Page 61 of Wild Dreams

She was so enthusiastic about everything, especially when it came to the theater.

Scarlett: I'm so lucky my best friend writes plays.

Marigold: Don't feel obligated to go with what I wrote. There are better writers out there.

Scarlett: Not with fresh content. We're so lucky to know you before you hit it big!

That made me pause.

Marigold: Hit it big? I'm a librarian.

Scarlett: You're a writer. Your plays have been performed on stage. Do you know how big that is?

Marigold: It helps to know the director who also happens to be…my best friend.

Scarlett: I know good plays, and yours are great.

Marigold: I'm not going to be on Broadway anytime soon.

Scarlett: But you could sell your plays to schools. They're the perfect length for a third-grade play or even middle school. High schools tend to pick big-name productions to draw people in and sell tickets. In the younger grades, the parents are coming anyway, so they are free to try something different.

My phone rang as I stood in front of my open fridge, my stomach rumbling. I pulled out the rest of the leftovers and hit Accept on the screen.

"Scarlett?" I asked as I set the phone aside and plated the food, placing it in the microwave.

"It was too much to text. I wanted to say that your plays are fresh. I've read through almost everything in your pile, and I love them. I think you can and should do something with these."

I stretched the kink in my neck. "I wouldn't even know where to start. There isn't an easy way to sell them."

"You make your own website, include samples and log lines of your scripts, then email schools. You can say that they've been performed at the local theater."

"I would think I'd need a school to pick one up to give it more weight."

"We can start with the local school. They used to do a spring play."

"You're not directing another play. That would be too much." Eli would be upset that I even suggested it.

"Let's just see what happens. We can give advice and guidance, but the teachers would be in charge."

"That's assuming the school goes for the idea. I bet the school board would have to approve it, which could take time."

"Your plays are always sweet and teach a lesson. What's not to love?"

I chewed my lower lip. "In this one, the kids are a little bit naughty?—"

"What are you talking about?" Scarlett's tone was sarcastic.

"The kids set traps for Santa. It ended up more of a comedy than anything else."

"Oh, my God. I love it. What's the lesson though?"

"I don't know if I have one." I chewed my lip because that was a problem.

"What happens in the end? Do they find Santa? Maybe he could deliver the lesson. Or it's something about belief. We have to believe in what we can't see."

I opened and closed my mouth, at a loss for words. It struck me that was the lesson Chance needed. He had to believe there was another way, and until he did, he'd sabotage any hope of happiness thrown his way.

"Or am I totally off base? I just act. I've never attempted to write a story. If you have something better, we'll go with that."

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