No Show for Ruben

by Kate Wilkinson-Brindle
Illustrated by Amy Robinson

Dreams
Ruben woke up feeling grumpy.
In his dream, he’d taken a bow at the end of the Class Six play, and the audience
had stood up to applaud him!

Now he was awake, he remembered everything. In his stomach, he felt the
familiar sinking feeling that he’d felt every morning since his school had closed
because of the coronavirus. Ruben pulled the covers over his head and groaned.

Impressions
Just before school had closed, Ruben had got the part he’d really wanted in the
Class Six end of term play. The play was going to be a school-based comedy,
and Ruben had got the part of Mr Walton, who was the Class Five teacher. He
had planned to wear pointed shoes and a loud tie like Mr Walton. And Ruben
(who often got into trouble for doing impressions of the teachers at school)
would get loads of laughs when he did his Mr Walton voice for his lines.

But now it was all cancelled. Ruben was tired of feeling disappointed.

Bonus
Dad constantly told Ruben to ‘Look on the bright side’, and Ruben tried to.
He came up with one big bonus: the SATs had been cancelled. Ruben had been
dreading sitting in the hall at a small table on his own with a test paper in front
of him. He thought that SATs were B O R I N G!

During the practice SATs, Ruben had especially hated seeing Marcus
finish every single test paper early, with each page covered in his
perfect, regular-sized handwriting.
Ruben usually stared at his test
paper for ages before panicking
and scribbling down any old
rubbish just to fill up the space!

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Watersports
However, SATs being cancelled wasn’t enough to make up for all the other things
that Ruben was missing. Class Six’s watersports holiday at Castermere Hall had
been cancelled too. Ruben had been so excited to try canoeing, kayaking, raft
building and sailing because he loved being in the water.
Ruben usually trained three times a week with the Dolphin Swim School, and he
also swam for fun with his brother Luca and his little cousin Riley. But none of
this was happening at the moment either! Ruben decided to stay in bed. There
wasn’t anything to get up for.

Arcus High
But Dad had other ideas for Ruben that day.
“Come on, lazy beast!” Dad teased. He tickled Ruben’s foot that was sticking out
from under the duvet.
“Come for some fresh air with me and Luca,” suggested Dad.
Ruben groaned, but he reluctantly got up and dressed.
After four of Dad’s famous pancakes for breakfast, Ruben felt ready for a walk.
They walked to the park and played with the frisbee on the field. They took the
long way home. It slowly dawned on Ruben that they were walking past the
local high school – Arcus High.

Big Enough To Get Lost In
Ruben was due to start at Arcus High in September. He looked at the school
curiously. There were so many different buildings. It was huge! Ruben was
supposed to be visiting Arcus High with his Year Six teacher, Ms Bowker, but that
too had been cancelled because of the virus.
Ruben stared at the school; it seemed to stretch for miles. He started to feel
panicky and lost. What if he couldn’t find his way around? What if he wasn’t in
any classes with his friends?
“What do you think, Rubes?” asked Dad.
“I’M NOT GOING TO GO THERE!” shouted Ruben. And he ran.

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Fury
Ruben ran as far as he could from Arcus High and its horrible labyrinth of
buildings and corridors. He ran until his legs ached. He had left Dad and Luca
far behind, but he wasn’t sorry. He was angry.

Ruben was angry with the coronavirus for making him miss out on all the good
things in Year Six. He was furious about not being able to do the show, or go on
the trip, or go swimming, or see his wise and loving grandma or his funny little
cousin . . . or do ANYTHING!
“RAAAHHH!” Ruben shouted. He bashed his hand against a tree trunk.
Clunk – something fell down.

Reminders
It was a smooth, grey rock with a brightly painted rainbow on it. It fitted into his
palm with a comforting weight. Ruben looked at the rock thoughtfully. It must be
one of Riley’s rainbow rocks that Grandma had told him about.

Ruben had phoned his Grandma the night before: he missed seeing her so much.
Grandma usually looked after Ruben and Luca after
school so that Dad could work. Grandma always
laughed and threw her head back when Ruben
did impressions of his teachers. But Grandma
had seemed quiet and tired last night.

Realisations
Suddenly, Ruben snapped out of his angry mood. His little cousin Riley wasn’t
feeling angry and sorry for herself – she was trying to make people feel better.

Ruben realised that Dad and Luca would be worried about him. Clutching the
rainbow rock, he ran home as fast as he could. As he ran, a plan began to form
in Ruben’s mind. Dad and Luca were waiting anxiously in the
front garden. Dad looked annoyed as well as worried.
“I’m so sorry, Dad.” Ruben panted.
Ruben explained.

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Ruben Gets Busy
First, Ruben became a playwright.
Then, he was a set designer.
After that, he tried his hand at costume design.
Finally, Ruben directed himself during rehearsals!
When his show was ready, Ruben asked Dad to be the camera operator and Luca
to do the lighting. Then they set up the computers so that Riley, Grandma, Aunty
and Uncle could see the show.
Lights, camera, action!

Showtime!
Ruben’s show was full of impressions of his family, his friends and the teachers at
school. He included everybody’s funny little habits and catchphrases.
He did impressions of Dad’s ridiculously loud sneezes.
He pretended to be Grandma saying, “Oh now, where’ve I put me glasses down
this time?” while wearing a pair of glasses on his head. Ruben dressed up as Riley,
and he put goggles on and pretended he was Riley, spluttering as she did
front crawl.
He did impressions of Riley’s teacher, Mrs Heany, and impressions of Mr Walton
and Ms Bowker.
Ruben switched voices and costumes as fast as he could.

Grandma’s Laughter
Everyone enjoyed the show. They laughed and pointed at each other
when Ruben did impressions of them. Luca collapsed on the floor because
he laughed so much! And Grandma threw her head back and laughed and
laughed until tears of joy ran down her face. Grandma’s laughter flooded
the space in Ruben’s chest that had been filled with hurt and anger – now
he felt full of warmth and hope.

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A Wider Audience?
The next day, Ruben and Dad received an email from Mrs Cooper, the head of Year
Seven at Arcus High. She was asking about Ruben’s strengths and interests.
Dad grinned, “Why don’t we send her the recording of your show?”
“Don’t you dare!” warned Ruben anxiously. He felt embarrassed.

Dad left Ruben to think about how to reply to the email. Ruben had a long think.
He finally decided that he would like to send Mrs Cooper the recording of his show.
After all, he’d desperately longed for an audience for the end of term play. He
uploaded it and pressed ‘Send’.

A Call from Arcus High
Ruben felt a bit jittery for the rest of the afternoon.
At four o’clock, Dad’s phone rang. It was Mrs Cooper on a video call, and she
wanted to speak to Ruben. Ruben backed off nervously, but Dad pressed the
phone into his hand. Mrs Cooper was smiling warmly on the screen.

“You have got amazing drama skills, Ruben!” she said enthusiastically.
“I can’t wait to see you on the stage at Arcus High.”

Ruben’s Promise
Mrs Cooper took Ruben on a virtual tour of the drama buildings and the
Year Seven form rooms. Ruben loved the stage and the auditorium: it was
just like a real theatre. Ruben began to relax.
Ruben phoned Grandma that evening and told her all about Arcus High.
“Promise me something, Ruben,” she said. “Can I come and see you in your
first show on that stage?”
“You’ll get a front row seat, Grandma,” promised Ruben. “Just in case you
forget your glasses!”
That night, Ruben dreamed of being on the stage at Arcus High, bowing
as the audience clapped and cheered. When he woke up, he smiled.

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