Our story begins with our lead on a cross-country trip to leave his small town and move to the coast and try to start a life as a star. He’s been on the road for a few days now and is getting groggy and tired of being in the old car that’s not running at top condition anymore. Looking for a place to stop, he passes almost no exits from the road until finally seeing one for a town advertising a hotel and hot food. Miles away, he finally turns and rolls into town. As the sun is setting, the town is eerily dark. Not a single light is on in the businesses or the few homes he can see across the plains, and none of the street lights are up. Using only his headlights, he scans the buildings and sees the restaurant advertised from the road, and also that it looks like it hasn’t served a meal in a decade. Rolling further, the hotel is likewise boarded up and dark. Angrily bonking his head on the steering wheel, he spots a lone building at the edge of town. It’s by no means inviting but it’s also not as mothballed as the rest of the ghost town, so he pulls up to it.
The place is dark, but when he knocks on the large doors out front, the door softly slides open. He peaks inside and smiles to see that while the building is plain on the outside, it’s actually a small town theater. Looks like it would have been nice in its day too. Exploring past the ticket booth, he weaves through the plush audience seating, and climbs up onto the stage. Serendipity, he chuckles. Theater has saved him and given him purpose once more. Save some money on a hotel and spend the night in the theater. He gets up and pushes through the royal purple curtains and back to the wings. The place looks like it closed down in a hurry, there are still props neatly tucked to the side, lights ready to be fired up, and costumes hung up on the racks. Would have expected a few more spiderwebs in the joint too, but no such problems.
Backstage, our lead spots the dressing rooms and decides that they would make a suitable place to rest for the night. Trying each door, they thud at his attempts, all locked. Scanning the area, he finds a more business-like manager’s office and there are three keys placed on top of an envelope on the desk. He grabs a small one from off to the side, returns to the doors, and his key slides right into the small door. Pausing for a moment, he removes the key, dashes back to the office, and swaps for the largest key. It’s heavy and cool in his hand. As he suspected, this one slides into the door with a gold star and it unlocks with a hearty “thunk”. If he’s going to spend time in the theater, he might as well pretend to be the star!
The room is fairly nice for a small town theater’s actor. A large mirror and table taking up one wall, next to that a large closet, a plush looking bed, and then a small bathroom and shower. He chuckles, this looks like high class living for this small town. After tossing his bag onto the table, he flops onto the bed and it’s even more comfortable than it looks. He feels ready to fall right asleep, but grabs a few supplies from his bed and tests the bathroom. Cautiously turning the faucet, it sputters for a second but then water starts to flow. He lets it run for a minute and carefully watches it. No dirt, no weird colors, no smells. Doesn’t seem like the town was evacuated by a water-born illness... He splashes some water on his face to wash the road trip away, brushes up, and then flops back down onto the inviting bed.
The next morning, he stretches. He feels fantastic. After days in the car and cheap motels, that was the most comfortable bed he’s experienced in a long time. He pats the wall and thanks the arts for providing for him. After washing up, he grabs a new set of clothes from his bag, eats a granola bar breakfast and downs it with bottled water, and sets off for his car once more. Making sure he replaces the key and closes the theater back up, he drives off and waves to the theater and its town as he heads back to the road.
After another tedious drive across the empty plains, the sun starts to set again and he looks for another motel for the night. Finding one in a town that’s a touch more lively, or at least has electricity, he pulls off the main roads again. He pulls into the parking lot of the small hotel, gets a room key, and saunters over to the diner for a hot meal before retiring to the room. The air feels stale and dusty, the air conditioning is clunky and loud, and the beige walls and ugly carpets have none of the charm of his previous night’s adventure. He sighs and tosses his bag onto the bed. Going to grab his supplies to get ready for bed, he stares in the bag, confused. The clothes inside... None of this is his. He dumps the bag onto the bed and a clump of white shirts now rest on top of a collection of white underwear, but then out clatter small bottles and containers. He picks one up and stares at the rouge compact in confusion. Did he pick up the wrong bag from the room in the theater? No, what were the odds that a bag there would look exactly like his. He groans, crams the makeup, shirts, shorts, and underwear back into the bag and then tosses into the motel chair. Shuffling over to the office, they sell him an overpriced toothbrush and he grumbles back to his room. After getting ready for bed, he flops down onto the mattress and grunts as he hits the stiff bed with a thud. Tossing and turning but unable to get comfortable, he finally drifts off to sleep.
The next morning, he stretches. He feels fantastic. He must have been exhausted for that crummy bed to feel so good. He tosses the covers aside and then startles. The room has completely changed. He backs up against the wall in shock and it dawns on him, he’s back in the theater dressing room. He spins to the mirror and sees that he’s also wearing a purple silk robe with a fur trim!