Fifteen years later…

I hurried to the theater bag slung over my shoulder, I wanted to get there early because it was our last show this week and I was exhausted. I could use a power nap before our last matinee this afternoon. I made my way through the empty theater halls to my dressing room, everything was so quiet here before the show. I opened the door to my dressing room and tossed my bag in a corner. I laid down on the floor and just rested for a while, I told people I was meditating but I was really taking a nap being Glinda was exhausting. After a half hour, I woke up and made some tea before starting to do makeup and stretching a little bit. After about an hour I heard a knock on my door,

"Come on in," I saw Maggie walking in half covered in green,

"Did they give you a few minutes break?"

"Yeah, it got a little itchy so they said to take a break."

"I think I want to be painted pink for this show."

"I think I get that arranged." I laughed and fiddled with the purple bandana around my neck.

"I've gotta go get my dress on in like ten minutes so we can be itchy together."

"Yeah, whoever said theater was glorious should have warned me about this."

"Definitely."

"Hey, I have a weird question."

"Shoot,"

"Why do you always wear that bandana?"

"It was from a really old friend."

"You've been wearing that since the first day of auditions!"

"Yeah, I'll probably still be wearing it long after that." Maggie walked back out to go finish being greenified. My costume person came in carrying a huge dress and my wig. Soon we heard the five-minute call, and we all headed out to the wings. I climbed into my bubble and climbed in ready for the first scene I had run a million times yet my stomach still jumped. Overture lights up, the song starts,

"Good news! She's dead! The witch of the west is dead! The wickedest witch there ever was, the enemy of all of here in Oz is dead! Good news! Good news! Look it's Glinda!" My bubble started to descend into the glittering stage,

"Fellow Ozians, let us be glad, let us be grateful! Let us rejocify that goodness could subdue, the wicked workings of you know who! Isn't it nice to know, that good will conquer evil, the truth we all believe in by and by! Our will arise! For you and I!" The rest of the show flew by in a flash and soon I was running out with Maggie to bow in front of the cheering crowd. After what seemed like forever I had wriggled out of my dress and wig. I walked back out into the crowded New York streets for a breath of fresh air. I walked to the same spot every day, I knew exactly the route I needed to take to get there. I stood in front of a large office firm with people walking in and out of it. I looked at the small plaque which was all that remained of what this building used to be.

Lower Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House.