Chapter 12 — Theater at the End of the Hallway

Vy proposed one minute of no dialogue for the film. She wants viewers to hear the theater breathe: the sound of fans, the sound of chairs opening, the sound of fabric curtains rubbing against the wall. Quan objected because "without dialogue, the audience will sleep". Tran said that one minute of silence can make people listen to more than ten slogans.

They tried recording at four o'clock in the afternoon. The theater was silent for three seconds when Quan sneezed. The second time, Huy's bicycle bell rang in the hallway. The third time, a bird landed on the corrugated iron roof making a rattling sound.

“Great,” Vy said. “That's the real sound.”

Huy looked at her. “Did you just call the sound of my car a real sound?”

"Yes. People remember you by the sound of the car before remembering your face."

Huy didn't answer, but that night he cleaned the car bell.

Lam tried to interview Bao Tran. She asked why Tran wanted to keep the theater. Tran said because in tenth grade she sat there crying after failing the team, and Mr. Quang didn't ask anything, just left the hallway light on. Lam asked if he could use this sentence. Tran agreed, but did not want to register for the exam.

Quan voluntarily turned his face. He stood in front of the machine and said seriously: "I used to think theater chairs were just for sitting. After falling three times, I understood that chairs can also teach people to stand up."

Lam laughed, but kept that part. Quan's humor does not hide his sincerity; it helps others breathe easily.

Huy had a problem with the projector. The old light bulb flickered, not bright enough for the projection. He tried three types of bulbs, the first one made the camera hot, the second one made the image yellow. Huy's uncle lent him a part, but asked him to take responsibility if it broke.

“I can pay myself,” Huy said.

“You don't need to turn everything into debt.”

Huy looked at Lam. “You talk like my mother.”

“Does your mother always say that?”

“No. My mother said the opposite.”

Lam did not ask further. He often avoids cameras and even questions about his family. She learned not to force the door open before the person inside was ready.

Teacher Quang checked the exit and discovered a row of chairs blocking the way. Quan suggested installing wheels, Tran asked for funds, and class 11D donated a little each. Some people only contributed one bolt, but Huy said that one bolt held the entire row of seats.

Reach to see progress. He stood at the door, not entering. Lam gave the estimate. Dat read carefully and asked why they chose to repair instead of buying a new device.

“Because the old machine has a history,” Huy replied.

“History doesn't make light bulbs go on.”

“But people who know history will know how to keep the light bulb on.”

Dat smiled faintly. He said if the show fails, the council will have no reason to keep the theater. Lam asked if he wanted the screening to be successful.

“I want the school to make a reasonable decision.”

“So don't just charge money.”

Dat looked at her, for the first time not answering with numbers. He walked around the room, touched the back of the green chair and said: "In 2004, I was the one who pulled the power cord for the projector. Without me, your mother's movie wouldn't have worked."

Lam was surprised. Dat said he used to be at the club but quit because his family needed money. When the theater was locked, he thought building a new one would be better than keeping a room that no one used. He didn't know the machine still turned on by itself.

“Maybe it doesn't turn on by itself,” Lam said.

“So who turned it on?”

“We are looking.”

Late in the afternoon, they completed the one-minute segment without dialogue. The sound of fans, chairs, car bells and rain in the yard mixed together. Lam watched it again and didn't feel sleepy. She found the room had its own rhythm.

On the countdown, there are seven days left. When everyone left, Huy went back to get the tassel screw. The projector turned on, but the fabric screen only displayed a new sentence: **The person who opened the door was not the cameraman.**

Huy suggested attaching a small bell to the theater door. Tran was worried that the bell would disturb the class, so they chose a light sensor instead of a sound one. Duc Minh installed the light box, Vy checked that it wouldn't record people entering the door.

Lam interviewed Ms. Thao, a literature teacher, about old screenings. Ms. Thao remembers that students often sat silently after the movie, because they didn't know what to say. She once asked them to write their comments, but later understood that some people needed time before writing.

“So after this screening, what should we ask?” Lam asked.

"Ask viewers what they want to keep, not if they like it. Liking is a reflex; keeping is a choice."

Lam added that question to the feedback sheet.

Quan tried being an audience host. He spoke too fast, gave me wrong directions and finally gave me a ticket. Tran forced him to stand outside the theater for an hour to practice. He led a group of tenth graders to the right place, but forgot to mention the exit.

Huy corrected it by giving Quan a red card and had to read all three rules before handing out the ticket. Quan complained that this was the most serious job in his life, but he knew the words well.

Mai sent the subtitle version. One sentence was translated into "haircut at the end", making Quan laugh. Duy edited it "cut from the film", then requested that all translations be checked by someone who understood the language.

Dat brought news that the council could send someone to check first. The group does not hide. They invite you to check it out right away, so that no one thinks the theater is only beautiful on the day of the show.

Safety staff discovered that the fire extinguisher was too old. Tran recorded the expenses incurred, Quan organized a second cake sale. Huy made a notice board, did not use the phrase "urgent" to attract attention.

Hoai An watched the video with the shadow of the door and said the lighting looked a bit like the old scene. Lam asked her mother if she wanted to quit. Mom told me to keep it if they came back in my own way, not pretending it was Nhi.

Lam asked Huy about the sentence "the person who opens the door is not the cameraman". Huy said maybe the person filming was just standing behind, and the person who opened the door was the one being told. He didn't know who said that, but it made him think about not forcing others to step into the frame.

At night, the group listened to the audio from Tuan. The sound of the chair pulling up stops at the third position, then the sound of someone asking if anyone wants to turn on the lights. No one answered, but the sound of a switch was turned on.

Vy did not use that part. She said that silence belonged to those who were in the room. Lam respects the decision.

Lam asked Vy if she ever regretted giving up a beautiful sound. Vy said yes, but unfortunately that's not the reason to keep it. She once had her friend record her crying and send it to the class group, from which she understood that a sound could become a knife if the listener did not know who it belonged to.

They included Vy's story in an internal study session, without recording names and without filming. The members wrote what they would do differently when recording others. Quan suggested always leaving the door open, Tran added that it should be announced when it starts and ends, Huy said it needs an easily visible off button.

Dat looked at the process sheet and said the technical part needed backup people. Huy chose Duc Minh, who only knows how to repair chairs but likes machine learning. He taught Minh to recognize the smell of hot bulbs, the sound of a skewed fan, and loose wires. Minh asked what if he wasn't sure. Huy said to turn off the phone and call an adult.

At the end of the hallway, another class placed a few chairs for group study. Tran asked them to register, but did not charge a fee. Theaters began to be used first the entire screening, exactly what everyone wanted to keep.

The group class registered for usage time, but one student forgot to turn off the fan. Huy didn't scold him, he just did the check sheet at the end of the shift. Please add the handover person's signature. Quan said theaters are growing more paperwork like chairs, but everyone understands that paperwork helps the next person know what to do.

Lam turned around the checklist and asked the class for permission. A friend asked if I needed to record my name. Lam covered the name on the notebook, only keeping the stroke of the pen and the sound of the door closing. You agree.

The eleventh grade was assigned to make posters for the test screening. One group wanted to use a photo of an old door, another group wanted to draw a green chair. Lam invites you to go to the theater to see it first, instead of choosing the best picture yourself. A friend asked why the chair had crescent-shaped scratches. Quan said it was a sign of an imaginary chase. Tran checked the book and discovered scratches from the table transfer last year. Both views are correct, but they agree not to turn the scratch into a "secret" without evidence.

At the end of the session, you voted on a minimalist poster: a light yellow background, a hallway and the words "The door is open when you want to enter". Lam asked if we needed to add the name of the organizer. You say the name of the school is enough, because this is everyone's business. She felt that answer made the room less like her group's project. Huy stamped the date on the back of each poster, and Quan secretly drew a small chair and was forced by Tran to erase it. He asked to keep a copy with a picture of a chair in the storage compartment, and everyone agreed.

They hung posters in four places: in front of the library, next to the consulting room, near the gate and at the end of the hallway. Each place needs a different font size. Reminds me not to hang it on the exit, Huy is required to use removable tape. Quan wanted to add a ticket-shaped registration code, but Vy said the code must have a text description for people who don't use phones. Lam hand-wrote the library's landline phone number in the bottom corner.

A friend sent word that the poster at the gate was covered by a club advertisement. The group did not tear up the other sheet; They asked permission to change positions and place them next to each other, so that the two activities could be seen together. The supervisor passed by and said it had been a long time since the end of the hallway had so many colors. Lam took a panoramic photo after everyone agreed, but did not take a photo of the students passing by. She placed the photo in the report with a caption about how to hang it, not calling it a "spreading campaign".