Writing for Fun
April 2021
Favourite Things - Lynn Gale
'Excuse me.' Mary shuffled along the line of grey velour seats filled with smiling happy people in the auditorium.
'I am so sorry,' she said, feeling someone's toes crunch beneath her shoes.
She found her seat, right in the middle, the sixth row down in aisle C, the best seat in the house. She pulled the chair down, smoothed out her neat black coat, placed her pink handbag on the floor and settled down to watch her favourite film. 'The Sound of Music.'
The large maroon curtains began to fold back a soft clicking sound that ended with a loud thunk.
This was a signal for the ice-cream girls with half-empty trays of small vanilla tubs to march towards the rear of the cinema. The usherettes in their pristine navy uniform with yellow piping hurried them along shining torches along the aisles.
Mary smiled with delight as the first glimpse of the rolling green hills and breathtaking views of the mountains appeared on the screen. She swayed along to Julie Andrews singing the iconic title song.
Suddenly remembering she had some mint imperials in her bag; reaching down, she scooped it up and placed it on her lap. As she rummaged through the tissues, pens and a half-eaten cheese sandwich, her hand closed over the packet. 'Lovely,' she thought and began to remove the cellophane from the sticky sweet.
'Shush.’ A disembodied voice floated across from the darkness behind her.
'Oh fiddle to you,' she retorted, popping the mint into her mouth and sucking loudly on the sweet.
Mary sang along to all the iconic songs, she knew every word; her tuneless rendition of 'Favourite Things' must have raised a few eyebrows, but she didn't care; she was having a marvellous time.
When Christopher Plummer first appeared on screen, she swooned with unabashed pleasure. Such a handsome man and in full regalia for the wedding scene she could not contain herself.
'I love you,' she shouted at the screen.
A hand gently touched her shoulder; she turned to look at the young policeman standing there, accompanied by two women in white tunics who smiled sadly at her. 'Hello, Mary,' the one with the curly blonde hair said. 'We have been looking everywhere for you.'
'Why did she come here?' the policeman asked, 'It's so dangerous.'
'It was on the news this morning that the old Astoria will be demolished this week.'
The older woman turned to him. 'It was the last place she came to with her fiancé before he was killed in a traffic accident.’
‘It was said he resembled Captain Von Trapp,’ the younger woman remarked.
Mary looked around at the dirty damaged seats, the maroon curtains hanging off the torn screen and dust mites swirling in the shard of light from the jagged hole in the roof.
A confused look flooded across her face, she began to cry.
'It's OK, Mary.' the woman helped her to her feet, 'I'll make you a nice cuppa when we get home.'
Mary allowed herself to be led away.