It was supposed to be a simple fund-raiser, nothing more. People come to the theater in their costumes, they mingle, they dance to live music, they have a good time. Maybe they pay too much for the food, but it's a fund-raiser.

At the end of the night, we're up a couple thousand dollars, and everyone's happy. Nothing to write home about.

And if we hadn't added a kissing booth, that's all it would have been. But then Kerry suggested we have one, and after everyone had a good laugh at his joke, he insisted he was serious, and God help us, the motion carried. For the first time in its 35-year history, the Lycos Community Theatre annual Halloween party included a kissing booth.

​

Lycos is an all-volunteer effort that performs live theatre in our area. Run by a seven-member board of trustees who can't decide if they should stage Broadway classics, experimental shows, classic plays in the public domain or the latest hits that just finished their first professional runs, Lycos loses money almost every year. Without the cultural grants it gets from the county and the money we raise from private donors and special events like this, our stagelights would have gone dark years ago.

The Halloween party has been one of our enduring yearly events. It started out in 1988 as something for middle school and high school students to do, as an alternative to the trick-or-treating they had outgrown. But after 10 years, a new crop of trustees cycled in and ramped it up a bit with some props and stagecraft and the party found its niche amid the older high-schoolers and county college crowd. Admission stayed the same, but we began charging more for extra features.

"And where would we put this kissing booth if we have one?" Lucia asked. She pressed her lips together and wrinkled her nose as though she smelled vinegar. Fund-raisers were her bailiwick as trustee, and she hated any idea that wasn't hers,

Kerry was ready, He didn't miss a beat.

"We just finished 'Much Ado About Nothing,'" he said. "We'd set the play at Leonato's Mediterranean beach resort during the Second World War. "Use one of the changing booths. Our volunteer waits in there, guests pay $5, and they get to go in for a kiss."

"That would fit the pirate theme for the party," said Alice thoughtfully. She noticed the rest of us looking at her in confusion and stumbled onward. "A sea town under siege by pirates. Maybe we could put a sign on the door saying 'Captive lass,' and they have to pay the pirate guard to kiss her."

"Oh, I like that," Tess said next to me. Tall and blond as though she had stepped out of an Icelandic edda, Tess was the youngest of our trustees. She was only in her mid-20s but had a successful record for selling our shows to the community. If she thought an idea was good, then even Lucia would have to give in. "But if she's captive, we'll have to sell that idea as well."

"You mean, like, have her tied up in the booth?" I asked.

"Maybe," Tess said. She closed her eyes a moment in thought as she considered the logistics. "No gag, obviously, since she has to kiss, but her hands should be tied at least, and probably her legs too, so she can't escape ..."

"No," Lucia said firmly. "We're not going to do this. Do you seriously expect to believe that one of us is going to consent to being in bondage for a three-hour party? Because we're sure as hell not going to ask for volunteers from the community."

"I could do an hour-and-a-half," Tess said, and an uncomfortable silence spread around the table. "But someone else would have take over for the rest of the party."

"We could just close the booth after 90 minutes," said Kerry. Everyone fell quiet, and as they looked self-consciously around the room in silence, the only thing we could hear was Tess' light breathing as she sat, subdued, hands flat on the table.

"Very well then," said Lucia crisply. "Not enough support to make it work. Next item --"

"I'll do it," I said. I was 30 but I was blushing as furiously as a teen in the back seat of the car on Prom night. Tess turned her face to look at me, and our eyes met. Her face had turned a light pink, but she was smiling at me from ear to ear and her eyes were shining like a star in the spotlight. "I'll do the second shift."