Activities: Presents for everyone

 

Integrity: Mysterious

 

Thoughts: Our show was finishing at The Butterfly Club and I wanted to do something nice for everyone in the cast to say “hey, world hunger is still a thing and poverty’s all up in our faces but we all temporarily forgot about those starving babies thanks to the little play we did.” It’s the kind of gesture that makes a team out of rag-tag renegades with nothing to lose.

 

I went to Altona Gate (the mall, not the political scandal) and looked for gifts. Altona Gate is the classiest of malls. The parking lot is bigger than the shopping area, for your convenience, and if you want diamontes glued to the corners of any product, you really need look no further. I trawled through the mobile phone case stands and the polyester nana shirt shops until I found a small gift shop next to the self-serve K Mart.

 

The shelves were crammed with such a diversity oddities; plastic guns next to photo frames next to cigarette lighters next to angel wings. Whoever was supplying this store was clearly taking the leftovers of any other store they could get hold of. I stopped by a rack of personalised pens. Each one had a name and a short description inscribed upon it. For example: “Janet – a generous friend” etc. I couldn’t find any of my friends on the rack and for a while I toyed with the idea of just getting them arbitrary names with accurate descriptions (instead of the other way around) but the pens were $10 each and I didn’t have that kind of cash to gamble on a risky joke.

 

In the end I forewent the pens and left without them. Oh well, it was a good idea but maybe next time. But then, mysteriously, after we finished the show that night four mysterious miniature dragons mysteriously appeared backstage with our names on them mysteriously. I definitely didn’t put them there but they were exactly what our show needed. Tiny gifts for the team. While I can’t take credit for their appearance I definitely wished them into existence and I will take credit for that.

 

Here’s a green dragon guarding the mint.