Sure I Did It, But I'm Not Fixing It

Fantasia has funny clocks. They aren’t so strange when you try to use them, but we can visit any time we wish. We can see things that haven’t happened yet and maybe never will, but it only works if you have licensed writer as your guide. With me being such a writer, I decided to move forward in time and explore a little, hoping to resolve this plotting issue I’ve been having with book five.

I closed my eyes and when I opened them I found myself standing on Main Street, just outside of Ellen’s café. In front of me I saw what appeared to be a car wreck. A camera boom was positioned near it, but I saw no cameras or camera crew or anyone at all. I heard the door open behind me. It came to a stop so hard that the glass rattled. I turned around and saw Sara coming toward me.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you!” she said, pointing at me as she spoke. I could see the redness in her face.

“Me?” I asked, putting my hand against my chest.

Sara seemed to cool a couple of degrees. “You didn’t this, didn’t you?”

“Did what?” I asked.

“Did this,” she said, sweeping her hand toward the street. “I just heard they’re going to pack up and go home. The movie’s canceled.”

“Why?” I asked. “That doesn’t make sense. The movie production is a key feature in the book. It doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s what I said, but Jill told me this morning that they’ve decided to cancel shooting. Now Mom is in there trying to figure out who she’s going to have layoff. She hired people for this summer because she thought we’d need them and now…” Sara’s voice trailed off.

“Did Jill tell you why they canceled the movie?”

“She just said that Ada doesn’t want to do it. I guess you already know that Ada’s the star of the movie.”

“Yeah,” I said, “that much I know.”

“It isn’t fair to Kelly and Cora. Cora does Ada’s makeup and Kelly is Ada’s assistant. You’d think she would be more considerate.”

“Yeah, I would think so,” I said. “There’s got to be a good reason for it. You won’t remember this when I write the book, but you ought to know that Ada and Kelly are the same person.”

Sara looked at me in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“No, I’m not,” I said. “It was the only way Kelly could be an actor without her mother finding out.”

“That’s probably the reason they’re canceling the movie,” Sara said. “It probably has something to do with Kelly’s mother. I don’t like that woman. The way she treats Kelly is terrible. Someone ought to do something about that woman.”

“Someone should,” I said.

“How many people know that Kelly is Ada?” Sara asked. “Please don’t tell me that a bunch of people know. Kelly is one of my best friends, you know.”

“Cora knows; it was her idea, but Kelly wanted to keep it from as many people as possible. If anyone else knows, it isn’t because she told them.”

“So, are you going to fix this problem?” Sara asked. “It isn’t right for Mom to have layoff people when the studio told us they’d need us all summer and it isn’t fair to Kelly to give her a shot at an acting career and just take it away from her.”

“No, Sara,” I said, “I’m not going to fix it. As steamed as you are about this, I think this might be the thing I’ve been looking for. If you don’t like it, you’re just going to have to fix it yourself.”

“Just how am I supposed to do that?”

“If I were you, I would start by getting a better idea of why the movie was canceled. It might not be what you think. Go talk to David. He might be able to convince his grandfather to do something. Maybe it wasn’t Ada’s decision to back out at all. If you find out that it is go talk to her. Maybe you can help her through whatever problem she’s having.”

“Yeah, and you could be asking the impossible.”

“I know,” I said. “Isn’t it great?”

“You have a very warped mind,” Sara said.

“Thank you,” I said. “That’s one of the greatest compliments you can pay to an author.”

I left her to plan her attack.