Group Writing Project #2
Disclaimer: I do not own the character of Trixie Belden though I do wish I owned Barry Manilow. (hee hee) All of the words capitalized are titles of Barry’s songs. Who’da ever thunk Trixie and Barry would even be said in the same sentence……
The Dream
by Lori
"Goodnight, Moms," Trixie yelled as she snuggled into her bed after a long day of chores. Sleep couldn’t come fast enough to her. She was absolutely exhausted.
Oh, great, she thought to herself. Every time I go to sleep exhausted, I have really strange dreams. Maybe tonight will be different though. She had a big grin on her face as she thought of the upcoming concert event.
To only imagine. The day after tomorrow I will be face to face with Barry Manilow!"
The BWG’s held a fundraiser for homeless children a few weeks back. It happened to be a cause that Barry strongly supported so when he found out about their good deed, he honored them with front row tickets to his upcoming concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Barry was Trixie’s favorite entertainer. Of course she got endless taunting and teasing from her brothers, but she didn’t care, all she could think about was two days from now. Mart even threatened to throw a muddy boot at him while he sang "I MADE IT THROUGH THE RAIN."
Her bedroom window was open and a light breeze started blowing causing the curtains to dance. A thin fog rolled into the valley.
As Trixie drifted off to sleep, she felt as if she were floating around in her mind. Strange images were appearing. She kept catching glimpses of events that seemed a lifetime ago and kept going back to the same one over and over.
It was when she had left him. The worst mistake she had ever made in her life.
It wasn’t Jim or Dan. It was the one other love in her life that she had kept to herself. The one that was too painful to talk about.
Strangely, she starts talking. Is it in her mind or is it out loud? She’s drifting, drifting...
"In the MORNING lying in my FEATHERBED, COULD IT BE MAGIC that I’m hearing or maybe IT’S A MIRACLE. It’s both. It’s THE OLD SONGS we used to listen to.
DAYBREAK is peeking through my window. As I listen to the songs and remember how we used to KEEP EACH OTHER WARM, a MEMORY passes through my mind like SHIPS passing through calm seas, smooth yet swift.
It seems I’ve been BLUER THAN BLUE since I said LET’S TAKE ALL NIGHT TO SAY GOODBYE.
In the beginning you said, DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH ME. To me, there was NO OTHER LOVE and SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD I knew I would need a HEART OF STEEL if you decided not to STAY.
EVEN NOW I know I WAS A FOOL TO LET YOU GO. The ONE VOICE that I long to hear is a distant MEMORY.
For awhile, I thought to myself, IT LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT and the SWEET LIFE we were living gave me hope to have SEVEN MORE YEARS of the BEAUTIFUL MUSIC we were making.
As the day wears on and evening approaches, I arrive at the COPACABANA. Everything in my head has been like a CLOUDBURST and I have to get you off of my mind before I GO CRAZY.
As I stand back, I think to myself, IT’S ALL BEHIND US NOW and I need to move on. I’ve hurt you so much.
Wait! Something is changing! I feel that SOMETHINGS COMING UP! I try to move but I CAN’T GET STARTED.
Is this real? I’m frozen and my heart is in my throat as I watch you PUT A QUARTER IN THE JUKEBOX.
You glance over at me as the song LET’S HANG ON begins to play.
You slowly walk over and whisper, YOUR’E LOOKING HOT TONIGHT.
I can’t catch my breath as you SAY THE WORDS. I start to speak as you quickly put your finger to my lips and quietly whisper THIS ONES FOR YOU as we begin to dance.
I look straight into your eyes and tell you that I CAN’T SMILE WITHOUT YOU and that I DON’T WANT TO WALK WITHOUT YOU anymore.
I let you know how sorry I’ve been and that I can’t take another SUNRISE without you. With tears in your eyes, you tell me you’re LEAVIN’ IN THE MORNING so you’d REALLY LOVE TO SEE ME TONIGHT.
I think to myself, there is a HEAVEN.
As we go back to my place to sing THE LAST DUET of a lifetime, you tell me, I’LL NEVER SMILE AGAIN after tonight, but WE’VE GOT TONIGHT so IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES I will have known the greatest love of my life."
Suddenly, Trixie is jolted out of her slumber. She finds herself backstage at Radio City Music Hall. There is a door ajar down the hall with light filtering out into the darkened hallway.
She makes her way down to the door and slowly opens it.
She is in heaven! It’s Barry’s dressing room and he’s in it!
"Um, excuse me Mr. Manilow?"
Barry put down the Cheez-its he had been snacking on and made his way over to the door.
"Oh, come on in." He sounded distracted.
"Mr. Manilow, I’m Brixie Treldon, I mean, Trixie Belden. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m a little nervous."
"I remember you. You belong to the secret club in Sleepyside that helped raise money for one of my causes."
"That would be me! You know, I am having the strangest feeling right now and I seem to not know just exactly what is going on."
The phone ringing interrupted Trixie. Barry nervously glanced back and forth between the phone and Trixie.
"If you’ll please excuse me?"
"Oh, certainly."
Barry picked up the phone and said, "Hello."
He sat there for at least a minute, then shook his head and put the receiver back on the hook.
"You never said anything."
"Pardon me?"
Trixie felt her cheeks blush and scolded herself for being so nosy and forward.
"Um, you never said anything to the person on the other end of the line."
"There wasn’t any need to. Someone keeps calling me and when I say hello, all that I get is heavy breathing on the other end."
"You seem to be terribly nervous for just heavy breathing."
Trixie could have kicked herself for opening her big mouth again.
"I’m sorry, Barry. I seem to be a very forward person that speaks her mind."
Barry laughed.
"I can tell. Don’t worry about it though, I like never having to second-guess what’s on someone’s mind."
He offered for her to sit and continued.
"It’s not just the phone calls, I had a package delivered to my dressing room and don’t quite know what to make of it."
"May I see it?"
Barry hesitated and smiled at her boisterous personality.
"Sure, but I must warn you. It’s a bit odd."
He opened the bottom drawer of his dressing table and brought out an old wooden box. He handed it to Trixie.
She opened the box slowly and peered inside.
"Ick!" she said, wrinkling her nose and sitting the box on the couch beside her.
"What is it?"
"It’s a shrunken head. This was attached to it: u, e, u ah, ah, ting tang, whada whada bing bang. "
Trixie tried to stifle a laugh.
"What exactly does that mean?"
"Well, I had Aku Aku, a stage hand who knows about this stuff translate it for me. He said when someone receives a shrunken head with this saying attached to it, that a curse has been put upon that person."
Trixie could feel the excitement shoot through her body.
"A curse!" she cried. "How exciting!"
"Maybe for you. I have to admit I am a little shaken up about it."
Barry pressed a button on the intercom sitting on his dressing table.
"I’m having the car pull around to pick us up."
"Us?" Trixie asked.
"Yep, us. I’m too creeped out to be by myself this evening. Let’s go for a ride."
Trixie suddenly noticed that she had a camera hanging around her neck.
"When did that get there?" she thought to herself.
"Oh, Barry?" she quickly asked.
"Can I get a picture of us together? My brothers and friends will never believe this!"
Barry caught a stagehand walking by and asked him to take their picture, he put his arm around her and they both smiled.
"Thanks tons!" Trixie said as the stagehand continued down the hall.
"The car should be here. Let’s head out."
Barry grabbed the box with the cursed shrunken head inside and started out the door.
"Are you coming?" He asked Trixie as she hesitated while looking at the box.
"I wouldn’t miss this for the world!"
They got inside the limo and settled back in their seats facing each other. Barry had set the box on the seat next to him and Trixie couldn’t keep her eyes off of it.
They talked about all of Barry’s songs and Trixie told him which ones were her favorites and why, when the car slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road.
Forty-five minutes had gone by and they were in the countryside now. Barry asked the driver what the problem was.
"The car has broken down, Mr. Manilow."
Barry and Trixie both looked at each other and then at the box sitting on the seat.
It was dark out now and they were in a very remote place in the country.
"No problem," Barry said as he pulled out his car phone and tried to dial.
"Oh great! I don’t have phone service this far out in the boondocks."
Trixie was getting a little nervous and suddenly noticed how unbearable the temperature was getting in the car.
"It must be 100 degrees in here," she said as they made their way out of the car.
She now had the urge to go to the bathroom and couldn’t hold it much longer.
"Look, if you don’t mind, I need to find a bush or tree if you get my drift."
A bush or tree? She couldn’t believe she just said that to Barry Manilow.
"Hey, go right ahead. Stay close to the side of the road though. It’s very dark out here and I don’t want you getting lost."
Trixie made her way about a hundred yards off the road into a thick patch of bushes. She pulled her pants down to her ankles. Just as she had finished, a loud snap of branches breaking sounded behind her.
She jumped up grabbing the closest thing to her, which was a stick.
"Who’s there?" she cried, thrashing the stick back and forth in the air.
Fear gripped her not knowing what was out in the darkness of the woods and she started to run.
She got a few feet before tripping over her pants that were still down to her ankles. She jumped up; knowing something was after her and ran into something.
A bright light shone on her and a voice said, "It’s Barry. What’s wrong?"
He broke into laughter as he caught site of her in her underwear with her pants down to her ankles and a big stick dangling out of her hand.
He quickly turned the light off so she could pull her pants up.
Just as she did, something brushed up against her leg. She screamed again and Barry quickly turned the light back on.
He was laughing hysterically. "It’s a cat!"
Trixie felt like such a fool.
It gave them both a big laugh as they made their way back to the car.
Trixie sat up and rubbed her eyes. Dawn was just about breaking as she sat in bed trying to figure out the strange dream she had just had.
She figured she may as well get up and dressed so she wouldn’t have too much to do before the concert the next day.
As she dressed herself, she imagined how nice and exciting it would have been if her dream had been real.
She made her way over to her dresser mirror to brush her hair. Looking down to pick up the brush something caught her eye.
"What on earth?" she said as she turned on her lamp.
Sitting on the dresser before her was a Polaroid picture of Trixie and Barry.
Trixie was astonished!
"Just how am I supposed to explain this one?" she said out loud with a chuckle.
The End