21 The Real Deal

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE THE REAL DEAL Matter (noun). Anything that has mass and takes up space. That means kids, dragons, and brownies are matter! ON FRIDAY MORNING, I paced back and forth in the science lab. My nerves must have been firing extra fast because my skin literally prickled with excitement. Today was the dress rehearsal. This was the very last time to practice before the show on Saturday afternoon. This was the last chance to figure anything out. I stood in front of the counter, along with Ms. Daly and the three main dragons, Jeremy, Rory, and Julia. We had tried to test out the dragon breathing special effect yesterday but we ended up spending so much time getting a couple of dancing and singing numbers right that we didn't have time. Today, we had all arrived at school extra early to test it out.

第二十一章真正的事情（名词）。 任何有质量并占据空间的东西。 这意味着孩子、龙和布朗尼都是重要的！星期五早上，我在科学实验室里来回踱步。 我的神经一定是异常兴奋，因为我的皮肤兴奋得刺痛。 今天是彩排。 这是周六下午演出前的最后一次练习。 这是最后一次解决问题的机会。 我站在柜台前，和她在一起。 戴利和三条主要的龙，杰里米，罗里和朱莉娅。 我们昨天试着测试龙呼吸的特效，但我们花了太多时间来弄对几个跳舞和唱歌的数字，以至于我们没有时间。 今天，我们都特别早地来到学校来测试它。

Soon fog would shoot out of the Cheetos now soaking in the cups of freezing-cold liquid nitrogen on the counter. There was one cup for each dragon. "Ready for some dragon smoke?" asked Ms. Daly "Oh yeah!" I said. But it was a teeny lie. We were about to do potentially dangerous special effects. That was, if we didn't follow our protocol with an experienced adult standing next to us. But we had followed every safety precaution. And Ms. Daly and I knew what we were doing. Just to be safe, we were all wearing the special coated gloves to protect our hands. These were the gloves I had wanted for my birthday. Ms. Daly had convinced the community college to let us borrow them for the play. She and I guarded the bowls of liquid nitrogen. "The rules are you must leave the liquid nitrogen in the cup and never touch it," I said. "Otherwise, it can burn you," finished Ms. Daly. Like me, she wore a lab coat and safety goggles. Jeremy stepped back. "Are you sure this is safe?" "Positive. As long as you carefully follow the directions," I said.

很快，雾气就会从柜台上泡在冰冷的液氮杯里的奇多中冒出来。 每条龙有一个杯子。 准备好来点龙烟了吗？ 戴利：“哦，耶！”我说。但这只是一个小小的谎言。 我们要做一些有潜在危险的特效。 前提是我们没有按照规定有一个有经验的成年人站在我们旁边。 但我们遵循了所有的安全预防措施。 戴利女士和我知道我们在做什么。 为了安全起见，我们都戴着特殊的涂层手套来保护我们的手。 这就是我想要的生日礼物。 戴利女士已经说服了社区学院让我们借去看戏。 她和我守着液氮碗。 “规则是你必须把液氮留在杯子里，永远不要碰它，”我说。 “否则，它会烧伤你。” 戴利。和我一样，她穿着实验服，戴着护目镜。 杰里米退后一步。“你确定这里安全吗？”“积极的。 “只要你仔细地按照指示去做。”我说。

The dragons all stabbed a Cheeto with a long wooden spear that looked like an extra-long toothpick. "Can we eat the Cheetos now?" asked Julia. "I'm hungry." "Not yet," said Ms. Daly. "Hold your horses. I mean hold your unicorns." We all laughed at the corny joke. "We need to wait until all the liquid becomes a gas," I said. "Maybe we should all count to ten Michigan to be super safe." "Ten Michigan?" asked Jeremy, raising his eyebrows. "It's a thing," I said. Everyone held their speared Cheeto, waiting. Then after ten Michigans, when the Cheetos released puffs of clouds, I said, "Okay, it's ready!" The three dragons crunched on their Cheetos and exhaled. Smoke curled out of their nostrils. Okay, not actual smoke. More like fog. I bounced up and down clapping, "It's awesome!" "The Cheeto tastes pretty good, too," said Jeremy.

龙都用一根长长的木矛刺了一个奇多，看起来像一根超长的牙签。 “我们现在可以吃奇多了吗？”茱莉亚问。 “我饿了。”“还没有。” 戴利。“别着急。我是说拿着你的独角兽。” 我们听了那个老掉牙的笑话都笑了。 “我们需要等到所有的液体都变成气体，”我说。 “也许我们都应该数到十，密歇根是超级安全的。” “十密歇根？”杰里米扬起眉毛问道。 “这是一件事，”我说。每个人都拿着带矛的奇多，等待着。 吃了十顿后，当奇多薯片释放出阵阵云彩时，我说：“好了，准备好了！”三条龙嘎吱嘎吱地吃着奇多，呼了一口气。 烟从他们的鼻孔里袅袅升起。 好吧，不是真的烟。更像是雾。 我跳上跳下，拍手说：“太棒了！”“奇多也很好吃，”杰里米说。

"You look like real dragons," Ms. Daly told them. All of the dragons roared their approval. "It went so perfectly," I gushed, feeling truly pleased. "Now we just need to see if it will work in the performance. The trick will be to eat your Cheetos behind the curtain and hold your breath while you race onto the stage. It will basically be a one-time stunt as the chorus of other dragons sings, 'Breathe fire, dragons, breathe!'" Jeremy waved his arm. "This is going to rock!" Or rather, smoke! I thought. A few minutes later, we were all back in the theater. I waved at Elijah in the lighting booth. And also at Birdie, who stood with the unicorns as they adjusted their costumes.

“你们看起来像真的龙。” 戴利告诉他们。所有的龙都咆哮着表示赞同。 “一切都很完美，”我滔滔不绝地说，由衷地感到高兴。 “现在我们只需要看看它是否能在表演中发挥作用。 诀窍是在幕布后面吃奇多，在你跑上舞台的时候屏住呼吸。 这基本上是一个一次性的特技，其他龙的合唱，“喷火，龙，喷！”’”杰里米挥了挥手。 “这将是摇滚！”或者更确切地说，是烟！我想。 几分钟后，我们都回到了剧院。 我在灯光室向以利亚挥了挥手。 还有在独角兽们调整服装时站在一起的小鸟。

Soon, Mrs. Hansberry gathered the rest of the cast and crew onto the stage. "While this isn't an actual performance with an audience, it's going to be like a real performance," she said. "So we need to treat it like one." After, we went over a reminder of who needed to be where and when, and Mrs. Hansberry gave a little pep talk. She discussed teamwork and pointed out how well everything was going. "I want to compliment you all for being on time today. Furthermore, I'm pleased to see that everyone is following the rules. Long pants. Closed-toe shoes with sturdy rubber soles." Before doing this, I didn't know that putting on a musical would be so complicated. Or that you would have to think about safety just like with chemistry. I knew that Mrs. Hansberry said that a bad dress rehearsal meant a good opening night. But I didn't think I could take too much more Murphy's Law. I really wanted the dress rehearsal to run smoothly. And while some actors dropped lines, and I had to give cues, and the lights were behind in a few places, it still felt like a real show.

很快，汉斯伯里夫人把其他演员和工作人员召集到舞台上。 “虽然这不是一场真正的有观众的表演，但它会像一场真正的表演一样，”她说。 “所以我们需要像对待一个人一样对待它。” 之后，我们复习了一份提醒，提醒谁应该在何时何地出现，汉斯伯里太太给了我们一些鼓励的话。 她讨论了团队合作，并指出一切进展顺利。 “我想称赞你们今天都很准时。 此外，我很高兴看到每个人都遵守规则。 长裤子。有结实橡胶底的闭头鞋。” 在做这件事之前，我不知道演音乐剧会这么复杂。 或者你必须考虑安全性，就像化学一样。 我知道汉斯伯里太太说过，糟糕的彩排意味着精彩的首演。 但我觉得我不能接受太多的墨菲定律。 我真的希望彩排能顺利进行。 虽然有些演员丢了台词，我不得不给线索，有些地方的灯光也落后了，但它仍然感觉像是一场真正的表演。

The unicorn horns finally stayed on everyone's heads. Birdie tossed her mane wildly, and her horn didn't budge. Without the distraction of the falling horns, Birdie and the rest of the cast were able to concentrate on singing and dancing. Afterward, we gathered to discuss what we could improve for the actual show tomorrow. Mostly Mrs. Hansberry asked that we go to bed early. Because a good night's sleep was essential for the cast and the crew. And for directors, too. Her eyes met mine. "I'm truly excited," she said. "I think the audience is going to enjoy this tremendously." "Yeah, my horn feels like it's part of my head now," said Memito, shaking his mane. "Thanks to Kate's chemistry skills," said Mrs. Hansberry. "The dragon smoke looked great from the lighting booth," said Elijah. "I aimed some lights with a blue gel, which made the smoke look smokier." As everyone was packing away their costumes, I remembered Mrs. Hansberry's warning. "Does that mean we will be in trouble tomorrow," I asked Birdie, "because today went so well?"

独角兽的角最终留在了每个人的头上。 小鸟疯狂地甩着鬃毛，犄角纹丝不动。 没有掉下来的角的干扰，小鸟和其他演员能够集中精力唱歌和跳舞。 之后，我们聚在一起讨论我们可以在明天的实际演出中改进什么。 汉斯伯里太太大多要求我们早点上床睡觉。 因为晚上睡个好觉对演员和工作人员都很重要。 对导演来说也是如此。她的目光与我的相遇。 “我真的很兴奋，”她说。 “我认为观众会非常喜欢这个。” “是啊，我的角现在感觉像是我脑袋的一部分了。”梅托摇晃着鬃毛说。 “多亏了凯特的化学技能，”汉斯伯里太太说。 “从照明亭看，龙烟看起来很棒，”以利亚说。 “我用蓝色凝胶瞄准了一些灯，让烟雾看起来更像烟。” 当大家都在收拾戏服时，我想起了汉斯伯里太太的警告。 “这是否意味着我们明天会有麻烦，”我问小鸟，“因为今天过得很好？”