Acting Up Again

I’ve been working in this factory for twenty years now. Where did all the time go? I feel like it was just last week that I was finishing high school, bright-eyed and hopeful for the future. I was going to be a movie star! I had a few auditions lined up, nailed my year twelve drama solo and finished top of my class. Everybody loved me. They said I had great range and incredible movement. What happened?

The accident is what happened. I was at a party to celebrate the end of the year, chatting to a friend about the school’s career counselling service. Melbourne has some fine career counsellors, but Mr O’Donail was the best. That’s why I was talking about him at a party. He was that cool. We were in the middle of a conversation about Super Maria Sisters, the hot new video game. That was when somebody popped a balloon. I thought that everybody knew about my fear of balloons popping. I thought I was safe there. But the fright caused me to run outside, through the sliding door. And I don’t mean through the space where the sliding door is when it’s closed. I ran through the sliding door, breaking the glass. My face received a thousand tiny cuts.

After the surgery, I was out of showbusiness. Nobody would want my scarred face in their movie. I got a job at my dad’s factory and that was that. Well, I’m sick of it. Things are different now. There are roles in movies for horribly disfigured people like myself. I’m going to book an appointment with a career change advisor within Melbourne. The’ll tell me where to go to start acting again. Maybe Mr O’Donail is still working as a career coach. I’d love to get advice from him and catch up, for old times’ sake. We could talk about all the latest video games and work out what my next steps are from here.

Sorry dad, but I can’t handle this factory job any longer. I quit!