the unexpected

“I think I need to be pinched,” Charlotte whispered a minute later as she reached out with both hands to take one of the glittering golden statues being passed to her. She curled her thin fingers tightly around it, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as Susi – now free from the conditions of the confidentiality agreements – snapped a photo. Similar camera flashes lit up the boardroom as the five identical statues made their rounds.

The little gold key, it turned out, fit perfectly in the small silver lock fastened to the glass case containing Weta Workshop’s five Academy Awards, all won for work done on the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Thanks to Vic and Raewyn’s positive relationship with Weta, we had the unique pleasure of getting up close and personal with Oscar himself. If our visit to Weta had been a big deal before, this definitely turned it into a momentous occasion.

“So heavy!” Josephine exclaimed, pretending to be weighed down by two statues, one in each hand. “How do Peter Jackson hold four of them up?” she asked in her broken English, sounding slightly bewildered at the thought.

As the five Academy Awards made their way from one set of eager, outstretched hands to the next, bewilderment and awe seemed to be a common reaction.

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Get a picture; I may not believe it myself tomorrow.”

“Seriously, somebody pinch me.”

Amidst the camera flashes and exclamations of disbelief, no one in the group seemed to notice a tall, bespectacled figure slip into the room. I was in the midst of posing for a photo with Josephine and an Oscar when I glanced toward the doorway, only to see Richard Taylor himself backlit by sunshine in front of the glass. It was – excuse the cliché and horrible pun – like something straight out of a movie.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, flashing a playful, slightly crooked grin.

An awed silence fell as the group took notice of Richard. Charlotte and Dulce froze where they were, Oscars in hand, and even Susi’s shutter was still. But the silence didn’t last. It was broken by an outburst of greetings, tumbling from every mouth and jumbling together in an indecipherable clump of syllables. Richard just laughed before thanking us for stopping by.

“I wish I had more time,” he said, “but I’ve got America waiting on the phone.”

“Would you have time for a photo?” Raewyn asked as Anita began collecting up the Oscars that had suddenly become second-rate compared to the slightly goofy-looking man before us. Richard eyed the group hesitantly.

“No, no, not with each one of us,” Susi interjected. “Maybe we could just get one of you? How about over by Lurtz.” The last part was more of a command, and Susi indicated the life-size statue of Lurtz the Uruk-Hai (a monstrous creature from “The Lord of the Rings”) that stood out in the reception area.

“That, I can do.”

As ten flashes went off – Raewyn’s included – I took note of the wide smiles illuminated on every face in the room. The group had suddenly transformed; we were no longer ordinary tourists looking at swords and drooling over golden statues. Standing inside Weta, conversing with Richard Taylor while he put America on hold for us, everything was suddenly very real. Instead of simply being spectators to the “Lord of the Rings,” we were a part of it.