Starfall

Then, at the scene change, Ashley and all the other Munchkins are herded into what the cast calls The Cube, which is in actuality a five-by-five bottomless wooden stage block decorated in swirling colors, designed to appear as though the Munchkins are streaming on stage from gumdrop trees, but unfortunately (okay, fortunately) there is not enough space in The Cube to split into their usual gendered factions, so everyone has to kinda smush in there together.

Yesterday at dress rehearsal, one of the Munchkins had ripped a fart so rank that in the resulting chaos, with everyone squirming, The Cube had heaved and clattered, earning them a chastisement from the director and a finger wag from both Dorothy and Glinda the Good Witch alike.

Now they wait for their cue, and, like everyone, Ashley’s blind for the time being, but because they’ve been arranged by height she knows Brock is next to her, can feel his chest against hers.

It’s hot in The Cube, and Brock’s tongue is hotter in her ear, but even so she doesn’t pull away, just lets him wiggle it around in there, imagining Brock’s lips puckering, his head moving slowly toward hers, despite the fact that earlier, in the Get-Ready Room, Brock had been even more than his usual level of rude, calling Ashley’s Happy Meal baby food, teasing her about it until Miss Kris arrived to usher them backstage.

When she can stand his tongue in her ear not a moment longer, Ashley turns her head, but when she turns back Brock’s head is there, and their lips sort of bump against each other in a way that may or may not be accidental, and she does not move, not one inch, not until Glinda sings their cue, “Come out, come out, wherever you are, and meet the young lady who fell from a star!”.

Then the stage door opens, the Munchkins come prancing out, and the light, like the darkness, is blinding.