The director-playwright lay under the raised curtain, surveying it to make sure it wasn’t creased. The manager had done that the night before. And again in the morning. But it didn’t hurt to check again.

Actors rushed around, muttering dialogues, rehearsing, buckling belts, fixing wigs. His eyes crinkled as he smiled to himself, proud.

Suddenly, he froze. His eyes widened as the curtain rod came hurtling towards his head.

He could only stare.

An inch away, it stopped. “You should be more careful, you know” came an unfamiliar voice from backstage. The one who’d become his wife.

He let his breath out.

---

I wrote this little story in July 2014. I found it in my drafts while cleaning out my blog, and I figured it was worth a polish and publish.