I woke up alone in bed, I was confused then realized that he must have gone on an early morning run. This helped with two things: Keeping in shape and help get rid of performance nerves

Every once in a while I manage to rope my friends into doing something for the kids at the hospital where Dad works at - it really is not that hard to get them to do it. We usually do a play for the kids. Our plays are usually about some made up thing in my head and Joshua always gets something whacked over his head.

I got out of bed and thought I should start getting ready. I hopped in the shower and minus the burning on the cuts it was a harmless way to start my morning. I got out, dried my hair, and immediately started to style it. I tasked myself with making a crown braid whilst putting faux flowers and leaves in my hair. I was having a difficult time making it look how I wanted it to look. I would have a little part done but then undo it. I, at one point, managed to do it half way but for some unknown reason I undid it. In the end allI managed to do was mess with my hair more. I just decided to do a half up half down hairstyle and stuck the flowers and stuff in the pony.

The makeup was much easier than the hair by a lot. All I had to do was make the eyeliner really flicked up and use a soft contour.

After I was finally happy with the results, which took a while. I went downstairs to have some breakfast.

Greyson was at the table quietly munching on his protein bowl. Greyson has the second biggest sweet tooth, next to Joshua, but Coach makes him diet to also help him stay in shape. I go and pour myself a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for myself. I situate myself next to him and start eating.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," I managed to reply through my bite.

He stared at my bowl like a predator. If Coach were here he would have just shove his protein bowl down his throat, but today was going to be a fun day. I passed my bowl over to him and I made it for his food. He looked like a kid in a candy store. He has a little goofy smile and his eyes lit with excitement.

"Eat up, Sir Benedict," I said all smiley.

"Yes, milady," he said in between rapid bites.

At the theatre, room, today we are going to be telling the story from once upon a time. Two boys, orphaned at a young age, wish to become knights for the Queen of Orador, Her Royal Majesty Queen Minnie. However, knights in Orador are only men from nobility, and the boys do not know their family history. So as hope is being slowly lost Queen Minnie is kind hearted and puts up an offer. If the boys pass a series of tests they will be allowed to become knights of Orador.

This is the best story I have written so far. Drama, comedy, loss and so much more happens. Shakespeare is shaking in his coffin right now. Truth be told this story only emerged after I literally binged watched all 5 seasons of Merlin.

I check the time and see it is already 10:15. I gulp down the rest of my food and get up. "Greyson, let's go, it is already 10:15." He checked his watch to indeed check that it was 10:15. He sadly looked at the sweetened milk in his bowl. I knew that he wanted to enjoy this piece of luxury he barely gets, but we are almost running behind schedule. I go and wash my bowl and when I come back he is taking his sweet time slurping the milk.

"Oh my god, hurry up or I will literally dump it on your head." He looked over the bowl, his eyes having that look that says "I love messing with you." I stood around impatiently, waiting for him, so that when he finally finished I could bully him to the car.

He finally drank the last drop and went to wash his bowl. I left to the car, started it up, and waited for him, He finally came outside after an eternity.

'You, love, are really impatient," he said as he climbed into the driver's seat. He looked really good as he pulled out of the and then finally started heading towards Dani's House and Joshua's apartment. Dani lived about 5 or 6 minutes away from me by car and Joshua lived really close to the high school.

"Seatbelt," I said as we were on the highway. He never likes wearing his seatbelt but I always get butterflies in my stomach so he does it for me.

After about a smooth 5 minutes we finally get to Dani's house. It is a nice 1 story Spanish home with a big lot kind of surrounding it.

I called her and after the 3rd ring she picked up.

"Hello," said a voice straight out of Jersey on speaker.

"Yeah, we are outside," I said into the mouthpiece.

"Alright I am coming out right now."

After about 30 seconds my twin walks towards the car. Literally. Me and Dani almost look alike. Almost the same facial features, almost the same body shape, heck even almost the same personality. Yet there is just something in her that makes her ten time better than me. She is tough and hard, but once you get to know her she is really sweet. In most situations she knows how to keep her head on her shoulders the best. 

"Morning," she said as she climbed into the back.

"Morning," we said.

"How are you, Dani?" Greyson asked.

"Same old," she said as she was finally situated.

"Ready?" I ask

"Yeah."

We zoom off to Joshua's apartment, which is about 2 minutes away from Dani's.

Speaking of Dani, she looks so good! Her character in the play is a knight, the only female knight, of Queen Minnie. She is wearing  a medieval knights outfit, including a hauberk, gauntlets, and a gambeson, and is looking so... just... cool. There is just no other word than cool. 

I just don't know why she is in costume right now. We usually get ready at the hospital after we finish the room. It just looks really comical in our car right now; the people in the front have sweatpants and hoodies on then you travel back in time and you have a knight from the Arthurian legend.

We get to Joshua's place and I did not even bother phoning him. There he is, waiting on the bench by the main building. He is wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt with a oversized, but lightweight, puffer jacket. As soon as we pulled up he got in. When he closed the door a fruity smell filled the car up, with just a tinge of smoke. Most of us ignore if for now. Well me and Dani ignore it.

"What the hell have you been doing?" Greyson asked Joshua a bit seriously. They were staring each other down through the rear view mirror very intensely. 

"None of your business," Joshua replied back. It did not sound like him. Joshua has such a sweet voice and personality but at times he has a voice so cold it is like I don't even know him anymore.

Joshua has a lot of pain so certain things help with it. Most of the time we leave the topic alone, I ignore it completely sometimes, but sometimes it just makes Greyson mad. We all know Joshua is a sweetheart, he just has his moments.

Greyson finally backs down from the staring competition and drives. There is some awkward tension in the car so none of us talk until we get to the hospital.

We pull up and get out of the shark tank - the tension was almost drowning us. Greyson pops open the trunk and everything is still there from last night. In the trunk is a bunch of costumes, props, decoration, and a bunch of hospital approved treats for the kids.

We all grab something, including the knight, and head in. Inside the hospital there was already a midmorning rush feel. People were walking back and forth, conversing, and just displaying a variety of emotions from cheery to sad. I waddled through the traffic and made my way to the world's okayest receptionist. Bella, or B for short.

"Hey B," I said. She ignored it, continuing her conversation with the tired looking co-worker. They were giving me eyes to get her attention, which is not as easy as you would think it is. "Hey B!" I said again, a bit loudly to get her attention.

She pulled away from her coworker she was probably boring to death and had the most annoyed face on. "How many I help you?" she asked her tone more annoyed than her face.

"Hope I wasn't ruining your shot with the newbie," I said.

She looked up and her entire face changed when she saw me. The sun looked dim compared to her. She always has a certain smile when she sees me. I don't know if I have a sweet spot in her heart or Dad, but either way it is one of us.

"No, no, you were not bothering. Now, what can I help you with?" she said more helpfully than the first time.

"Same thing as always B," I said. She looked at me for a second, completely lost in space. Everyone in the back was struggling so I brought her back to Earth by saying "The sign in sheet, B."

"Oh yeah," she said in remembrance. She did a full 360 spin in her chair before finding it next to her keyboard. We all sign in and head towards the kids play room on the 3rd floor.

We all make our journey through the labyrinth, our luggage almost caused hazard on our quest but we eventually made it. We got into the room and dumped the stuff we were holding on the nearest counter. We all sat down at the nearest table, catching our breath.

"Alright, first we need to set the stage and make the tables. We will do smaller stuff later." I said after a second. We all looked at each other, seeing who would get up first. As synchronized as four humans could be we all got up at the same time. And at that we all lost it. The giggles and laughter start to rise till the point where we could not stop.

"Al-alright break time over," I said even though I was still trying to fight a new wave of laughter.

The scene in the car never happened.

We all got to work, slowing make the room like a theatre from 1800's. Finally after some time the room was looking like it always does when we come. We even managed to hang the impossible red curtains to make the stage significant. There were candlesticks all over the place, giving it a nice evening feeling. They would not be in use though; we can't light the candles up and there would be stage lights so there was no point except for decoration. 

Speaking of the stage, it was taking up half of the room. It was needed for the big "fight" scene. There was a regular chair that we managed to look like a throne and there was some fake memorabilia that represented a time of kings and knights and all that jazz.

After the main stuff we finished everything else. We set pillows and poofs all over the floor for the kids who are going to sit on the floor and set tables in the back for the kids who are going to sit at the table; the tables had more candlesticks and flowers as centerpieces that made the whole room. We then started to set the snacks, ranging from pretzels to chocolate chip cookies. Me and Dani actually had to stop Joshua and Greyson from eating the food multiple times. The Cookie Heist failed thus far.

We finally finished the room at around 4 o'clock. We enjoyed a nice cafeteria lunch of cold sliced turkey sandwiches with Dad. He kept on getting messages every other minute. When his phone interrupted Joshua's story of his night, which Greyson listened with open ears to find a good excuse for his behavior this morning, he had to put it on silent mode. After about 40 minutes we all went to go get ready.

We had about 30 minutes to get in costume then we were going to walk around from room to room, doing a bit of a preview. Dani was going to help the boys put on the outfit because, in her exact words, "it is a literal pain in the butt."

I didn't have much to do. I just had to fix my hair and makeup that was damaged in the making of the room. The dress I had was very beautiful, and was also from the thrift shop. It was a faux velvet fabric with jewels and lace around the collar line. I even found a crown that matched the emerald green cloth and jewels.

Looking in the mirror I looked nice. The brown of my hair matched beautifully with my dress. I think I found my Halloween costume for next year.

I was waiting back in the room for the others. I was sipping water when knights came in. I must admit the boys didn't have the same grace Dani did when carrying the costume.

After some touch-ups we all left. The floor was kind of silent, very eerie. There was not a person in sight. We made our way to the reception desk to ask for a nurse to walk us around. She grabbed her clipboard and led the way. It was a nurse I knew, even conversed with a bit, but I couldn't put a name to the face. 

She walked us around from room to room, dotting on our costumes and trying to figure out the plot of our play. It is just as fun for the adults as well as the kids; for them it was a tiny escape from the harshness of the reality of being an adult. We usually get a few nurses and doctors involved in our plays and for some of them I see the spark in their eyes come back. There is nothing more wonderful than giving a person to be hopeful again. 

After walking around for a bit, seeing kids get excited for a new story to live in, I realized I did not see a regular fan. Max Carmichael is a huge fan of our plays. He had a rare form of lung cancer, so that meant he was basically here all the time for surgeries or for testing. It was a very depressing life but what choice did he have? But on the bright side, last time I saw him he was on the way to becoming NEC. It was simply a miracle, his parents told me. 

"Where is Max?" I asked the nurse, assuming she knew who he was.

"Max Carmichael?" she asked, his aura changing from happy to sad quickly. She even slowed down a bit. I nodded, nervous for the upcoming news.

"He passed away last night."

All four of us stopped dead in our tracks. She turned and shared our shock.

"But he was about to be NEC," Joshua said, his voice cracking. His tone almost sounded like he was accusing the nurse. Dani had her hands covering her mouth and Greyson didn't look like he was here, that all that was left was his shocked body.

"Even the professionals made mistakes," the nurse said. 

It hit us quite weird. It didn't seem possible. It didn't seem right. He was steadily becoming healthier. I mean, he was in the hospital every other week but he was becoming better. I saw him just recently. It can't be.  

To be a bit off topic, in the book "The Fault in our Stars" Augustus says to Hazel, when she finds out he is sick again, that people who are sick are painted again in the future, but without a name. There is no heroism in sickness. He was right. Max would be reborn, metaphorically, in the form of a painting, but then he would be known as a person who had cancer. He would be nameless, just another face. His efforts will be gone eventually, as everything else we have created and adored and fear and hated and loved. 

But today he had a name. Max Carmichael.

After a moment of silence for Max, thinking about how he is finally at peace, we continued walking around. We plastered on a fake smile and continued watching the kids get excited at the thought that for a few hours, just a few hours, they could see a world with kings and queens, of magic and lore, and a world without sickness or wires and medicine and sadness. Yet every step that we took was painful, stabbing us in the heart continuously. It was weird not seeing the kid who always wore his lucky Spiderman chain and seeing his eyes get excited too.

Finally at 5:45 we made it back to the playroom to check everything one last time. All the while kids and adults started to flood in; there were 2 definite groups of adults: ones in black and ones not in black. The ones in black would be our extras and the ones not in black were there to supervise.

As it was getting near 6 o'clock the excitement was thick in the air. The kids were getting their snacks together and guessing who would be triumphant today.

A gaggle of people were in the back, overlooking the kids and munching on some snacks. Among them was a special someone.

"Dad!" I kind of yelled across the room. He was staring at the floor, listening rather than talking. He lifted his gaze and saw his chaotic daughter. His smile got bigger, though I am sure that it was due to the fact that he was able to leave his conversation. I walked over to his side and struck up a conversation to save him.

"I thought you would be too busy," I said as I side hugged him, trying to ruin my look.

"And miss Joshua have a sugar glass bottle smashed over his head?" he said knowingly.

"Who covered for you?"

"A medical student," he said seriously. My eyes bulged at the thought. It was like a kid left with a dangerous toy. I got even more worried when he started to laugh. "I am just kidding. I asked a very experienced friend to cover for me." That sounds better.

"And what are they asking for in return?" I asked.

"He asked me to attend a dinner with some family and friends."

That was odd. Why would a co-worker, a person you hate except during working hours, want to spend more time with you?

Out of nowhere the lights cut, making us all jump and making me forget my train of thought. Then on cue the stage lights went up and the narrator got on stage to start his bit.

"I have to go," I said to Dad.

"Break a leg," he said, giving me a swift kiss on the cheek. I walked backstage to the others, putting on a pose.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and everyone in between, let me speak a few magical words that will take us all to another world: Once upon a time..."

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