmings introduced me to his brother and clone, Dan. The stooped, middle-aged man wore coveralls, a pair of thick glasses, and had heavy leather gloves that reached halfway up his forearm. He nodded in my general direction, then with a pincer-like tool, grabbed a rod from a box on a shelf and stood watching the projector, not the movie. A glow came from a small window on the side. When Dan opened the window, the sulfur smell became stronger. The movie reel was about finished, and I watched as Dan flipped off the projector, than ran around to the other one and started it, where the action continued. He then returned to the first projector, pulled out a burned rod and inserted the new one, then replaced the reel with the next in the series. All of this happened without a major lapse in the movie, and within a very short time.

It was insane to expect me to learn how to operate such a system. Honestly, I had trouble setting the time on an alarm clock. I was certain to fail as a projectionist. Not only was it a job where time was of the utmost importance, those small rods were burning –– that’s what produced the light source. When he yelped in pain and mumbled, “burn,” I understood quickly why Dan wore those heavy gloves.

I was determined not to ever be in the position where I would have to fill in for him. Besides, I needed my hands to write on a chalk board. No way, I told myself, and without a word I left the booth and went back down the stairs to the lobby. So, as I stood there shaking my head, Debbie noticed the distressed look on my face and came from behind the counter.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

Instead of answering, I asked, “Exactly how long did you promise to watch the theater?”

Before she could respond, Hemmings came down the stairs and handed a set of keys to Debbie. “Well, kids,” he said, “that’s about all there is to running a theater. You should do fine tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?! What’s this tomorrow?!” I blurted out.

He smiled that toothy grin and said, “The contract does state that in your friends’ absence, you will manage the theater, does it not?”

“Yes, but ...” I stammered. “I guess so.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine,” he replied. “Besides, you do have Betty.”
I glanced at Betty, who smiled. Of course she smiled –– she was stoned out of her mind. At this point, even Edgar was starting to seem normal.

I prayed that we would wake up from the nightmare. I desperately wanted this to be the result of indigestion, but try as I might, there was no way to wish ourselves out of this mess. Like it or not, we were stuck running the theater.

I’d never hated a building so much in my life. We were definitely up that proverbial creek, and not a paddle in sight.

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