I wrote this paper for my English class. Thought it might be nice for everyone who was holding their breath for my Comic Con post. :D
Cassidi Hess English 101
Nerd prom, is what I told most people. The time of the year when all sorts of people obsessed with all sorts of things got together and talked and dressed up and geeked out in every way possible. For my best friend and I, it was a pilgrimage to see the people who created something that we dedicated our lives to one hour every week: Supernatural. To the casual observer, it’s a television show about two brothers who hunt things and save the world. But to us, it was an escape from our mundane real lives, a chance to live in a world of excitement where good would always conquer evil and you could sell your soul to a tiny brunette if you put your picture, along with some cat bones, in the dirt at a crossroads. What wasn’t to love? This year there would be the creator, two writers, and two actors. We scrimped and saved for months to make the weeklong trip to San Diego, California, for the 70th Annual Comic Con.
Most people thought we were nuts. Spending two hundred dollars on tickets to a convention? Staying with relatives we had never met for a week to spend an hour in the same room as five people who would never really interact with us? Oh they of little faith. As if we had only spent two hundred dollars! All in all we spent around $1000 for the trip, and not a penny of it misspent, even in retrospect. We bought our tickets in March, and were only just able to snag them; within a week the entire four day convention was sold out completely. We were the envy of our friends. Not only would we get to see the cast and crew from Supernatural, but we would be in San Diego for a whole week! All we had to do was survive the four months until it came!
This was easier than it sounded. While waiting for our California trip, I busied myself with prom, graduation, and various other ‘senior’ like activities, and for a while even forgot the carrot I had been dangling in front of my own nose. April, May, June flew by, then July was here! I had only a month to prepare. Make that three weeks…
Before I knew it we were packed and loaded into my best friend Kathy’s red SUV and driving into the sunset, metaphorically speaking. We arrived in beautiful San Diego, California in the middle of the night and woke up the next morning to a world transformed. Everywhere we looked was lush, green, and full of life. Outside our window grew grapefruit trees, vines, flowers of every color. Having come from a small town high in the mountains of Arizona, this world of brilliant light and bright colors was a veritable Eden, and we made the most of our two free days basking in the sun.
Finally, finally, the big day. Our convention was about to begin! The day we had waited on for months! We arrived at the San Diego Convention Center, and walked through the doors. It was a bombardment of the senses. Everywhere we looked, we were greeted with visions of characters from comic books, movies, television shows, and some who were most likely products of their own imagination.
Tall, short, old, young, every imaginable kind of person, and the only equalizer was the excitement you could feel buzzing in the air. The smell, well, it smelled like thousands of people crammed into a space, but no one minded. The smell of people, mixed with the smell of the stale convention food, would’ve been unpleasant if any one of the 126,000 people present had stopped to think about it, but of course no one did. They were too busy making their way into the venue room, where one could buy any product they could possibly dream of. The conundrum of sound, caused by the squealing of excited fans, bragging of authors, illustrators, and creators, and even occasionally celebrities, was deafening.
This was our routine for three days, spending time and too much money in the vendor room, and visiting the panels. Sunday was about to roll around, the day of days. Looking back, I don’t know how I slept the night before. Knowing that in a few short hours, I would be in the same room as Eric Kripke, the man who created the show I adored, Misha Collins, the actor who brought one of my favorite characters to life, and Sera Gamble, my very favorite screenwriter ever to grace the small screen. I always looked out for her name on the opening credits, and paid extra attention to the show to see the secret messages she sent out to the watchers. Sera was everything I, a girl with dreams of fame and being a published writer, hoped to be. Smart, classy, witty… Needless to say, I was excited for her most of all.
Sunday morning found Kathy and I up and getting dressed at 5:45 AM. Our panel didn’t start until eleven, but there was no chance we were risking being even a moment late. We hopped on the train by 6:30 and beat most of the crowds - or so we thought. We strolled down the nearly empty halls, sure that no one would’ve thought to arrive at the Convention Center four hours before the panel started. Were we ever wrong! The only hallway with any people lined up at all was ours, and it was so crowded we couldn’t even see the end of the line! After a few moments of panic, we were able to find a spot to wait out the hours. We chatted to anyone who would listen to us speak. Soon we had a small gathering of three or four people who were waiting for the panel as well, and vibrated with anticipation as the moments clicked by.
The doors opened at 10 o’clock for the Smallville panel. While we couldn’t care less about the Superman spin off, we weren’t about to let the chance for good seats pass us by. We found seats as close up as we could, which wasn’t too far, considering we were now a group of eight who refused to be separated from each other. The panel dragged, about as much as you would expect from a show that was about to head into it’s tenth season. I soon felt that familiar pressure, and was grateful for the fifteen minute break between panels. I was sure I’d have enough time to find a bathroom and be back before Supernatural started.
As soon as the lights came up, I told the rest of my friends to save me a seat, and made my way through the crowds to the doors and got the tiny blue ticket that would assure me entrance back into the room. I clung to it as if my life depended on it, found the ladies’ room, then was all set to wander back when BAM! I slammed right into someone. My eyes started at her shoes and slowly worked my way up until I hit the curly black hair, mischievous green eyes, and lips quirked into a smile.
“Oh, jeez, excuse me.” I’d have recognized the voice anywhere.
“But you’re… Sera! Sera Gamble!” My words tumbled out of my mouth, incoherent even to me. But she must’ve understood and laughed.
“That’s me! It’s nice to meet you. But I’m also late for my panel so… See you in there!” She waved, and as graceful as you please, waltzed through the doors and onto the stage.
She would never remember my name. And someday the show that I love so dearly now will fade into a memory of an obsession that ate away at my precious time and resources. But the chance to meet a childhood hero, a woman who was smart and successful and beautiful and everything I aspired to be? That was a once in a lifetime experience.
And, yes, I stretched the truth. And yes, the secret messages Sera sends to us is that Show is the Epic love story of Sam and Dean. But really, not half bad paper, if I do say so myself. :D
