Chapter 10 — Theater at the End of the Hallway

Hoai An goes to school on Monday afternoon. Mom wore a brown coat, carried a bag of documents and walked faster than usual. Lam waited for her mother in front of the theater door. Huy and Tran stood behind, without turning on the camera.

“Aren't you turning?” Mom asked.

“I don't want to be filmed, that's all.”

Mom nodded. “Thank you.”

In the theater, the green chair was pulled out into the middle of the aisle. Lam placed three photos on the chair. Hoai An sat down, looking at each picture like looking at small windows.

“The last scene was filmed on the stairs,” Mom said. "Nhi stood in front of the door. Khai put the camera in the theater, Tuan recorded, and his mother held the light. Nhi was about to open the door and step out into the yard. She said that was the first time she chose her own direction."

“So why isn't the scene in the movie?” Tran asked.

“Because someone cut the film before the screening.”

"Who?"

Hoai An looked at Lam. "Mom."

Lam couldn't utter a sound.

Mom explained: Nhi was scared when she heard that her parents were coming to watch. The girl said she wanted to withdraw from the scene. Hoai An cut the scene to protect Nhi, intending to return it after talking. But before they could do that, the school board discovered that the film was missing and understood that the group would arbitrarily fix it. Khai argued, Tuan remained silent, and Hoai An did not say he had cut it.

“Mom admitted her mistake so Nhi wouldn't be called names?”

“I think that's the fastest way.”

“But then everyone thought Mom ruined the movie.”

“I know.”

Huy asked why his mother didn't explain later. Hoai An said Nhi had moved away, her family did not want to contact her. Khai left school. Tuan left the city. Hoai An chose to stay silent, thinking that time would calm the story down.

“It's not soothing,” Lam said. “It was just in a locked room.”

Hoai An bowed his head. “I'm sorry.”

Lam wanted to hug her mother but didn't know whether to hug her as a daughter or as a filmmaker. Finally she placed her hand on the green chair.

“Do you have a cut scene?”

Hoai An took out a small roll of film wrapped in newspaper from his pocket. Outside it says **27 – door open**. She kept it for eighteen years.

Huy checked the film roll with a flashlight. The film strip has a few scratched frames, but the main part is intact. The last scene is nearly a minute long: Nhi stands in the shadow, opens the door, and steps out into the rain. No face was seen, only the hand holding the strap of the bag tightly and then releasing it.

Lam looked through the test projector. The image is shaky, but the feeling of the person choosing to move on is very clear.

“Do you know where Nhi went?”

Hoai An shook his head. "No. But after she changed schools, she sent her mother a postcard. It just said: 'Thank you for cutting it before I got scared.'"

Lam burst into tears. She didn't want the last scene to be turned into proof that her mother was right or wrong. It's a decision that both protects and hurts, like many things adults do when the perfect choice isn't available.

The school board met the next morning. The team prepares a proposal including new movies, operating schedule, maintenance costs and theater management plan. Dat is present on the commercial project side. He listened to Hoai An's story without interrupting.

When it was Lam's turn, she did not show Nhi's scene. She just shined the shadow of the door and read the permission from Hoai An, Tuan, and teacher Quang. She said the new film will not use anyone's face or personal story without consent.

A council member asked: "If we keep the theater, who will be responsible when something goes wrong?"

Tran held up the planning board. “We have duty schedules, safety procedures and teachers in charge.”

“Funding?”

Huy shows the machine repair panel. "You can use old equipment and repair each part. There is no need to turn the theater into a modern place best."

Dat looked at the drawing and asked: "What about viewers?"

Lam replied: "We will invite them to make the movie together, not just invite them to watch."

The council has not decided yet. They gave the group ten days to organize a test screening and prove that the theater could operate safely.

When leaving the room, Huy said to Lam: "You're not shaking."

“I'm shaking. Just speak faster.”

“I know.”

At the end of the hallway, the projector turned on again. The text changed to: **Nine days left.**

Lam brought the ticket home and placed it next to her mother's film roll. Hoai An did not recognize the type of paper, but said the yellow one had been used in test screenings. She kept such a ticket in her book, with seat number 27 written on the back.

“Do you think Nhi is sending tickets?”

“I don't know. And you don't need to know to respect what she wants.”

Lam asked her mother if she could come to the test screening. Hoai An agreed, on the condition that she could see the preview and have the right to withdraw her portion. Lam says that's true for everyone, including her mother.

At school, the board sends out a new calendar, with only nine days left. The group divides work shifts so as not to affect learning. Quan accepted the morning shift but overslept and was changed to the last shift by Tran. Huy made the equipment check sheet, Lam made the consent form, Vy made the sound warehouse.

Teacher Quang reminded them not to use urgent time as an excuse to skip the asking step. Lam wrote this sentence at the beginning of the script.

To prepare for the screening, the team tested the entire process. Tran checked the tickets, Quan led the audience, Vy turned on the subtitles, Huy monitored the machine's temperature. One friend deliberately sat in the way to see who would notice. Tran realized after ten seconds and asked to change seats.

“What if the audience refuses to change?” you ask.

“We stopped the screening,” Tran replied.

Quan whistled. “The class president already has power.”

Teacher Quang said power is only meaningful when used to keep people safe, not to scare others. Lam wrote that sentence next to the rule.

Hoai An sees the preliminary build. The mother requested that Nhi's name not be used in the title, her photo not be used, and viewers not be asked to find her identity. Lam agreed and sent the changes to the whole group.

Dat brought a box of new light bulbs. He said it wasn't commercial financing, just usable inventory. Tran made a receipt form, Huy checked each ball, Quan labeled "source asked".

Lam's mother heard Nhi say "Thank you for asking" for the first time. She didn't cry, just closed her eyes. Lam asked her mother if she needed to remove her paragraph. Mom responded, because an admission of error shouldn't be erased just to make the speaker look better.

That evening, the old ticket account sent the last message: **Tomorrow I will sit in the theater. No need to look for me.**

Lam doesn't know whether to worry. Tran told them to just prepare like any other audience. Huy locked the phone, Quan left the last seat empty, Vy checked the subtitles. Someone will come, or not. The choice belongs to them.

Before leaving the theater, Lam turned off the red light. A second later, the light turned on by itself, projecting a line on the screen: **Nine days left.**

Lam burst out laughing. “Isn't today already over?”

Huy looked at the transmitter. “Maybe that person counts another calendar.”

Tran recorded the time, did not edit the text. Tomorrow's show doesn't have to end; it was the first time they let others see how they worked.

They try reading the introduction in front of a mirror. Quan reads like an announcer, Tran reads like an announcement, Vy reads too softly, and Lam speaks quickly. Huy said introductions don't need to be perfect, they just need the listener to understand they are being invited into a space with rules.

Lam edited it into three short sentences. She clearly stated that the film does not use Nhi's old footage, all sounds are with consent and viewers can leave at any time. Tran approved, Hoai An approved, then Huy nodded.

Teacher Quang answered with three words: "Clear enough. Let's do it." Lam took a screenshot, but did not include it in the film. She just opened the theater door, checked the lighting and called everyone into position.

The project's first shoot had exactly twelve minutes of images and over an hour of waiting. The rain caused the light to change continuously, the projector was hot, and Quan forgot whether he was standing in front or behind the camera. He looked into the camera and said: "Sorry, I'm the one in charge of the atmosphere." Tran said the air is very humid. The joke made the whole group laugh, then they had to turn around because the laughter entered the serious scene.

At the part where Lam walked from the hallway into the theater, she suddenly walked too fast. Huy reminded the rhythm to be slow, but Lam was angry because he had tried six times. He didn't argue, just placed a chair in the middle of the road as a stop sign. Lam walked back, touched the back of the chair, looked at the "screening room" sign, then walked in. The seventh scene is much better. She understands that a small milestone can save an entire scene; The guide does not have to stand in front of the camera. During lockdown, Lam wrote in her diary that today she learned to admit her mistakes before blaming the light.

Quan reviewed the scene and asked to film a comedy version for behind the scenes. Lam asked everyone if they agreed to be included in the behind-the-scenes version. Huy agreed if he didn't film when he stuttered. Tran agreed but asked to cover the list, Vy only allowed laughter. The army complains more about the rules than the scene. Tran said because the scene is only forty seconds long, the privacy lasts longer.

In the afternoon, they invited a literature teacher to look at the first version. She did not comment on camera angles; she asked what Lam wanted the audience to remember after the screen went dark. Lam replied that he wanted them to remember the feeling of being able to walk into a place without having to pretend to be someone special. The teacher said so so she removed the introductory sentence "extraordinary story". Lam immediately changed it into "a normal room that many people take care of". The new sentence is not sensational, but more correct. Huy added a switch at the end. The group saw the theater as if it had just woken up.