A Theatrical Makeover

"I gotta take a walk." Levi got up from bed, put on his favourite discoloured jeans, a hoodie and off-white sneakers. He could not stop his mind from racing about all the things he needed to do before leaving town for good. Although he was anxious before moving to Sayettville, Hūtah, ten years ago, he became satisfied with his decision. This neighbourhood suited his personality; it was quiet and peaceful, complemented by the creek that ran behind his backyard. Most of the houses had a front yard; some were built almost fifty years ago while others were renovated to fit the design trends of the time. He had a good rapport with his neighbours and made friends with a handful of them because he helped them with different maintenance matters. Despite the comfort he found here, he was about to leave all this behind because he could no longer afford it. "It's a bit chilly and the sun is shining, so it must be good, right?" he nodded to answer his question.

After twenty minutes of walking, he noticed an estate sale going on in someone's yard. He did not carry more than $10, but he was not planning on buying anything. Or so he thought. He saw a sign saying "Welcome. EVERYTHING MUST GO!” As he walked through the gate into the front yard of this very old wooden house, he observed that many of the items were antique with a flare. Some things that were displayed on the patio included furniture, a coat rack, kitchen items and other miscellaneous items. He felt like he knew this place. Someone came through the screened front door of the house to greet him. The owner noticed Levi's cap.

"Did you watch the tennis game last night?” he asked.

"No. I did not have a chance to,” Levi replied. The owner went on to recount the headlines and the next scheduled playoffs.

“Oh sorry! I must be talking your ear off. What are you looking for? We have everything labelled out here and in the living room. See what you like and let me know if you have any questions. I'm Mark. And you are?”

“Levi - Levi Matson. Just call me Levi.”

That was the name Mark and his wife Susan were going to name their first-born son. In their bedroom, they hung framed photographs of the ultrasound images from when they found out they were pregnant with him. But they lost him in still-birth. After their second child, Lily, they were unable to have more children.

“You from around here?” Mark went on.

Levi replied, “Yea, but I'll be leaving in a few days.”

“Oh yea! Where to?” asked Mark.

Levi hesitated in response as he made a mental note of the mixer machine on a glass stool in the patio next to the living room entrance.

Then he said, “Well... I don’t know. It's been rough since I lost my job. What can one do?”

Next to the stool was a stained leather trunk with a few missing studs. He thought about the bittersweet moments of his childhood; everything his family had was handed down from family and friends. Good times highlighted the aroma of fresh-baked bread that his mother would bake bi-weekly and place it on a lilac floral table cloth that covered the table they gathered around as a family. They would take Polaroid pictures of each other’s gestures during meals, laughs, poses and so on. He always wanted to do something in the arts, like photography, performance or painting. In high school, theatre piqued his interest. He did a few regional shows for his school. But once it was time to choose a career, he was unable to decide. Nevertheless, as he gallivanted through this new space he found himself in, something about the trunk ignited an unsettled feeling about his long-forgotten love for theatre.

“Could it still happen for me at 44?” he pondered as he made his way up a step into Mark’s living room.

There were items big and small, carefully arranged and labelled so that one could walk around with enough room to manoeuvre. He stumbled into a bookshelf. The patina of the wooden structure reminded him of the cupboard in his childhood bedroom where his books on theatre were stacked. He had received them as a gift from his father, since Levi was good at theatre in high school. He picked up this black and decoratively embossed book. It was about an inch and a half thick but small enough to fit in a messenger bag. There were other books similar in appearance.

“Do you draw?” Mark asked from the other side of the room.

“No, not really,” Levi replied.

“Soon after I had bought those for my daughter, for some reason, I forgot where I kept them. Lily graduated about seven years ago from Rio of the Arts studying puppetry. Anyways, feel free to get as much as you need since they are multipurpose.” Levi nodded in response. He wanted to look around some more but remembered that it was going to rain anytime soon so he bought two of the books for $6. The other book's cover was not as embellished as the first one he liked but he thought it would do.

It started to rain as he was shuffling the books and then one of them fell on the sidewalk and opened up. He could not believe what he was seeing. It was an illustration of different characters in various poses in what seemed to look like a set for a play.

"It's too late now," he whispered to himself as a tear trickled over his freckled cheek. He wiped it off and quickly found a shed to stand under and reminisce during the rain. He continued to turn the pages and found an envelope. It was stripped in yellow and orange and had a metallic seal for the opening. On it, it said:

Lily Hueqt

Rio of the Arts

Box 2934

Rio, Hūtah

He shook it but could not figure out the contents. He thought it would be best to give it to Mark since he was not so far away.

"Look who's here," Mark yelled. “Did you forget something?”

“No, but I got something for you.” Levi said, as he was walking under the light drizzles.

”I found this in one of the books,” he said, holding out the envelope. Then he stepped onto the patio to stay dry.

“Oh my! What a pleasant surprise!” Mark said.

Then he remembered a time when he planned to send Lily some money to pay for something. He wanted the best for her, to follow her dream to be an artist. Now that she had become a successful painter and professor of Puppet Studies at her alma mater, she was able to buy a house for her parents so that they could live closer to her. Emotions arose as Mark fell in deep thought. He asked Levi to wait outside saying "one moment please!" as he found his footing to make his way to the living room.

After Levi had previously left from the sale, that morning, Mark had started to tell Susan about him - how he felt a strong connection to his presence. “What an angel!” Susan said as they looked at each other with tears filling their eyes. They hugged. Mark and Susan walked out to the patio.

“Levi, do you have a moment? We have something we would like to share with you,” Mark said as he held Susan’s hand.

“Yes, sure,” Levi agreed.

“We are so glad you came by and we thought this was indeed a divine encounter,” Mark said. “When we knew we were going to have a son about 46 years ago, we decided that we were going to name him Levi. But we lost him. It was quite a difficult time for us as a young couple because we just did not know what to do. We both felt that your arrival here was a divine intention and we would like to honor that.”

Levi started to tear up. He knew something in his life was about to change this very moment.

“Levi, we are not asking for you to be our son but we would love to provide for you as we would have for our son. He would want that for us,” said Susan.

“About six years ago,” Mark continued, “we started building a special fund to give to someone that would need it and we feel that you are that special person. Levi, we’ve got something for you."

Levi looked at the cheque and it was written $20,000. Shocked at the printed amount, he started having chills all over his body. He immediately burst into tears. He knew the time had arrived for him to pursue his dream to study theatre.

“Thank you. This is so unexpected. I had always loved theatre but never really had the chance to see where it would take me,” Levi managed to speak.

“We hope this helps as you make a transition from here and in your theatre schooling. And Mark and I – we would love to keep in touch and be there for you when you need us,” Susan said.

Levi had just received the ultimate makeover of his life and he was not planning on wasting any more time to follow his longtime passion once he found a location for his new life .