Preparation

Preparation

A Chapter by George Love
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The film crews and effects people make the Wortham Center stage look like the TCB Tower.

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Preparation
 
 
 
The girls were pretty wide eyed at the elaborate stage constructed for them and the promotion. It was an impressive sight, even without the backdrop turned on. Shannon inspected the uneven bars on the stage and declared everything was safe. The spotters tested the bars and Stacy carried out her normal inspection. Everything was in order. 
            The film crew was ready to shoot and the stage came to life. The movement of the stage was a concern to Kimberly at first, but she followed Stacy’s lead and quickly compensated for the stage as it swayed slightly from side to side. The backdrop came to life as well and the bright nighttime Houston Skyline was impressive. Everything looked as if they were atop the Texas Commerce Tower.
            The routine was nearly perfect. Kimberly got out of synch with Stacy once and they had to do a retake, but that was only one retake. The rest of the time, the stunt doubles rehearsed the routine and Kimberly practiced her fall. Shannon supervised every move each of the girls made on the bars.
            Kimberly’s fall was critical to the success of the plan. If she could nail the fall now, it would be second nature this Saturday. Kevin held his breath as she pushed past her mother and Stacy to “test” the defective bars. Shannon coached her on where the weakness would be and how the bar would react if she were slightly off center. 
            Kimberly nailed the target spot on the top bar and tumbled backwards as her hands lost contact with the bar’s surface. She located the mat and landed with a solid and convincing “thud” complete with a guttural grunt.   She lay there for a few moments for dramatic effect, but picked herself up from the mat and declared her body to be 100% intact. Kevin, Helen, Stacy and the rest of the crew breathed collective sigh of relief. 
            No second take needed. Shannon proclaimed the fall to be a perfect “splat”. No one would be able to spot it as fake. The slow motion film editor went over the video and had Kimberly remount the bar from a couple of angles. 
            “Perfect” he said. “From the angle of the camera that will be focused on her, it looks like the bar moves on her release. If we can make these safe bars appear unsafe, the bars for the promo will be a piece of cake. It is perfect.”
            “You will have the stunt doubles here Saturday?”
            “We will have the girls here earlier in the day to do the actual promo to air” Helen explained. “They will have to go to the Tower or Marco will know something is up. The stunt doubles will fill in here.”
            “Once the shoot begins, I’ll have the production booth feed the footage to you here. Keep the backdrop up and follow the routine using the stunt doubles. You will have an 8 second delay from the live feed to the on air feed. It will be just enough to make sure Marco messes something up and go out live.   Both feeds are going to the production booth. They will have the final say on which on is “airing”. All the time this is going on, the footage we shot here will be on reserve, so the sport still gets the glory it deserves. No matter what happens on the tower, strike this set as soon as you get the word from me” Helen concluded. 
            “Sounds like a “Mission Impossible” episode” Malcolm teased. 
            “Where do you think I got the idea? We’ve got to get back to the Gym. The girls still have to get ready for Regionals, right Shannon?”
            “”That’s coming all too soon” Shannon agreed. “We’ve got a lot of polish to put on Kimberly’s floor routine and more confidence in Stacy’s uneven bars.”
            Helen had no choice but to follow Kevin and her girls to the gym. They simply did not have the time to go home before getting the girls to the gym. She wished to have some of her time with her family back, but she had made her choices and that was time lost. Now, with all the truths out in the open, she could only hope that she could stay in their lives at all. She had no idea which direction Kevin would take once he was sure his girls were safe from Marco. She could not change what had happened, but she could change her present.
            Helen made the phone call to the station to take off from the late news as well. Her day off was for the evening news only. She had no sooner hung up from the call to the station manager when Marco called. He was livid Helen was taking time off tonight. Ratings dropped each news show she missed, and that was not in his plans. He had to keep the ratings up. Helen countered him pretty quickly. Ratings had not dropped the two nights she was in San Antonio and the relief anchor had performed very well. 
            “I’m not your puppet, Marco. I have to make sure the girls are ready for Saturday, and that means I have to be with them tonight.”
            “See to it then, but I expect an answer by the evening newscast, or I go on with a special all my own.”
            “You’ll have your answer” she hissed. “And you can cram your special where the sun don’t shine.”
            With a quick flip of her phone, she ended the conversation. A little tension between her and Marco would help Kevin’s plan a little. She had to keep Marco off balance, and standing up to him never made him feel comfortable. He liked control and she had shown him he was not in control of her life. It felt liberating.


 


© 2008 George Love


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Added on February 12, 2008


Author

George Love
George Love

Murfreesboro, TN



About
I am a retired Paramedic with over 20 years of Emergency Medical Services experience. While attending Middle Tennessee State University and Volunteer State College, I majored in Music, English, Preme.. more..

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