Mopping the Canvas

A look through the eyes of a Theater Janitor.

 

The heavily breathing man of considerable age drives up to the grand theater. He stops and gets out and dedicatedly shuffles into his office long after the theater has been closed for the day.

His office is spotless but resembles in age the man that keeps it. he throws his woolen coat over the desk and slides into his dishevled gray overcoat. Methodically and with a precision that comes from inumerable repitition gathers his tools. Pushing cart infront and dragging mop bucket in back he squeakily meanders down the winding hallway towards the theater hall.

He brandishes his mop and quickly dispatches the shoe marks and prop scraps strewn across the stage. As he works he imagines all the movements of sadness and tragedy, joy and exultation, and the moments that the poeple watching the show will never forget. When he finishes the stage he looks towards the black polished floors excited to see what the artists will draw on his blank canvass.

The janitor makes ready his carpet cleaner and seat brushes as he moves into the audience. In the first row is where a young lad first felt inspired and in awe of a performance. This child will grow up with dreams of the theater...the janitor smiles at the ghostly memories of the seat and with one final smile he erases the evidence of the boy.

The solitairy janitor is much more than just a man who cleans...he is the man that resets the emotions and makes ready the pedestal on which the artists place their masterpieces. with little praise for his work the dishevled and worked to the bone old man squeakily meanders back towards his office.

Once more he travels to his cozy abode knowing that the theater is ready for dreams to be made reality and for talent to be inspired.