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Not One Bean On The Floor

Childhood Memories

By Margaret BrennanPublished about a year ago Updated 11 months ago 5 min read
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I have written several stories about my childhood when my brother and I were in an organization called The Sea Cadets of America. To refresh, it was an organization run by adults but geared for children beginning with their ninth birthdays. How long you stayed in the organization was left to the decisions of the children and their parents. Most children didn’t stay past their sixteenth birthdays unless they planned on becoming part of the team of adults who ran the group.

All that said, each Christmas our group put on a show for the parents. It was a version of a variety show with a cast of children who were members of the group. That year, the play was a shortened version of A Christmas Carol, and my brother, always the “ham” of the group was to play Scrooge.

Frankie had no problems memorizing his lines and was eager to help anyone who might have been struggling. My brother also volunteered to help with the small amount of scenery we planned to use. We didn’t use much wood due to the weight. If we could get away with using painted cardboard, we did. Since our dad was a carpenter, Frankie and I had a better knowledge than the other kids of making things. The school where we held our meetings and would hold our play, allowed us to borrow whatever furniture (a few chairs, a table or two) we might need providing we returned the items to wherever it was we found them.

All the children were put to work. Our ages determined what assignments we were given, and we were all carefully supervised.

The school was an elementary school that didn’t have a gym, but it did have a large room with a stage. That’s where the children would demonstrate their acting abilities. The principal of the school lent our organizational manager a key to the storeroom where we gently placed the props for our play.

Ah! Let the rehearsals begin. It was time. The play was ten weeks away and our time to use the school was limited to three days each week from four in the afternoon to six on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then from ten in the morning to noon on Saturdays. The Cadets held their normal meetings on Wednesday evenings from 6PM to 8PM therefore, we had to make the best of the time allowed.

First of all, before you ask, no, I was not in the play. Although I was offered a part, I declined. There was another part of our show that held my interest more.

The rehearsals concentrated on one scene at a time. Once that scene was satisfactorily performed, the actors would move on to the next. Our organizers made each part as simple and short as possible for two reasons. First, we were kids! We weren’t expected to memorize such a lengthy play in such a short period of time. Secondly, we’d be running over our allotted time for use of the school. As the organizers rearranged each part, they found there were certain scenes that couldn’t be left out no matter how lengthy they seemed.

Take for example, the issue with the Ghosts of Christmas that visited Scrooge. A Christmas Carol would not be A Christmas Carol without the first visit from Bob Marley, Scrooge’s former business partner who announced the approaching visits by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Rehearsals were going along very well, and the dress rehearsal was only a few days away.

To make things seem more accurate, the supervisors of our organization heated a bowl of beans for Scrooge. They didn’t want the audience to see an empty bowl, plus they wanted the steamy effect of heated food. “After all,”, one of them said, “Scrooge wasn’t holding an empty bowl when Marley walked through the door rattling his chains.”

The afternoon was Thursday. This was our final dress rehearsal. All the actors were in position, as were the props to be used.

Scene one went perfectly.

Scene two was now set. The curtains rose and my brother, Scrooge was sitting in front of the “fake” fireplace eating his bowl of gruel (uh, beans).

Marley rattles his chains. Scrooge looks concerned. Marley moans. Scrooge is now frightened. Marley walks through the locked bedroom door and loudly moans. Scrooge is now terrified. In Frankie’s enthusiasm, he (Scrooge) tosses his bowl of food in the air.

Our organizers yelled, in unison. “STOP!”

All our young actors stood in silence, wondering what happened. What went wrong? Did someone mess up a line? It all seemed so perfect.

Our main organizer, the one we called Commander Cottone walked on stage soon to be followed by two men with mops and buckets with clean water.

The beans had been strewn all over the floor.

For safety’s sake, the adults agreed that our Scrooge would gently place the bowl with a glued fabric made to look like food, on the nearby table, thus avoiding anyone slipping on the hot beans.

Naturally, my brother burst out in laughter as he visualized how the beans must have looked as they went flying in the air. His laughter, then had everyone else laughing, including Commander Cottone.

With the floor now cleaned and dried, rehearsals continued without one more problem.

That Saturday, the show went on! It was perfect! I mean, “standing ovation” perfect.

And there was not one bean found on the floor!

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About the Creator

Margaret Brennan

I am a 76 year old grandmother who loves to write, fish, and grab my camera to capture the beautiful scenery I see around me.

My husband and I found our paradise in Punta Gorda Florida where the weather always keeps us guessing.

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