TLC the Musical

Wake Me Up

 As Henry's teeth sank into the apple, the crone shrieked with delight and danced around in a circle. It was only too late that Henry realized his fatal mistake.

His eyes went wide, gaping at the apple in his hand. His eyelids drooped to a close as he fell onto his side. The apple rolled out of his hand and slowed to a stop several feet from him.

The witch was still giddy as a child when she stood behind him and hoisted him up by under his arms. "Now I can take his kingdom without my army! It's not killing Snow White, but this almost makes up for it!"

Sunto wanted to BOO as loud as he could at the witch.

Thankfully, the door opened, making the witch freeze. All of the non-dwarves pilled out of the house.

"I thought I saw Prince Henry step outside," Red told the others. "We should find him before the queen or her men do."

As everyone made it out of the small house, they all stopped when they saw the witch ready to drag the prince off stage. The last one to notice was Eric, and Red had to smack his arm and point to get him to see her.

There was an awkward silence between the two parties. Eric broke it, saying, "Hello uh- ... ma'am, have you seen a young man in royal garments anywhere? Dark hair maybe, possibly in a red coat."

The witch looked straight down at Prince Henry, then back up to Eric. With a straight face, she managed, "Nope, haven't seen him. Sorry to disappoint you."

"That's the woman who tried to give me an apple a few minutes ago!" Snow cried. "I didn't take it. But look, the prince did!" She pointed to the once-bitten apple alone near the center stage.

The witch growled in protest. She threw her hands in the air, dropping the prince in the process. "You have been the thorn in my side that only digs deeper since the day I met you!" she screamed. "Your precious huntsman refused to kill you, but now, there's no need! When I bring the prince back to his kingdom, everyone will see he cannot rule! And they will be forced to accept me as their queen! AHAHAH!"

The rest of the characters stared at the queen in horror. Thankfully, Cinderella decided she was going to do something about the crazy witch. She quickly hiked up her dress and ran to the nearby well. She pulled up the bucket and ran at the witch.

Moments before Cinderella drenched her, the witch cowered back in fear. "No! STOP!"

Sunto was anticipating a gallon of water to fly from the bucket and douse the nasty queen. Instead, it was a ton of blue glitter that splashed out of the bucket and onto the nag's cloak.

"NOOOOOO!" the hag shrieked. Her form under her cloak slowly shrank down to nothing.

The other characters were wide eyed and slack jawed as the witch, who'd just simmered down to the ground in front of them. Tentative, Rapunzel approached the cloak and kicked at it.

"Wow, I guess you don't have to be green to be a real witch," she remarked. She picked up the cloak and threw it behind the curtain.

The rest of them stood to either side of the body of the sleeping prince. And yes, Sunto KNEW he was just sleeping because he's not dead! He was sleeping just like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty in the Disney movies. Also, he couldn't be dead because he still had to marry Cinderella. If he died before that, Sunto would get on stage and kick Prince Henry until he got up or got kicked out.

Cinderella knelt down and held the prince in her arms. She held his head against her shoulder and tilted her ear down. "He's not breathing," she said. "And I can't hear his heart beating..."

He's not dead, Sunto told himself. He'll be fine in a minute.

"If the queen cursed him, it was probably one of her love spells," Jaecar informed them. "She has spells that make you fall in love with her, and spells that can only be undone by the person you love most."

"She used a love spell on my father once," Snow recalled. "He woke from it when I kissed him goodnight the next day."

Jaecar nodded to Snow. "You were the person your father loved most. To save the prince, we have to find who he loved most and get them to kiss him."

Like devious gremlins, Rapunzel and Red grinned ear to ear and looked to one another. The staring-eye-contest lasted about half a minute. People in the crowd started laughing, and both of them struggled to maintain eye contact and their fixed facial expressions. Both of them then moved their gaze to Cinderella, staring until her face scrunched in uncertainty.

Cinderella turned to Rapunzel first, then to Red. "What?"

"I think you know what." Red pointed at Cinderella, and let her finger drift down until it was pointed at the prince. "Somebody traveled a long way to find you. Does he have any family?"

Cinderella shook her head. "His father just died. His mother's been gone for years. He doesn't have anyone."

"He has you, doesn't he?" Rapunzel queried. "Have you decided on what you want? And whether or not the prince fits into it?"

Cinderella studied the prince's face, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes. She cupped his cheek and pressed her hand over his heart. The lights over the rest of the stage dimmed, leaving a circle around Cinderella and Prince Henry.

The band played a quiet four note melody, over and over until it was so loud Sunto could barely stand it. It ended abruptly, and everyone else on the stage was frozen.

Cinderella's expression hardened, nose scrunched and brows slanted. "You better wake up."

That's right, you better wake up, thought Sunto.

She kissed the corner of his lips, and everyone on the stage smiled. Even the prince ...

Prince Henry's eyes opened for half a second before closing again. He turned his head toward her, and their lips met in a full, real kiss. Both of them were smiling all the while.

Cinderella pulled a few inches away and watched Henry with glittering eyes. "It worked," she breathed.

Eyes still closed, Henry disagreed. "I don't know. Maybe you should kiss me again to make sure."

Everyone laughed, even Cinderella. She pecked his cheek, and helped him to his feet.

"I can't believe you did that," she said, clearly out of disapproval. "Did you really think an old woman telling you to eat a magic apple was a good idea?"

He shrugged, taking her hand. "She said it would lead me to the person I loved most... and here you are."

"Trying to be romantic won't cancel out how stupid that was," Jaecar interjected.

Again, everyone laughed. But now, all of the main characters were much happier, and with the person they loved. Cinderella and Henry were center stage, holding hands. Snow's arms wound around Jaecar's left arm, her head on his shoulder. The Wolf hugged Red from behind her back, and her hands warmed his. Rapunzel hugged the side of Eric, who draped his arm over her in turn.

All of them were together again, and all of them were happy and clearly in love. Sunto internally decided that the play was allowed to end now.

"Alright," Eric piped up, getting everyone's attention. "This has been fun, but I think now would be the best time for us to all go home."

Henry snickered. "For once, I agree with you."

Jaecar, Snow, Red, the Wolf, Rapunzel, and Eric all started their journey to the off stage area. Henry and Cinderella held back for a moment, hands still holding each other tight.

"Cinderella, would you ever consider marrying me?" he asked.

Her smile thinned, but widened with love and adoration all the same. "Someday, I would definitely consider marrying you. For now, I want to live my life, with you. After all, we both said we'd find someone ..."

"Someone who would.. Care..." the both sang. They shared one last kiss, and the whole stage went dark for the last time.

The lights came on in the auditorium. After almost three hours, Sunto's first play was over.