The Light

Ch_006_000: The Light

Brother Day stood patiently on the set as Weatherwax talked to the puppy that played little Timmy. The two dogs were talking over the upcoming scene before the shooting began.

“Fait que, Lassie va essayer de te dire que l’autre p’tit gars est tombé en bas d’la falaise, juste à côté. A va essayer de te convaincre de la suivre. C’est important que tu dises c’que tu penses pour vrai, pas juste jaser. T’es-tu prêt?” huffed the older dog to the puppy.

Little Timmy replied, “C’est beau! Chu prêt à y aller!”

Weatherwax came over to Spock and said, “So, in this scene, you have just seen that Timmy’s puppy friend has fallen over the edge of a cliff and is trapped. You need to tell Timmy that the boy needs help and lead it to the cliff side. Are you ready?”

Spock, the current Brother Day, answered, “Uh. Yeah. I’m ready. Let’s do a take.”

Weatherwax walked back to the other dogs and let the director know that the actors were set.

Lassie ran into the room and yelled, “YAHOO! YAHOO! YAHOO!”

Timmy responded, “Qu’ossé qu’y a, ma belle? Y’a-tu quelqu’un qui …”

Suddenly, a stage light landed heavily and exploded in glass and twisting metal. The heavy fixture almost hit Lassie and she was badly cut by a flying shard of glass. The man screamed and ran for the nearest door. All of the dogs started barking loudly and in panic.

Weatherwax called out to Spock, “STOP! STOP! STOP! SPOCK! STOP!” However, the man would not be soothed and was far gone after it made it to the door.

Weatherwax looked at the fallen lamp and saw a small tag on the ruined body. It read, “Are you spooked yet, Spock! With love from your old pal!” The dog looked at the rope that had held the lamp in the rafters. It was cut cleanly.

The dog asked for the crew to clean up the lamp. It barked out for Spock and asked nearby dogs if the human was anywhere to be seen. They could not lose the day. The dog paced back and forth. Finally, it stopped and called for an understudy.

“Brother Dawn! Are you here?” yelled the dog.

Baby came around the corner quickly and answered, “Yes, Weatherwax? Did you need me?”

Weatherwax offered, “I need you to fill in for Spock. Do you know this scene?”

Baby had a sharp knife behind his back when she said, “Do I ever! I practice all the scenes just in case! I won’t disappoint Weatherwax! I promise!”

Weatherwax smiled and asked the young person to take her father’s place.