Act 1: Scene 4
Lions and Panthers and Bears, Oh My!
Prior to the curtains opening again, the stage crew wheels in a long ramp. It is butted up to the stage and leads down to the aisle between the rows of seats that the audience is seated in. The curtains open.
The stage is empty except for that large chair acting as a throne. There is that character dressed as a devil still sitting there, smiling, and nodding his head. The red spotlight shining down upon him is bathing him in a dim red glow.
There are no props and no other characters on stage with the exception of three, what appear to be stands. They are wooden posts with a stick perpendicular sitting atop the post. The post has a large block that is affixed to it.
As you are pondering this, you hear some footsteps behind you. They are heavy footsteps. You turn and see a white horse with a rider upon it. He is walking up the aisle towards the ramp. This white horse is majestic and powerful.
The rider on the white horse has a bow in his hand. Not a bow as in bow and arrow, but a bow as for a present. The bow is white and fairly large. The clothing of the rider is a dirty and stained white robe.
The horse and rider walks up the ramp and proceeds to the center of the stage. He turns the horse around and faces the audience. A character dressed as an angel appears from behind the curtain and walks up to the rider on the white horse. The angel hands the rider a crown and exits the stage.
The rider of the white horse has wheat tassels attached with a band upon his head. He sits upon his horse facing the audience. You hear another set of footsteps. Again, they are heavy footsteps.
A horse that is red in color appears. It is some very special effects to accomplish this as you notice that there is fire and brimstone coming out of the horse’s mouth.
The rider upon the back of this horse is sinister looking. He is dressed in red also. He has in his hand a sword. The sword is dripping blood. You also notice that out of the back of his costume, protrudes a serpent’s tail. He is wearing a breastplate. Upon this breastplate are images of fire, jacinth, and brimstone. On his back there is a number in bold letters. It is the number 660.
The horse and rider proceed up the ramp and veers off to the left of the stage. As this horse and rider passes the white horse, the rider gives the white horse and rider a very angry glare. The horse snorts at the white horse as he passes. The red horse and rider turns around and faces the audience. The horse and rider are facing the audience but they are constantly turning their heads and glaring angrily at the white horse and rider.
As this latest horse and rider have settled into their position on stage, you hear more heavy footsteps. A black horse appears with a rider dressed in black. The rider on this black horse is holding a pair of balances in his hand. He also has a pouch hanging from his side. You can see the outline of coins within the pouch. Coming out of the back of his costume is a scorpion’s tail, and also four wings of a locust.
The rider upon this horse has a number boldly written upon his back, the number 6.
The rider guides the horse up the ramp and veers to the right of the stage. The rider and the black horse turn and face the audience. You hear more heavy footsteps. But there are twice as many as before.
Now you can see why. There are two horses coming down the aisle. The first horse is leading. It is a dun color, that being a pale gray with darker gray spots. The rider upon this horse had a red costume with a serpent’s tail coming out of the back of the costume. He had on his back, the number 660. This rider also had the same breastplate that the rider of the red horse was wearing; a breastplate with pictures of fire, jacinth, and brimstone.
The horse had a banner hung around his neck with the word ‘Death’ in bold letters. This horse also breathed fire and brimstone.
The horse following this first horse was a bay colored horse. The rider upon the horse was dressed in black. He had a scorpion’s tail coming out of the back of the costume along with those same four wings of a locust, like the rider of the black horse. He had the same number on his back in bold, the number 6. He also had the same pouch hanging from his side with the outline of coins showing.
This horse had a banner hung around his neck with the word ‘Hell’ in bold letters.
As the dun colored horse with the bay horse following, make their way up the ramp, the rider and white horse walk towards the front of the stage and stand. The dun colored horse veers to the left of the white horse and rider. They walk around the white horse. They walk to the back of the stage and take their place behind the white horse just slightly to the left of the white horse and rider.
The bay colored horse veers to the right of the white horse and rider. He proceeds to the back of the stage and takes his place behind the white horse, slightly to the right side of the white horse and rider. Both the dun colored and the bay colored horses are standing side by side behind the white horse and rider.
As you are contemplating these five horses and riders on the stage, you hear coming up the aisle what sounds like wheels. Whoa! There is a large cage being wheeled in by two strong stagehands. Inside the cage is a ferocious looking lion. The lion has a large mane and is roaring as he sits perched upon the floor of the cage. One of the wheels needs to be oiled as it is squeaking as it rolls down the aisle.
The stagehands push the cage up the ramp and slowly spin the cage around with the door of the cage facing the audience. The lion is still roaring as one of the stagehands cautiously opens the door of the cage. The lion looks around and turns his gaze to the door. He slowly gets up and saunters to the door looking at the audience.
As the lion steps out of the cage and onto the stage, you now see two wings that had been held close to his body. You hadn’t noticed them before as they were the same color as his coat and had blended in as he held the wings tightly upon his sides. The lion unfurls the wings upon his sides and you can now see that these wings look like eagles wings.
The riders upon the dun colored horse and bay colored horse dismount. They walk around the rider on the white horse. The rider of the dun colored horse with the red costume and serpent’s tail passes the white horse and rider. He passes on the left side giving the rider on the white horse a fierce glance as he passes by.
The rider of the bay colored horse with the black costume and scorpion’s tail passes to the right side of the white horse and rider. As he passes, he glances towards the rider on the white horse and breaks into a smile. The smile is not a friendly smile. The smile looks more sinister than a friendly smile.
They both approach the lion and begin to pluck the feathers from the wings upon the lion’s sides. The lion appears to be in pain but does not attack these two characters. As the feathers are plucked from the eagle’s wings that are upon this lion, the feathers fall to the floor.
When there are no more feathers left, the riders in the costumes with serpents and scorpions tails that plucked the feathers, walk towards the back of the stage and remount their respective horses.
You see some motion upon the throne in the back left corner of the stage. It is the character dressed as the devil. He is pounding his hand upon the arm of the throne. It appears that he was thoroughly enjoying what was just portrayed upon the stage. He looks very eerie bathed in that dim red glow.
The lion with his wings plucked, moves forward towards the audience. As he advances forward, he begins to stand up on his hind feet. It is at this moment that you can clearly see that this is an actor wearing a lion costume. As he stands up, the lion suit falls away and drops to the ground. You then notice that this character is wearing a dirty white robe. He has wheat tassels held upon his head with a band around his head. He places a hand upon his heart, bows his head slightly, and gives the audience a huge, beaming smile.
The two stagehands pick up the discarded lion’s suit and toss it into the cage. They close the door to the cage and wheel the cage down the ramp, down the aisle, and they disappear behind the curtains at the back of the auditorium. You can hear that squeaky wheel getting fainter and fainter until it fades completely.
The man that was wearing the lion suit then takes steps backwards until he is standing beside the white horse with the rider. They look at each other, exchange smiles, and shake hands. They both then face the audience and are standing and sitting still, appearing relaxed.
As you are pondering how real looking the lion suit was that the man was wearing, you hear another roar behind you. As you turn your head, you see a bear. He is a big light brown colored bear. His fur has a reddish tinge to it. He has a collar around his neck with two leads coming off of it. The same two stagehands are holding these leads containing the bear. They are steering the bear down the aisle towards the ramp that leads up to the stage.
You are studying this bear. Is it real or is it another man wearing a bear suit? The bear roars and displays his set of real sharp teeth. You can smell his breath which does not smell pleasant. This is not a bear suit that somebody is wearing. This is a real bear!
One of the stagehands is carrying in the hand not holding the lead, what looks to be three long curved bones. These bones look like rib bones. The two stagehands lead the bear up the aisle.
As the bear passes you sitting in your aisle seat, you notice that there is a serpent tail. They approach the ramp and continue leading the bear up the ramp.
The bear is looking around as he lumbers up the ramp and fixes his gaze upon the white horse and rider with the man that was wearing the lion’s suit standing beside him. He begins to growl at them as he approaches them. He lunges and swipes at them.
The two stagehands pull hard on the leads and prevent the bear from attacking the white horse and rider or the man standing next to the horse. The bear looks over at the red horse and rider and walks over to them on the left side of the stage.
He now appears very calm. He turns around and lays down on the stage next to the red horse and rider. The bear rolls onto his left side, turning his head and hungrily looks at the white horse and rider and the man standing next to the horse. The bear bears his teeth as he roars occasionally as he looks towards the rider on the white horse and the man standing next to him. You also notice and there are strings of drool falling from the bears mouth and creating small puddles up on the stage.
The two stagehands unclip the leads and stepped back from the bear looking very nervous. The bear looks at them and then looks at the three bones being held by one of the stagehands. The stagehand with the ribs approaches the bear and holds them out in front of the bear. The bear grabs those three ribs and holds them in his mouth.
The two stagehands exit the stage behind the curtains. The stagehands looked relieved.
You hear a roar behind you. This one is different than the previous lion or bear through. It is similar to the roar of the lion you heard but definitely different. You turn your head to see a large, sleek, black panther very stealthy walking up the aisle. There is another stagehand holding a lead attached to its collar on this massive animal.
This black panther was very strange looking as he didn’t have one head, but four heads. You can see that one head was the real head. The other three heads looked very lifelike as they moved slightly from side to side as if searching for prey. Their eyes were a greenish yellow and all of the eyes on these four heads blinked in unison. The special effects of how real these heads look so lifelike, is amazing.
There was another unusual aspect to this creature. It had a black tail; however it was not a panther’s tail. It was a black scorpion’s tail with a stinger on the end of it. The tail was curved up and poised like it was ready to strike.
It also has four wings mounted on his back. These wings looked like huge crow’s wings or perhaps they are wings of a raven. The feathers are a deep black. They are made to slowly flap upon his back as he stealthily takes his steps.
As this creature saunters up the aisle with the stagehand at his side, you study this odd beast. It looks very powerful and is vey muscular as the muscles ripple with every step.
As this animal and stagehand climb the ramp, you notice that all of the heads are turned towards the center of the stage. This beast lets out a very large roar and fixes all of their eyes upon the white horse with its rider and the man standing next to it. He then lets out a deep, long growl.
The black panther and stage hand veer off to the right of the stage. The panther’s heads continue to be turned towards the white horse with the rider and the man standing next to them
The rider on the white horse along with his horse and the man standing next to the horse, have a look of fear upon their faces and their eyes lock upon each other. They stare at each other as the panther passes. You can still hear that low, deep growl.
The stagehand leads the panther to the left side of the black horse and rider, turns the panther around with the lead. The panther sits down facing the audience. All of its heads are turned towards the white horse with its rider and the man standing next to the horse.
The panther is still growling. Each of his heads has its mouth slightly opened enough to expose the bright white sharp teeth. Their tongues flit out of their mouths and roll across those bright white teeth, licking their chops, anticipating their next meal.
The stagehand unclips the lead and exits off the stage. He, like the stagehands before, looks relieved.
All of their heads continue to be affixed upon the white horse with its rider and the man standing next to him. You hear a faint squeak in the distance. You hear another squeak, this one closer. It sounds familiar. It sounds like a squeaky wheel as it get louder and louder. You realize it is the same squeaky wheel you heard earlier. They didn’t get oil on that wheel.
That is when you hear another roar. This one is very different. It is nothing like what you have ever heard. You have watched many nature shows and wildlife shows and heard all sorts of animal sounds; but, never a sound like this one.
Coming up the aisle was a platform with a cage pushed forward by two stagehands. It was the same cage as before. But this cage was holding an animal that you have never seen before. It was obviously an animated animal because this couldn’t be a real animal. The special effects were amazing. It looked real. This animal or beast in this cage has seven heads. One of the heads had bandages on it but was looking alive.
The body of this beast had the body of the muscular black panther that was seated on the stage. Its feet were bear’s feet like the feet of the bear that was on stage that were brown with a reddish tinge color. You notice the nails of this bear’s feet are protruding through its dun colored, reddish hair. Its nails look like brass.
That is when you notice that the floor of the cage is littered with wheat heads. The wheat heads look like they have been stomped on repeatedly. A number of the wheat kernels had separated from the heads and were strewn across the floor of the cage.
The mouth of this beast was like the mouth of the lion that was seated on the stage, but was more ferocious looking. It had its teeth bared like it was ready to strike. As you look at the teeth of this lion’s mouth, you see that they are not like regular teeth. This lion’s teeth were metal. They were a dull gray color which looked like they were steel. Yet the steel had what looked like rust on them. Perhaps they were iron?
On each of the seven heads that was upon it, was a horn and there was a crown on each horn. There were another 3 horns with crowns upon them that were laying on the floor of the cage. There was also another littler horn behind these seven heads. This was one strange looking beast. Each of the heads moved in unison with each other. They all seemed to be staring at the center of the stage.
This beast looked very powerful and formidable. It continued to let out that hideous roar. As the stagehands pushed the cage with the squeaky wheel up the ramp, you are able to see the faces of the ones being approached by the cage with this beast in it
The white horse with the rider upon it and the man standing next to it, have looks of fear upon their faces. The horse’s eyes are wide and have a look of fear. All three of them, the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to the horse are fidgeting and looking very nervous.
As the cage with this beast is pushed around these three, all seven of the heads are glaring at these three. The stagehands push the cage to the rear of these three, spin the cage around, and placed it next to the dunnish-gray and bay colored horses.
The stage hands appear to be loosening something at the bottom of the four corners of the cage. They open the front door of the cage exposing this beast to freedom from the cage. They slide the cage backwards off the platform and slide it to the rear of the platform. They close the door and proceed to exit off the stage. Again, there is a look of relief on their faces as they glance back while hurrying to their exit.
The seven heads of this beast eyes are now all affixed upon the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to the white horse. You can hear a low, guttural growl emanating from this beast.
Just when you are thinking that this scene is over, you hear another roar. But it is not a single roar, it sounds like two roars in unison. You look at the back of the aisle and see two lions, one with a huge mane and the other without a mane. These are a male and a female lion.
They have collars on their necks with a lead attached and two stagehands holding each lion tightly. They walk up the aisle holding those leads, guiding the lions towards the ramp. The lions are roaring, exposing their razor sharp teeth, glistening white.
The male lion has a serpent’s tail draped over his real tail. The female lion has a scorpion’s tail draped over her real tail.
As they approach the ramp leading up to the stage, both lions affixed their gaze upon the white horse with its rider, and the man standing next to the horse. The lions are visibly licking their chops.
Again, the white horse, its rider, and the man, have a look of fear upon their faces as these two lions approach them. As the lions approach, they appear like they are ready to pounce on them. The stagehands split apart.
Both stagehands are pulling the lions away from the center of the stage with the lion visibly wanting to pounce on the characters and the white horse. The lions are reluctantly being pulled. One of the stagehands veers to the right. The other stagehand veers to the left.
The stagehand located on the left, leads the lion and turns the lion around. The lion sits down on the stage next to the bear. The lion, just as the bear, are licking their chops and leering at the white horse, its rider, and the man.
The stagehand located on the right, leads the lion and turns the lion around. The lion sits down on the stage next to the black panther. The lion, just as the black panther, are leering at the white horse, its rider, and the man and licking its chops.
Both of the lions are drooling leaving puddles of drool on the stage. Both stagehands disconnect the leads and quickly exit the stage. They don’t even look back; they are in a hurry to get off that stage.
The bear next to the lion, and the black panther next to the lion, are all appearing to get along. They briefly glance at each other and then turn their attention towards the center of the stage where the white horse, rider, and man are.
As you are looking at all of these characters upon the stage, you again see some movement from the character dressed as the devil with that eerie red spotlight shining on him. He is slapping the arm of the chair and is visibly excited. He holds one hand into a fist and punches the air as he looks straight up. He is smiling broadly and appears to be really enjoying himself at what is occurring on stage.
Your attention to this character is now drawn towards the aisle at the back of the auditorium. There is quite a ruckus going on as you hear the braying of a donkey. You look as two stagehands with ropes in their hands are having quite a time with this donkey. He is rearing up and bucking as the stagehands are pulled one direction, then another.
The donkey seems to settle down a bit as they begin to pull with everything they’ve got. This donkey doesn’t want to follow the stagehands and is fighting against the ropes that are restraining him. The two stagehands continue to pull the donkey as the donkey now begins to reluctantly be pulled by them.
You are watching this spectacle when you notice the donkey look ahead of him towards the stage. You see that the donkey affixes his gaze upon the center of the stage. The donkey charges past the two stagehands as he begins to bolt towards the stage.
The two stagehands brace themselves and are now pulling back on the donkey instead of trying to drag him. The donkey then bucks and rears up. This is not a tame donkey but is obviously a wild donkey. This continues as the donkey and two stagehands proceed up the aisle. They begin to climb the ramp as the two stagehands certainly have their hands full.
They finally arrived at the top of the ramp and the center of the stage. The donkey is now snorting at the white horse with its rider and man standing next to it. He begins to paw the ground and lowers his head as if he is going to charge them. He bucks and rears as it appears he is trying to break free from the ropes that are restraining him.
One of the stagehands on the side closest to the left pulls hard on the rope. The donkeys head is pulled that way. The other stage hand swings quickly around to assist in guiding the donkey to the left of the stage. The donkey finally complies. The two stagehands guide the donkey and position him to stand next to the lion which is laying down next to the bear.
They face the donkey towards the audience and each of them bends down. They reach to the floor of the stage and flips up what appears to be some type of a handle. They tie the rope with double knots to these anchors. They step away from the donkey having the donkey securely tethered. They wipe their brows of the sweat from that ordeal.
As the two stagehands exit the stage, the donkey settles down a bit and turns his head towards the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to it. He is snorting and pawing the ground as he glares at them.
As you are looking at all of the characters on the stage, you are thinking ‘The stage is getting pretty crowded. This scene must be about done. There’s not much room left for any more.
You are looking at the stage pondering this as your attention is drawn to the center aisle again. You didn’t hear them approaching. You see three stagehands walking side by side towards the ramp. Each of the three stagehands had a long leather glove on their hands. The leather glove on their hands reached all the way to their elbows. Their arms were held up at about chest level. Each had birds that were perched and squeezing with their feet and claws onto the gloves. All of the birds had small hoods over their heads and a small lead dangling from one foot.
The bird perched upon the first stagehand’s arm was very large. It appeared to be an eagle of some sort with reddish wings.
The second had his glove on his right hand and arm. Perched upon his glove was what appeared to be a fairly large blackish, owl.
The third had gloves on both arms. Both of his arms had one bird upon each. These appeared to be some type of a dove. They are a creamy white in color.
All three proceeded up the ramp. The stagehand with what appears to be an eagle, walked to the left of the stage where the red horse with its rider, the bear, the lion, and the donkey are. He walked to the wooden post with the stick on the top. He picks up each foot of this bird and places it upon the roost.
With this bird now gripping its’ roost, the stagehand ties the small lead to the roost and removes the hood that was covering the bird’s head. The bird stretches out his wings as he peers around. You can see clearly now that this is an eagle.
The eagle peers around, adjusting his eyes to the light after having his hood removed. His gaze turns towards the center of the stage where the white horse, rider, and man are standing. He looks like he is getting ready to take flight, he shakes his foot with the lead on it, realizing he is tethered. He has tried that before, taking off with his foot tethered and it didn’t end well.
This eagle pays no mind to the horse, its rider, the bear or the lion. His attention is drawn towards his left. He settles into a perched position and glares at the characters and horse at the center of the stage. The eagle then delivers a loud screeching call that is commonly known as the cry of the eagle.
The stagehand that brought the eagle to his stand, then exits the stage.
The second stagehand turns to the right and heads to the roost that is in front of the black horse with its rider, the black panther and the lion. He places the feet of this owl upon its roost, ties the small lead to the roost and removes its hood.
It is an owl as you can clearly see its bright yellow eyes blinking. He rotates his head from side to side, blinking his eyes as they adjust to the light. His head then turns to the left of him and doesn’t move. He is staring at the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to the horse. The owl then lets out a high pitched hoot. The stagehand exits the stage having secured the owl to the perch.
The third stage hand approaches the roost located on the center of the stage. He gently picks up each dove with his opposite hand and places each one on the roost. He ties each of the small leads to the roost, then removes the hoods and the doves begin to coo. The stagehand then exits the stage.
As the last stagehand is exiting off the stage, three new stagehands appear. Each one is pushing a small stand on wheels. Atop each one of the stands is an object.
The first stagehand’s table has what appears to be a fairly large rectangular box draped over with a red colored cloth. He proceeds to the left hand of the stage where the reddish horse with its rider, the bear, the lion, and the eagle are. He stands with the table on wheels in front of the eagle’s roost.
The second stagehand’s table has what appears to be two objects on that stand, draped with a white cloth. One is tall and appears to be round at the top. The other object is much lower than the first and looks to be rectangular and uneven as the cloth follows the outline of the object. He proceeds to the center of the stage where the white horse with its rider, the man standing next to the horse, and the doves are. He takes his place also in front of the dove’s roost.
The third stagehand’s table has what appears to be a smaller, rectangular box draped by a black colored cloth that is draped over it. He proceeds to the right hand of the stage where the black horse with its rider, the black panther, the lion, and the owl are. He takes his place also in front of the owl’s perch.
The first stage hand on the left part of the stage makes a movement. He picks up something that was behind the red cloth. It is a leather glove. As he puts it on his left hand, you can see that the glove reaches all the way to his elbow; similar to the gloves that the bird handlers wore. He takes a hold of the red cloth and removes it, letting it drop to the floor, now revealing what the red cloth was covering.
It is a fairly large terrarium. Through the glass of the terrarium, you see a fairly large snake. The stagehand opens the lid covering the terrarium and carefully reaches his hand into the terrarium. He quickly grabs the snake just behind its head. It is obviously a venomous snake judging how the stagehand is handling it.
He pulls his hand up out of the terrarium with his hand tightly holding the head of the snake. He reaches into the terrarium with his right hand and lifts the rest of the body of the snake out of the terrarium.
The stagehand walks over to the roost and rests the top part of the body of the snake on the roost. He then places the rest of the snake body on it. The snake wraps his tail around the roost. The stagehand quickly releases the snake’s head and steps back.
The snake flits out his tongue, and begins to completely coil around the roost. The snake’s weight makes the post lean to the left a bit. The eagle that is perched on the other side of the roost moves towards the far end to balance the newly added weight of the snake.
The snake now securely wrapped around the roost, extends the upper part of his body out from his perch and looks around. As his gaze comes to the center of the stage, he affixes his gaze upon the white horse, rider, and man standing next to the horse. He then appears to take a position as if ready to strike at them. He hisses and bares his fangs.
He remains in that position as the stagehand bends over and picks up the red cloth he had dropped onto the stage earlier. He drops it into the terrarium and exits the stage pushing the table on wheels.
Your attention is now drawn to the right side of the stage as the stagehand with the smaller rectangular box covered with the black cloth reaches to the table. He puts on leather gloves on both hands.
He then picks up another object that was on the table behind the rectangular box. It is a fairly large stick about a foot long.
He reaches to the black cloth, pulls it off the object on the table, and lets it drop to the floor. This too is a terrarium. It is smaller than the first terrarium. In this terrarium is a large black scorpion. The stagehand reaches into the terrarium with the stick and touches the scorpion. The scorpion raises its tail as if ready to strike.
The stagehand maneuvers the stick to the feet of the scorpion. He pushes the stick gently under the body of the scorpion and begins to lift the stick. The scorpion grabs a hold of the stick with his feet and begins to crawl up the stick.
The stagehand very smoothly removes from the terrarium the stick with the scorpion and quickly, but smoothly brings the stick to the opposite end of the perch where the owl is. The owl gives the stagehand and the scorpion a brief glance and then returns glaring towards the center of the stage.
As the scorpion approaches the stagehands glove holding the stick, the stagehand grabs the opposite end of the stick with his other hand. He releases his left hand off the stick as the scorpion advances towards his glove.
The stage hand gently places the stick with the scorpion now at the end of the stick onto the owls’ roost. The scorpions steps onto the roost and off the stick. The scorpion faces towards the center of the stage and raises its tail with the prominent stinger poised as if ready to strike.
The stagehand looks relieved as he bends over to pick up the black cloth he dropped on the stage earlier. He then proceeds to push the cart on wheels and exits the stage.
Your curiosity is growing as you are wondering what could possibly be on the table with wheels of the stagehand in the center of the stage. The stagehand grabs the white cloth and lets it drop the floor. Upon this table is a large golden cup. Next to this large cup is what appears to be a small bundle of wheat. There is a sign hanging in the front suspended by golden chains that reads “Babylon”.
The stagehand removes a lid that was affixed to this large golden cup. He then picks up the bundle. The bundle has a cord wrapped around the bottoms of the stalks of some type of grain. It has a small cord with a metal hook attached to the cord.
As the stagehand lifts this bundle, you can now make out the shape of the seed heads atop the stalks. This bundle of grain is a bundle of wheat. That makes sense now because you have been seeing all these previous characters with wheat tassels.
The stagehand takes the bundle of wheat, turns it upside down, and dips the wheat tassels into the cup. He then pulls the bundle of wheat out of the golden cup and you can see that he dipped them into a red liquid that was within the golden cup.
The red liquid is thick and a deep red. The stage hand carries the bundle of wheat towards the bird roost and hangs it on the opposite side of the roost where the doves are sitting, still cooing. As the stagehand finishes hanging the bundle of wheat with dripping red liquid, the doves look at the bundle of wheat that is dripping red liquid. The doves stop cooing and go silent.
The stagehand walks back to the table on wheels and picks up the lid that he had taken off the golden cup earlier. He places it upon the golden cup, presses down, and you hear to snap of the lid closing. He bends over, picks up the white cloth he dropped on the stage earlier and places it upon the table. He pushes the table in front of him with a sad look on his face as he exits the stage.
Your gaze goes back to the red liquid dripping off the wheat tassels which is forming a puddle on the floor. As the drips are now slowing and forming long drips, you realize that the color and consistency of this liquid is representing blood. As you are letting that realization sink in, the lights on the stage begin to dim.
The lights on the stage go dimmer and dimmer until there is barely any light left. You can still make out the faint outlines of the characters and animals on the stage. The character dressed as the devil sitting on his throne is still clearly visible. The red spotlight on him never ceases. He has that eerie red glow still upon him.
On the left hand side of the stage on the upper back wall, small lights appear. There is a lot of these small lights being portrayed on the wall. It looks like the night sky with all of the stars. That’s what it is. Just like when you watch a show at a planetarium. These are the stars of the galaxy shining on the left back wall.
When the stars appear on the back wall, the animals become active. You can hear the horse with the rider pawing the ground and snorting. The bear roars. The lion roars. The donkey brays. The eagle screeches. The bear and the lion continue to growl.
You then see a fairly bright shooting star going from the upper right side of the back wall. It streaks across the path of wall from right to left and disappears as it reaches where the character dressed as the devil is sitting on his throne. As the shooting star disappears, the red spotlight becomes brighter illuminating this character with a brighter red glow.
As you are watching this occur, about one third of the stars portrayed on the wall begin to fall straight down until they disappear just over the heads of the characters and animals on the left hand side of the stage.
While contemplating what you just saw, a very bright image appears on the upper wall on the right hand of the stage. This is an image of the sun as you see the images of the gas burning around the edges. The light from the sun shining on the back wall lights up the right side of the stage. You can see all of the characters and animals very clearly now.
You then see a large black object begin to creep over the outer left side of the sun that is being projected on the wall. An eclipse is taking place. The large black object slowly creeps from the left to the right covering the sun. You watch in amazement as the light being projected as the sun is almost covered. The light being bounced onto the stage is dimming immensely now.
When the sun appears on the back wall, the animals under the sun become active. You can hear the horse with the rider pawing the ground and snorting. The black panther roars. The lion roars. The owl screeches. The black panther and the lion continue to growl.
The object is now totally covering the sun until you can just barely see the outer edge of the sun. The outline of the characters and animals on the stage can just barely be made out.
In the center of the stage there appears a projection of the moon on the center back wall. It is obviously the moon as you can see the craters and features familiar to what you have seen in countless movies and pictures.
The light being projected off the moon lights up the characters located at the center of the stage; the white horse with its rider, and the man standing next to it. You can see that strange looking beast along with the dun colored and bay horses with their riders. The doves show up with their creamy white feathers. You can also see the bundle of wheat hanging from the bird roost.
As you are taking in this scene, a dark red color appears at the top of the moon. It creeps down over the moon in uneven lines. It looks like something is being poured over the top of the moon and running down. It looks dark red and thick. Ahh, it is the same red color that the wheat was dipped into. It looks like blood.
When the moon appears on the back wall, the horse and doves become active. You can hear the horse with the rider pawing the ground. The only other sound you hear is the cooing of the doves.
You watch until the moon is now completely covered with this thick dark liquid resembling blood. The bright light that was being broadcast from the moon is now completely darkened. You can barely see the outline of the characters and animals in the center of the stage.
What light was coming from the stars, sun, and moon are now dimming until there is no light on the stage except for the bright red glow shining on that character dressed as the devil. You can just make out that he has a huge smile on his face as he flashes his white teeth.
The curtains close.
A spotlight appears on the right hand of the stage shining on the curtains and the stage right below the curtains. A man steps out into the spotlight dressed is casual clothes with a sports jacket. He is carrying a microphone as he walks to the center of the stage. The spotlight follows him. He is getting ready to speak.
“We hope you are enjoying the show. We are going to break for a brief intermission. We have a lot of animals to move off the stage and need to set up for the next scene. Please take this time to get yourself some refreshments and snacks. The restrooms are on the right and left sides of the lobby. The curtains for the next scene will open in about thirty minutes. Thank you for coming this evening.”
The announcer walks off the stage. You hear quite a bit of commotion going on behind the curtains as you get up to head to the lobby.
The stage is empty except for that large chair acting as a throne. There is that character dressed as a devil still sitting there, smiling, and nodding his head. The red spotlight shining down upon him is bathing him in a dim red glow.
There are no props and no other characters on stage with the exception of three, what appear to be stands. They are wooden posts with a stick perpendicular sitting atop the post. The post has a large block that is affixed to it.
As you are pondering this, you hear some footsteps behind you. They are heavy footsteps. You turn and see a white horse with a rider upon it. He is walking up the aisle towards the ramp. This white horse is majestic and powerful.
The rider on the white horse has a bow in his hand. Not a bow as in bow and arrow, but a bow as for a present. The bow is white and fairly large. The clothing of the rider is a dirty and stained white robe.
The horse and rider walks up the ramp and proceeds to the center of the stage. He turns the horse around and faces the audience. A character dressed as an angel appears from behind the curtain and walks up to the rider on the white horse. The angel hands the rider a crown and exits the stage.
The rider of the white horse has wheat tassels attached with a band upon his head. He sits upon his horse facing the audience. You hear another set of footsteps. Again, they are heavy footsteps.
A horse that is red in color appears. It is some very special effects to accomplish this as you notice that there is fire and brimstone coming out of the horse’s mouth.
The rider upon the back of this horse is sinister looking. He is dressed in red also. He has in his hand a sword. The sword is dripping blood. You also notice that out of the back of his costume, protrudes a serpent’s tail. He is wearing a breastplate. Upon this breastplate are images of fire, jacinth, and brimstone. On his back there is a number in bold letters. It is the number 660.
The horse and rider proceed up the ramp and veers off to the left of the stage. As this horse and rider passes the white horse, the rider gives the white horse and rider a very angry glare. The horse snorts at the white horse as he passes. The red horse and rider turns around and faces the audience. The horse and rider are facing the audience but they are constantly turning their heads and glaring angrily at the white horse and rider.
As this latest horse and rider have settled into their position on stage, you hear more heavy footsteps. A black horse appears with a rider dressed in black. The rider on this black horse is holding a pair of balances in his hand. He also has a pouch hanging from his side. You can see the outline of coins within the pouch. Coming out of the back of his costume is a scorpion’s tail, and also four wings of a locust.
The rider upon this horse has a number boldly written upon his back, the number 6.
The rider guides the horse up the ramp and veers to the right of the stage. The rider and the black horse turn and face the audience. You hear more heavy footsteps. But there are twice as many as before.
Now you can see why. There are two horses coming down the aisle. The first horse is leading. It is a dun color, that being a pale gray with darker gray spots. The rider upon this horse had a red costume with a serpent’s tail coming out of the back of the costume. He had on his back, the number 660. This rider also had the same breastplate that the rider of the red horse was wearing; a breastplate with pictures of fire, jacinth, and brimstone.
The horse had a banner hung around his neck with the word ‘Death’ in bold letters. This horse also breathed fire and brimstone.
The horse following this first horse was a bay colored horse. The rider upon the horse was dressed in black. He had a scorpion’s tail coming out of the back of the costume along with those same four wings of a locust, like the rider of the black horse. He had the same number on his back in bold, the number 6. He also had the same pouch hanging from his side with the outline of coins showing.
This horse had a banner hung around his neck with the word ‘Hell’ in bold letters.
As the dun colored horse with the bay horse following, make their way up the ramp, the rider and white horse walk towards the front of the stage and stand. The dun colored horse veers to the left of the white horse and rider. They walk around the white horse. They walk to the back of the stage and take their place behind the white horse just slightly to the left of the white horse and rider.
The bay colored horse veers to the right of the white horse and rider. He proceeds to the back of the stage and takes his place behind the white horse, slightly to the right side of the white horse and rider. Both the dun colored and the bay colored horses are standing side by side behind the white horse and rider.
As you are contemplating these five horses and riders on the stage, you hear coming up the aisle what sounds like wheels. Whoa! There is a large cage being wheeled in by two strong stagehands. Inside the cage is a ferocious looking lion. The lion has a large mane and is roaring as he sits perched upon the floor of the cage. One of the wheels needs to be oiled as it is squeaking as it rolls down the aisle.
The stagehands push the cage up the ramp and slowly spin the cage around with the door of the cage facing the audience. The lion is still roaring as one of the stagehands cautiously opens the door of the cage. The lion looks around and turns his gaze to the door. He slowly gets up and saunters to the door looking at the audience.
As the lion steps out of the cage and onto the stage, you now see two wings that had been held close to his body. You hadn’t noticed them before as they were the same color as his coat and had blended in as he held the wings tightly upon his sides. The lion unfurls the wings upon his sides and you can now see that these wings look like eagles wings.
The riders upon the dun colored horse and bay colored horse dismount. They walk around the rider on the white horse. The rider of the dun colored horse with the red costume and serpent’s tail passes the white horse and rider. He passes on the left side giving the rider on the white horse a fierce glance as he passes by.
The rider of the bay colored horse with the black costume and scorpion’s tail passes to the right side of the white horse and rider. As he passes, he glances towards the rider on the white horse and breaks into a smile. The smile is not a friendly smile. The smile looks more sinister than a friendly smile.
They both approach the lion and begin to pluck the feathers from the wings upon the lion’s sides. The lion appears to be in pain but does not attack these two characters. As the feathers are plucked from the eagle’s wings that are upon this lion, the feathers fall to the floor.
When there are no more feathers left, the riders in the costumes with serpents and scorpions tails that plucked the feathers, walk towards the back of the stage and remount their respective horses.
You see some motion upon the throne in the back left corner of the stage. It is the character dressed as the devil. He is pounding his hand upon the arm of the throne. It appears that he was thoroughly enjoying what was just portrayed upon the stage. He looks very eerie bathed in that dim red glow.
The lion with his wings plucked, moves forward towards the audience. As he advances forward, he begins to stand up on his hind feet. It is at this moment that you can clearly see that this is an actor wearing a lion costume. As he stands up, the lion suit falls away and drops to the ground. You then notice that this character is wearing a dirty white robe. He has wheat tassels held upon his head with a band around his head. He places a hand upon his heart, bows his head slightly, and gives the audience a huge, beaming smile.
The two stagehands pick up the discarded lion’s suit and toss it into the cage. They close the door to the cage and wheel the cage down the ramp, down the aisle, and they disappear behind the curtains at the back of the auditorium. You can hear that squeaky wheel getting fainter and fainter until it fades completely.
The man that was wearing the lion suit then takes steps backwards until he is standing beside the white horse with the rider. They look at each other, exchange smiles, and shake hands. They both then face the audience and are standing and sitting still, appearing relaxed.
As you are pondering how real looking the lion suit was that the man was wearing, you hear another roar behind you. As you turn your head, you see a bear. He is a big light brown colored bear. His fur has a reddish tinge to it. He has a collar around his neck with two leads coming off of it. The same two stagehands are holding these leads containing the bear. They are steering the bear down the aisle towards the ramp that leads up to the stage.
You are studying this bear. Is it real or is it another man wearing a bear suit? The bear roars and displays his set of real sharp teeth. You can smell his breath which does not smell pleasant. This is not a bear suit that somebody is wearing. This is a real bear!
One of the stagehands is carrying in the hand not holding the lead, what looks to be three long curved bones. These bones look like rib bones. The two stagehands lead the bear up the aisle.
As the bear passes you sitting in your aisle seat, you notice that there is a serpent tail. They approach the ramp and continue leading the bear up the ramp.
The bear is looking around as he lumbers up the ramp and fixes his gaze upon the white horse and rider with the man that was wearing the lion’s suit standing beside him. He begins to growl at them as he approaches them. He lunges and swipes at them.
The two stagehands pull hard on the leads and prevent the bear from attacking the white horse and rider or the man standing next to the horse. The bear looks over at the red horse and rider and walks over to them on the left side of the stage.
He now appears very calm. He turns around and lays down on the stage next to the red horse and rider. The bear rolls onto his left side, turning his head and hungrily looks at the white horse and rider and the man standing next to the horse. The bear bears his teeth as he roars occasionally as he looks towards the rider on the white horse and the man standing next to him. You also notice and there are strings of drool falling from the bears mouth and creating small puddles up on the stage.
The two stagehands unclip the leads and stepped back from the bear looking very nervous. The bear looks at them and then looks at the three bones being held by one of the stagehands. The stagehand with the ribs approaches the bear and holds them out in front of the bear. The bear grabs those three ribs and holds them in his mouth.
The two stagehands exit the stage behind the curtains. The stagehands looked relieved.
You hear a roar behind you. This one is different than the previous lion or bear through. It is similar to the roar of the lion you heard but definitely different. You turn your head to see a large, sleek, black panther very stealthy walking up the aisle. There is another stagehand holding a lead attached to its collar on this massive animal.
This black panther was very strange looking as he didn’t have one head, but four heads. You can see that one head was the real head. The other three heads looked very lifelike as they moved slightly from side to side as if searching for prey. Their eyes were a greenish yellow and all of the eyes on these four heads blinked in unison. The special effects of how real these heads look so lifelike, is amazing.
There was another unusual aspect to this creature. It had a black tail; however it was not a panther’s tail. It was a black scorpion’s tail with a stinger on the end of it. The tail was curved up and poised like it was ready to strike.
It also has four wings mounted on his back. These wings looked like huge crow’s wings or perhaps they are wings of a raven. The feathers are a deep black. They are made to slowly flap upon his back as he stealthily takes his steps.
As this creature saunters up the aisle with the stagehand at his side, you study this odd beast. It looks very powerful and is vey muscular as the muscles ripple with every step.
As this animal and stagehand climb the ramp, you notice that all of the heads are turned towards the center of the stage. This beast lets out a very large roar and fixes all of their eyes upon the white horse with its rider and the man standing next to it. He then lets out a deep, long growl.
The black panther and stage hand veer off to the right of the stage. The panther’s heads continue to be turned towards the white horse with the rider and the man standing next to them
The rider on the white horse along with his horse and the man standing next to the horse, have a look of fear upon their faces and their eyes lock upon each other. They stare at each other as the panther passes. You can still hear that low, deep growl.
The stagehand leads the panther to the left side of the black horse and rider, turns the panther around with the lead. The panther sits down facing the audience. All of its heads are turned towards the white horse with its rider and the man standing next to the horse.
The panther is still growling. Each of his heads has its mouth slightly opened enough to expose the bright white sharp teeth. Their tongues flit out of their mouths and roll across those bright white teeth, licking their chops, anticipating their next meal.
The stagehand unclips the lead and exits off the stage. He, like the stagehands before, looks relieved.
All of their heads continue to be affixed upon the white horse with its rider and the man standing next to him. You hear a faint squeak in the distance. You hear another squeak, this one closer. It sounds familiar. It sounds like a squeaky wheel as it get louder and louder. You realize it is the same squeaky wheel you heard earlier. They didn’t get oil on that wheel.
That is when you hear another roar. This one is very different. It is nothing like what you have ever heard. You have watched many nature shows and wildlife shows and heard all sorts of animal sounds; but, never a sound like this one.
Coming up the aisle was a platform with a cage pushed forward by two stagehands. It was the same cage as before. But this cage was holding an animal that you have never seen before. It was obviously an animated animal because this couldn’t be a real animal. The special effects were amazing. It looked real. This animal or beast in this cage has seven heads. One of the heads had bandages on it but was looking alive.
The body of this beast had the body of the muscular black panther that was seated on the stage. Its feet were bear’s feet like the feet of the bear that was on stage that were brown with a reddish tinge color. You notice the nails of this bear’s feet are protruding through its dun colored, reddish hair. Its nails look like brass.
That is when you notice that the floor of the cage is littered with wheat heads. The wheat heads look like they have been stomped on repeatedly. A number of the wheat kernels had separated from the heads and were strewn across the floor of the cage.
The mouth of this beast was like the mouth of the lion that was seated on the stage, but was more ferocious looking. It had its teeth bared like it was ready to strike. As you look at the teeth of this lion’s mouth, you see that they are not like regular teeth. This lion’s teeth were metal. They were a dull gray color which looked like they were steel. Yet the steel had what looked like rust on them. Perhaps they were iron?
On each of the seven heads that was upon it, was a horn and there was a crown on each horn. There were another 3 horns with crowns upon them that were laying on the floor of the cage. There was also another littler horn behind these seven heads. This was one strange looking beast. Each of the heads moved in unison with each other. They all seemed to be staring at the center of the stage.
This beast looked very powerful and formidable. It continued to let out that hideous roar. As the stagehands pushed the cage with the squeaky wheel up the ramp, you are able to see the faces of the ones being approached by the cage with this beast in it
The white horse with the rider upon it and the man standing next to it, have looks of fear upon their faces. The horse’s eyes are wide and have a look of fear. All three of them, the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to the horse are fidgeting and looking very nervous.
As the cage with this beast is pushed around these three, all seven of the heads are glaring at these three. The stagehands push the cage to the rear of these three, spin the cage around, and placed it next to the dunnish-gray and bay colored horses.
The stage hands appear to be loosening something at the bottom of the four corners of the cage. They open the front door of the cage exposing this beast to freedom from the cage. They slide the cage backwards off the platform and slide it to the rear of the platform. They close the door and proceed to exit off the stage. Again, there is a look of relief on their faces as they glance back while hurrying to their exit.
The seven heads of this beast eyes are now all affixed upon the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to the white horse. You can hear a low, guttural growl emanating from this beast.
Just when you are thinking that this scene is over, you hear another roar. But it is not a single roar, it sounds like two roars in unison. You look at the back of the aisle and see two lions, one with a huge mane and the other without a mane. These are a male and a female lion.
They have collars on their necks with a lead attached and two stagehands holding each lion tightly. They walk up the aisle holding those leads, guiding the lions towards the ramp. The lions are roaring, exposing their razor sharp teeth, glistening white.
The male lion has a serpent’s tail draped over his real tail. The female lion has a scorpion’s tail draped over her real tail.
As they approach the ramp leading up to the stage, both lions affixed their gaze upon the white horse with its rider, and the man standing next to the horse. The lions are visibly licking their chops.
Again, the white horse, its rider, and the man, have a look of fear upon their faces as these two lions approach them. As the lions approach, they appear like they are ready to pounce on them. The stagehands split apart.
Both stagehands are pulling the lions away from the center of the stage with the lion visibly wanting to pounce on the characters and the white horse. The lions are reluctantly being pulled. One of the stagehands veers to the right. The other stagehand veers to the left.
The stagehand located on the left, leads the lion and turns the lion around. The lion sits down on the stage next to the bear. The lion, just as the bear, are licking their chops and leering at the white horse, its rider, and the man.
The stagehand located on the right, leads the lion and turns the lion around. The lion sits down on the stage next to the black panther. The lion, just as the black panther, are leering at the white horse, its rider, and the man and licking its chops.
Both of the lions are drooling leaving puddles of drool on the stage. Both stagehands disconnect the leads and quickly exit the stage. They don’t even look back; they are in a hurry to get off that stage.
The bear next to the lion, and the black panther next to the lion, are all appearing to get along. They briefly glance at each other and then turn their attention towards the center of the stage where the white horse, rider, and man are.
As you are looking at all of these characters upon the stage, you again see some movement from the character dressed as the devil with that eerie red spotlight shining on him. He is slapping the arm of the chair and is visibly excited. He holds one hand into a fist and punches the air as he looks straight up. He is smiling broadly and appears to be really enjoying himself at what is occurring on stage.
Your attention to this character is now drawn towards the aisle at the back of the auditorium. There is quite a ruckus going on as you hear the braying of a donkey. You look as two stagehands with ropes in their hands are having quite a time with this donkey. He is rearing up and bucking as the stagehands are pulled one direction, then another.
The donkey seems to settle down a bit as they begin to pull with everything they’ve got. This donkey doesn’t want to follow the stagehands and is fighting against the ropes that are restraining him. The two stagehands continue to pull the donkey as the donkey now begins to reluctantly be pulled by them.
You are watching this spectacle when you notice the donkey look ahead of him towards the stage. You see that the donkey affixes his gaze upon the center of the stage. The donkey charges past the two stagehands as he begins to bolt towards the stage.
The two stagehands brace themselves and are now pulling back on the donkey instead of trying to drag him. The donkey then bucks and rears up. This is not a tame donkey but is obviously a wild donkey. This continues as the donkey and two stagehands proceed up the aisle. They begin to climb the ramp as the two stagehands certainly have their hands full.
They finally arrived at the top of the ramp and the center of the stage. The donkey is now snorting at the white horse with its rider and man standing next to it. He begins to paw the ground and lowers his head as if he is going to charge them. He bucks and rears as it appears he is trying to break free from the ropes that are restraining him.
One of the stagehands on the side closest to the left pulls hard on the rope. The donkeys head is pulled that way. The other stage hand swings quickly around to assist in guiding the donkey to the left of the stage. The donkey finally complies. The two stagehands guide the donkey and position him to stand next to the lion which is laying down next to the bear.
They face the donkey towards the audience and each of them bends down. They reach to the floor of the stage and flips up what appears to be some type of a handle. They tie the rope with double knots to these anchors. They step away from the donkey having the donkey securely tethered. They wipe their brows of the sweat from that ordeal.
As the two stagehands exit the stage, the donkey settles down a bit and turns his head towards the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to it. He is snorting and pawing the ground as he glares at them.
As you are looking at all of the characters on the stage, you are thinking ‘The stage is getting pretty crowded. This scene must be about done. There’s not much room left for any more.
You are looking at the stage pondering this as your attention is drawn to the center aisle again. You didn’t hear them approaching. You see three stagehands walking side by side towards the ramp. Each of the three stagehands had a long leather glove on their hands. The leather glove on their hands reached all the way to their elbows. Their arms were held up at about chest level. Each had birds that were perched and squeezing with their feet and claws onto the gloves. All of the birds had small hoods over their heads and a small lead dangling from one foot.
The bird perched upon the first stagehand’s arm was very large. It appeared to be an eagle of some sort with reddish wings.
The second had his glove on his right hand and arm. Perched upon his glove was what appeared to be a fairly large blackish, owl.
The third had gloves on both arms. Both of his arms had one bird upon each. These appeared to be some type of a dove. They are a creamy white in color.
All three proceeded up the ramp. The stagehand with what appears to be an eagle, walked to the left of the stage where the red horse with its rider, the bear, the lion, and the donkey are. He walked to the wooden post with the stick on the top. He picks up each foot of this bird and places it upon the roost.
With this bird now gripping its’ roost, the stagehand ties the small lead to the roost and removes the hood that was covering the bird’s head. The bird stretches out his wings as he peers around. You can see clearly now that this is an eagle.
The eagle peers around, adjusting his eyes to the light after having his hood removed. His gaze turns towards the center of the stage where the white horse, rider, and man are standing. He looks like he is getting ready to take flight, he shakes his foot with the lead on it, realizing he is tethered. He has tried that before, taking off with his foot tethered and it didn’t end well.
This eagle pays no mind to the horse, its rider, the bear or the lion. His attention is drawn towards his left. He settles into a perched position and glares at the characters and horse at the center of the stage. The eagle then delivers a loud screeching call that is commonly known as the cry of the eagle.
The stagehand that brought the eagle to his stand, then exits the stage.
The second stagehand turns to the right and heads to the roost that is in front of the black horse with its rider, the black panther and the lion. He places the feet of this owl upon its roost, ties the small lead to the roost and removes its hood.
It is an owl as you can clearly see its bright yellow eyes blinking. He rotates his head from side to side, blinking his eyes as they adjust to the light. His head then turns to the left of him and doesn’t move. He is staring at the white horse, its rider, and the man standing next to the horse. The owl then lets out a high pitched hoot. The stagehand exits the stage having secured the owl to the perch.
The third stage hand approaches the roost located on the center of the stage. He gently picks up each dove with his opposite hand and places each one on the roost. He ties each of the small leads to the roost, then removes the hoods and the doves begin to coo. The stagehand then exits the stage.
As the last stagehand is exiting off the stage, three new stagehands appear. Each one is pushing a small stand on wheels. Atop each one of the stands is an object.
The first stagehand’s table has what appears to be a fairly large rectangular box draped over with a red colored cloth. He proceeds to the left hand of the stage where the reddish horse with its rider, the bear, the lion, and the eagle are. He stands with the table on wheels in front of the eagle’s roost.
The second stagehand’s table has what appears to be two objects on that stand, draped with a white cloth. One is tall and appears to be round at the top. The other object is much lower than the first and looks to be rectangular and uneven as the cloth follows the outline of the object. He proceeds to the center of the stage where the white horse with its rider, the man standing next to the horse, and the doves are. He takes his place also in front of the dove’s roost.
The third stagehand’s table has what appears to be a smaller, rectangular box draped by a black colored cloth that is draped over it. He proceeds to the right hand of the stage where the black horse with its rider, the black panther, the lion, and the owl are. He takes his place also in front of the owl’s perch.
The first stage hand on the left part of the stage makes a movement. He picks up something that was behind the red cloth. It is a leather glove. As he puts it on his left hand, you can see that the glove reaches all the way to his elbow; similar to the gloves that the bird handlers wore. He takes a hold of the red cloth and removes it, letting it drop to the floor, now revealing what the red cloth was covering.
It is a fairly large terrarium. Through the glass of the terrarium, you see a fairly large snake. The stagehand opens the lid covering the terrarium and carefully reaches his hand into the terrarium. He quickly grabs the snake just behind its head. It is obviously a venomous snake judging how the stagehand is handling it.
He pulls his hand up out of the terrarium with his hand tightly holding the head of the snake. He reaches into the terrarium with his right hand and lifts the rest of the body of the snake out of the terrarium.
The stagehand walks over to the roost and rests the top part of the body of the snake on the roost. He then places the rest of the snake body on it. The snake wraps his tail around the roost. The stagehand quickly releases the snake’s head and steps back.
The snake flits out his tongue, and begins to completely coil around the roost. The snake’s weight makes the post lean to the left a bit. The eagle that is perched on the other side of the roost moves towards the far end to balance the newly added weight of the snake.
The snake now securely wrapped around the roost, extends the upper part of his body out from his perch and looks around. As his gaze comes to the center of the stage, he affixes his gaze upon the white horse, rider, and man standing next to the horse. He then appears to take a position as if ready to strike at them. He hisses and bares his fangs.
He remains in that position as the stagehand bends over and picks up the red cloth he had dropped onto the stage earlier. He drops it into the terrarium and exits the stage pushing the table on wheels.
Your attention is now drawn to the right side of the stage as the stagehand with the smaller rectangular box covered with the black cloth reaches to the table. He puts on leather gloves on both hands.
He then picks up another object that was on the table behind the rectangular box. It is a fairly large stick about a foot long.
He reaches to the black cloth, pulls it off the object on the table, and lets it drop to the floor. This too is a terrarium. It is smaller than the first terrarium. In this terrarium is a large black scorpion. The stagehand reaches into the terrarium with the stick and touches the scorpion. The scorpion raises its tail as if ready to strike.
The stagehand maneuvers the stick to the feet of the scorpion. He pushes the stick gently under the body of the scorpion and begins to lift the stick. The scorpion grabs a hold of the stick with his feet and begins to crawl up the stick.
The stagehand very smoothly removes from the terrarium the stick with the scorpion and quickly, but smoothly brings the stick to the opposite end of the perch where the owl is. The owl gives the stagehand and the scorpion a brief glance and then returns glaring towards the center of the stage.
As the scorpion approaches the stagehands glove holding the stick, the stagehand grabs the opposite end of the stick with his other hand. He releases his left hand off the stick as the scorpion advances towards his glove.
The stage hand gently places the stick with the scorpion now at the end of the stick onto the owls’ roost. The scorpions steps onto the roost and off the stick. The scorpion faces towards the center of the stage and raises its tail with the prominent stinger poised as if ready to strike.
The stagehand looks relieved as he bends over to pick up the black cloth he dropped on the stage earlier. He then proceeds to push the cart on wheels and exits the stage.
Your curiosity is growing as you are wondering what could possibly be on the table with wheels of the stagehand in the center of the stage. The stagehand grabs the white cloth and lets it drop the floor. Upon this table is a large golden cup. Next to this large cup is what appears to be a small bundle of wheat. There is a sign hanging in the front suspended by golden chains that reads “Babylon”.
The stagehand removes a lid that was affixed to this large golden cup. He then picks up the bundle. The bundle has a cord wrapped around the bottoms of the stalks of some type of grain. It has a small cord with a metal hook attached to the cord.
As the stagehand lifts this bundle, you can now make out the shape of the seed heads atop the stalks. This bundle of grain is a bundle of wheat. That makes sense now because you have been seeing all these previous characters with wheat tassels.
The stagehand takes the bundle of wheat, turns it upside down, and dips the wheat tassels into the cup. He then pulls the bundle of wheat out of the golden cup and you can see that he dipped them into a red liquid that was within the golden cup.
The red liquid is thick and a deep red. The stage hand carries the bundle of wheat towards the bird roost and hangs it on the opposite side of the roost where the doves are sitting, still cooing. As the stagehand finishes hanging the bundle of wheat with dripping red liquid, the doves look at the bundle of wheat that is dripping red liquid. The doves stop cooing and go silent.
The stagehand walks back to the table on wheels and picks up the lid that he had taken off the golden cup earlier. He places it upon the golden cup, presses down, and you hear to snap of the lid closing. He bends over, picks up the white cloth he dropped on the stage earlier and places it upon the table. He pushes the table in front of him with a sad look on his face as he exits the stage.
Your gaze goes back to the red liquid dripping off the wheat tassels which is forming a puddle on the floor. As the drips are now slowing and forming long drips, you realize that the color and consistency of this liquid is representing blood. As you are letting that realization sink in, the lights on the stage begin to dim.
The lights on the stage go dimmer and dimmer until there is barely any light left. You can still make out the faint outlines of the characters and animals on the stage. The character dressed as the devil sitting on his throne is still clearly visible. The red spotlight on him never ceases. He has that eerie red glow still upon him.
On the left hand side of the stage on the upper back wall, small lights appear. There is a lot of these small lights being portrayed on the wall. It looks like the night sky with all of the stars. That’s what it is. Just like when you watch a show at a planetarium. These are the stars of the galaxy shining on the left back wall.
When the stars appear on the back wall, the animals become active. You can hear the horse with the rider pawing the ground and snorting. The bear roars. The lion roars. The donkey brays. The eagle screeches. The bear and the lion continue to growl.
You then see a fairly bright shooting star going from the upper right side of the back wall. It streaks across the path of wall from right to left and disappears as it reaches where the character dressed as the devil is sitting on his throne. As the shooting star disappears, the red spotlight becomes brighter illuminating this character with a brighter red glow.
As you are watching this occur, about one third of the stars portrayed on the wall begin to fall straight down until they disappear just over the heads of the characters and animals on the left hand side of the stage.
While contemplating what you just saw, a very bright image appears on the upper wall on the right hand of the stage. This is an image of the sun as you see the images of the gas burning around the edges. The light from the sun shining on the back wall lights up the right side of the stage. You can see all of the characters and animals very clearly now.
You then see a large black object begin to creep over the outer left side of the sun that is being projected on the wall. An eclipse is taking place. The large black object slowly creeps from the left to the right covering the sun. You watch in amazement as the light being projected as the sun is almost covered. The light being bounced onto the stage is dimming immensely now.
When the sun appears on the back wall, the animals under the sun become active. You can hear the horse with the rider pawing the ground and snorting. The black panther roars. The lion roars. The owl screeches. The black panther and the lion continue to growl.
The object is now totally covering the sun until you can just barely see the outer edge of the sun. The outline of the characters and animals on the stage can just barely be made out.
In the center of the stage there appears a projection of the moon on the center back wall. It is obviously the moon as you can see the craters and features familiar to what you have seen in countless movies and pictures.
The light being projected off the moon lights up the characters located at the center of the stage; the white horse with its rider, and the man standing next to it. You can see that strange looking beast along with the dun colored and bay horses with their riders. The doves show up with their creamy white feathers. You can also see the bundle of wheat hanging from the bird roost.
As you are taking in this scene, a dark red color appears at the top of the moon. It creeps down over the moon in uneven lines. It looks like something is being poured over the top of the moon and running down. It looks dark red and thick. Ahh, it is the same red color that the wheat was dipped into. It looks like blood.
When the moon appears on the back wall, the horse and doves become active. You can hear the horse with the rider pawing the ground. The only other sound you hear is the cooing of the doves.
You watch until the moon is now completely covered with this thick dark liquid resembling blood. The bright light that was being broadcast from the moon is now completely darkened. You can barely see the outline of the characters and animals in the center of the stage.
What light was coming from the stars, sun, and moon are now dimming until there is no light on the stage except for the bright red glow shining on that character dressed as the devil. You can just make out that he has a huge smile on his face as he flashes his white teeth.
The curtains close.
A spotlight appears on the right hand of the stage shining on the curtains and the stage right below the curtains. A man steps out into the spotlight dressed is casual clothes with a sports jacket. He is carrying a microphone as he walks to the center of the stage. The spotlight follows him. He is getting ready to speak.
“We hope you are enjoying the show. We are going to break for a brief intermission. We have a lot of animals to move off the stage and need to set up for the next scene. Please take this time to get yourself some refreshments and snacks. The restrooms are on the right and left sides of the lobby. The curtains for the next scene will open in about thirty minutes. Thank you for coming this evening.”
The announcer walks off the stage. You hear quite a bit of commotion going on behind the curtains as you get up to head to the lobby.
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